The Excellence Factor:

Finding the Leader Inside You

David E. Dise, CPPO
2005 VAGP Spring Conference
Fairfax, Virginia

Leaders or Managers?
Management
Assures programs and objectives are
implemented

Leadership
Casts vision and motivates people to achieve it
People dont want to be managed. They want to be
lead. Whoever heard of a world manager?
Richard Kerr, United Technologies Corp, Bits and Pieces, March 1990

Leadership Facts

Fact #1
Everything rises and falls on leadership
Ninety-nine percent of all employees want to do a
good job. How they perform is simply a reflection
of the one for whom they work.
President, Hyatt Hotels

Leadership Facts

Fact #2
Leadership is developed
not discovered

Levels of Leadership
John Maxwells 4 leadership categories:
1.
2.
3.
4.

The Leading Leader

The Learned Leader
The Latent Leader
The Limited Leader

AWARE

UNAWARE

Maxwells 4 Phases of Leadership Growth

INEFFECTIVE

EFFECTIVE

I dont know what

I dont know

I go because
of what I know

I know what I
dont know

I grow and know

and it starts
to show

Leadership Facts

Fact #3
Leadership is developed daily
but not in a day
Champions dont become champions in the ring; they
are merely recognized there. Old boxing analogy

What makes a Leader?

U.S. Army 11 Leadership Principles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Be tactically and technically proficient

Know yourself and seek self-improvement
Know your soldiers and look out for their welfare
Keep your soldiers informed
Set the example
Ensure the task is understood, supervised and
accomplished
Train your soldiers as a team
Make sound and timely decisions
Develop a sense of responsibility in your subordinates
Employ your unit in accordance with its capabilities
Seek responsibility and take responsibility for your
actions

Building Blocks of Leadership

Influence

People

Priorities

Vision

Integrity

Self-discipline

Change

What is leadership?

Influence
What is leadership? Remove for a moment the moral issues
behind it and there is only one definition: Leadership is
the ability to obtain followers.
-James

Georges, Par Training Corporation,

in Executive Communications Magazine

The Rules of Influence

1.
2.

3.

4.

Everyone influences someone

We never know the extent of our
influence
The best investment in the future is
proper influence today
Influence is a skill that can be
developed

Maxwells 5 Levels of Leadership

PERSONHOOD
PEOPLE
PRODUCTION
PERMISSION
POSITION

Insights on the 5 Levels

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

The higher you go, the longer it takes

The higher you go, the greater commitment
The higher you go, the easier it is to lead
The higher you go, the greater the growth
You never leave the base level

PERSONHOOD

PEOPLE
PRODUCTION
PERMISSION
POSITION

The key to leadership

Priorities
Success is the progressive realization of a
predetermined goal.

Prioritizing Principles
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Priorities never stay put

You cant overestimate the unimportance of
practically everything
The good is the enemy of the best
You cant have it all
Too many priorities paralyze
First things first
Deadlines and emergencies force us to prioritize

The Prime Ingredient

Integrity
The first key to greatness, is to be in reality
what we appear to be. Socrates

Integrity Principles

Integrity
Integrity
Integrity
Integrity
image
Integrity
others
Integrity
Integrity

builds trust
has high influence value
promotes high standards
results in a solid reputation, not just an
means applying it to yourself before
is credibility
is hard-won

Leadership Facts

Fact #4
We teach what we know;
we reproduce what we are
like begets like

The ultimate test of Leadership

Change
If you want to lead, you must changeif you
want to continue to lead, you must continue to
change.
Howard Hendricks

Leadership Hindrances
1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Poor understanding
of people
Lack of imagination
Personal problems
Passing the buck
Feeling secure and
satisfied
Not organized

7.
8.
9.

10.
11.
12.

Flying into rages

Risk averse
Insecure and
defensive
Inflexible
No team spirit
Fighting change

People resist change when

it isnt self-initiated
the routine is disrupted
it creates fear of the unknown
the reason for it is unclear
fear of failure exists
the rewards dont match the effort
negativity and narrow-mindedness prevail
the leader isnt respected
the leader succumbs to personal criticism
the result is personal loss
traditionalism rules

Creating a climate for change

Develop trust
Lead by example
Understand the organization
Solicit the support of influencers
Emphasize the benefits
Create ownership

The leaders greatest asset

People
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all
himself, or to get credit for doing it. Andrew Carnegie
Its amazing what you can get accomplished when you
dont care who gets the credit. Harry Truman

On leading people
Two types of leaders;

Leaders who influence others to follow only

Leaders who influence others to lead others

Leaders must:

Place a value on people (attitude)

Have a commitment to people (time/priority)
Possess integrity with people (character)
Present a standard for people (vision)
Be able to influence people (skill/maturity)

On leading people
Successful leaders

admit their mistakes and accept the consequences

are able to get along with a wide variety of people
have strong interpersonal skills, sensitivity to others and
tact
are calm and confident, rather than moody and volatile

Leaders are not necessarily those who do great things; leaders

are those who help their people do great things.
Ronald Reagan

The indispensable quality

Vision
Where there is no vision, the people
perish (Proverbs 28:19)

Vision vs. Self-Interest

The two undisputable laws of leadership
1.

Never tell anyone everything you know.

Leadership Facts

Fact #5
Leaders who effectively communicate
goals to their followers achieve more
than those who dont.

Vision Levels
Leader
Achiever
Follower
Wanderer

Vision Principles
Credibility
of vision and leader are inseparable

Acceptance
is determined by timing of its presentation

Value
is determined by its energy and direction

Evaluation
is determined by the peoples commitment to it

Success
depends on ownership by the leader and people

The price of leadership

Self-discipline
If leaders are to be successful, they

must first lead themselves.

John Maxwell

On developing discipline
1.
2.
3.
4.

Start
Start
Start
Start

with yourself
early
small
now

Embrace
Responsibility

For who you are

For what you do
For what youre
given
For those you lead

On developing discipline
1.
2.
3.
4.

Start
Start
Start
Start

with yourself
early
small
now

Embrace
Responsibility
Accept
Accountability

Walk the talk

Do what you say
Be honest
Prefer others
Be transparent

What makes a leader?

Leaders have vision and work to make it a reality

Leaders motivate others to achieve the vision
Leaders make a difference
Leaders bring improvement
Leaders are risk-takers
Leaders embrace change
Leaders learn from mistakes

Leaders are Models

Leaders create a standard of excellence

and follow it
Leaders create opportunities for progress
and success
Leaders model the values they seek others
to embrace

Leaders Encourage

Leaders recognize individual contributions

Leaders focus on the team as well as the
individual
Leaders communicate consistently and
effectively
Leaders provide edifying feedback

Leaders Impart Vision

Leaders truly believe they can make a

difference
Leaders maintain a commitment to the
vision and attitude
Leaders inspire others to commit to a
common vision

Leaders Enable Others

Leaders develop relationships based on

trust
Leaders build effective teams
Leaders create an atmosphere of mutual
respect
Leaders empower others to lead

How do you maximize your leadership

potential?

Value excellence
Pay attention to detail
Possess strong ethics and integrity
Value people
Expend the extra effort
Be consistent
Never stop improving

The Excellence Factor:

Finding the Leader Inside You
David E. Dise, CPPO
2005 VAGP Spring Conference
Fairfax, Virginia