Being Committed to Excellence in Execution

Last but certainly not least, real leaders are “execution animals,” driven by achievement. The true leader autographs his work with excellence and is constantly seeking opportunities to raise the bar of quality for the entire organization. By contrast, mediocrity is a malaise—one that we can choose to accept or reject. Sadly, far too many people are willing to settle for it rather than insisting on aiming high and working fiercely towards excellence.

There are lots of excuses for failure—but not one good reason! Especially when you consider that good quality and lousy quality generally take exactly the same amount of time.

Excellence in execution is not something the leader can delegate to others in its entirety and then walk away. You can’t simply mandate high standards and then rely on others to achieve them. If you aspire to leadership, you must be personally dedicated to excellence and take the lead in achieving it.

This is one reason why a period of hands-on apprenticeship in the lower ranks of an organization is a useful, even essential background for the leader. You need to spend some time personally mastering the skills that are crucial to success in your industry. If you work in manufacturing, put in some days on the assembly line; if you help to run a service business, devote time to working face-to-face with customers and learning about their needs and problems; if you are involved in health care, spend afternoons with patients and their families so you can understand what it takes to reassure and comfort them. If you haven’t personally tried to meet the highest standards in your field, it will be hard for you to judge the performance of your colleagues, or to inspire them to give their best efforts in pursuit of excellence. Personal knowledge and hands-on experience provide credibility and credentials.

Of course, delegation is an important skill. No one person can do everything, so the leader must learn how to delegate effectively. He must give his colleagues not just a set of tasks to perform, but also owners hip of the results – that is, a sense of personal responsibility for what happens. (I’ve found that, if you get the ownership of a problem right, you usually get the resolution right.) The leader must also give people enough freedom to develop their own solutions to knotty problems. This is the only way to nurture creativity, independent judgment, and responsibility among those who may be leading the entire organization someday.

In the book, I have shared a story from my own experience to further emphasize the importance of this attribute throughout my lifetime journey.I look forward to receiving your comments.

Best Regards,
Hussein A. Al-Banawi
Author, The Unknown Leader

Who is a Resilient Leader?

Examine the life stories of real leaders and you’ll be startled to see how often they have been written off in bad times of trouble. The real leader understands that winning and losing are not the crucial test of leadership. As every world-class athlete knows, the contender who wins today is likely to lose tomorrow, and vice versa. The crucial issue is how resilient you are—how ready you are to bounce back from defeat with renewed energy and resolve. Tested by adversity, either personal or professional, a leader is prepared to withstand future challenges with authenticity, grace, humility, strength, and endurance. And in times of triumph, a leader is wise enough to avoid excessive celebration, which may lead to a state of euphoria and the illusions that go with it.

When the world seems to be collapsing around you, it’s easy to give in to despair—to panic, break down, become filled with anger, or blame those around you. A resilient leader resists this temptation. She controls her emotions, communicating optimism even when the clouds above are darkest—because she knows that the emotions of the leader are contagious and will quickly spread to the entire organization.

The strength of the leader has a way of permeating the entire organization. When the leader is resilient, so is the organization. It is this balance of character, this so-called temperament that distinguishes those who exercise true leadership from those who merely exercise authority.

Of course, resilience is not just a matter of temperament. It also requires the leader to be a steady hand and exercises good judgment in tough times and turmoil. When we face setbacks, we look to the leader for answers–—a safe passage out of the storm. The leader is someone who is expected to steer the organization and his people through rough terrain into greener pasture.

In the book, I have shared the story of my friend Maha Al-Ghunaim, who is one of the most successful Arab women in an industry that has relatively few notable female leaders, in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world—financial management. Until our next blog where I will speak on ‘Committed to Excellence in Execution’, please share with me your comments as I look forward to our discussions.

Best Regards,
Hussein A. Al-Banawi
Author, The Unknown Leader

A Collaborative Leader

In today’s complex world, the traditional model of top-down, autocratic leadership simply won’t work. Realizing any organizational vision requires in-depth understanding and the ability to make smart, informed decisions at every level in the organization and at every step in the process. In short, today’s world demands co-pilots, not just followers—and this means that the leader must be prepared to lead in a collaborative rather than authoritarian style.

Leaders evolve by keeping in touch; they are connected through mind and soul receptors that are switched on all the time. They pick up signals from anyone and at every juncture. They value a word, a thought of an ordinary person, because they understand that brilliance often starts as a simple seed that finds the right soil, the right climate, and the right care to emerge and grow.

Effective leadership instills confidence and dispels doubt. It allows controversy and welcomes diversity; it invites innovation and provokes creativity. It is sometimes critical, but never cynical.

Collaboration requires courage on the part of both leaders and co-workers. After all, the only way a co-pilot can be trained to respond in an emergency is by frequently taking the wheel and guiding the aircraft—and this means that the pilot must be prepared to trust and support the co-pilot, even when he makes the occasional rookie mistake.

Collaboration also requires openness to ideas that originate anywhere in the organization. A real leader is able to bring together people with differing ideas and help them work towards consensus in the service of the overarching vision. Disagreement, I’ve found, is like cement—when it’s fresh, it’s soft and can be easily reshaped; in time, it hardens and becomes inflexible. So the true leader flushes out disagreements and clears the air early rather than letting them linger.

In the book, I have shared my dear friend Dr. Ghazi Binzagr’s story, which has some enlightening examples about this topic. Until our next blog where I will speak on ‘Resilient’, please share with me your comments as I look forward to our discussions.

Best Regards,
Hussein A. Al-Banawi
Author, The Unknown Leader

The Visionary Leader

I define a vision as “a dream with precise architecture”—one that is capable of inspiring others to join the quest of bringing the dream to reality. Leaders with a sound sense of tactics are plentiful; those who are able to project a vision for the long-term are uncommon, and therefore much more valuable. Such leaders don’t just create opportunities—they leave behind institutions and a thriving corporate culture that brings out the best in individuals and teams.

There is an element of benevolence in a vision that separates it from a “grand scheme.” True visionaries consider all their constituencies as full-fledged stakeholders in their vision. A vision is not elitist, but rather built on inclusiveness. It embraces and empowers those around us in ways that help them develop and realize their own visions.

The soul of a vision is always about improving the quality of life for individual men and women. Without this selfless cause, a vision is inadequate and lacking. So even as he tackles the countless details that must be done right to realize the vision, the leader must remain true to its soul—because only the soul of the vision has the power to truly inspire.

A vision never comes with a guarantee. But if it is inspirational and binding, it can attract others to join you on the journey, making the realization of the vision a matter of time. It may even survive the visionary himself and be within our grasp only after his passing. A visionary is like the first runner in a relay race, handing the baton on to successors who are inspired by his example to reach the ultimate finish line. Thus, a vision is often more far-reaching and all- encompassing than the individual who first articulated it.

In the book, I have shared my friend Dr. AsmaSiddiki’s story, who has created an inspiring vision of learning programs that will provide young people with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the cultural heritage of their homelands. Until our next blog where I will speak on ‘Collaborative’, please share with me your comments as I look forward to our discussions.

Best Regards,
Hussein A. Al-Banawi
Author, The Unknown Leader