I just read a great article by Elizabeth Haas Edersheim — “A tribute to Peter F. Drucker” — on the website of Peter Drucker Society of Austria. What caught my attention in the Edersheim piece was a quote from Jim Collins, author of Good to Great: “Influence and power are two dimensions by which to consider leadership,” he says. “Zero power and large influence are a fundamental measure of a great leader, whereas power alone only creates management authority, not leadership.”

What differentiates communications in a power-based authority from one based on influence? Influencers listen first and talk later to understand and analyze problems. They have a compelling way of defining the causes of problems and grievances by making them easily understood and digestible. This allows them to start a genuine dialogue rather than advocate their own, self-centered ideas. Influencers’ ideas are defined by opportunities rather than failures, but they don’t ignore or underestimate challenges. Influencers connect in a positive way that “leaders” who rely on power of their position in an enterprise or society can never replicate. Of course, to be true leaders, influencers must also have other attributes that enable them to put their ideas into action, including deep knowledge, self-discipline, perseverance and organizational skills.

Influencers tend to be wise rather than smart. They have a high degree of functional literacy. Have you noticed that functionally illiterate people in the workplace always produce dysfunctional ideas and results? How many times have you seen “change agents” self-destruct because their ideas of change were based on ignorance of real problems? The corporate landscape is littered with people who chose to rely on power rather than influence. Power comes and goes, but influence endures and makes great leaders.

©2012 AlfadogPR Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

Now, I apologize for the rant, but do you ever question the use of “team(s)” in business?  Let me explain.  Have you ever played (yes, participation is important for the argument) in a team sport? That’s where your “team” has a meaning. Take volleyball as an example. You regularly rotate from position to position throughout the game, so each player has the same opportunity to contribute equally in a team effort.  In fact, this is how my Mac dictionary defines teams: “a group of players forming one side in a competitive game or sport.” The dictionary definition suggests an egalitarian meaning, as in all players are equal or equally important. 

In the business world, just take a look at any organization chart and it’s rather obvious that every team has a leader and some team members are clearly not as important as others. In fact, most organizational charts look like dog packs.  In a functioning organization, there is a leading dog, then there’s a 2IC, followed by dogs to form a perfect pack.  An org chart for a volleyball team would have one level. That’s nowhere near what some companies call “a flat organization.”  There are no flat organizations.

When I was searching for my company name, I recalled a conversation I had with a CEO I worked for.  We were coming back from a conference where he met other CEOs. After the meeting, I commented on how similar those CEOs were, to which he said, “Sure, we’re all alpha dogs.”  Meaning: we’re all pack leaders.  Or, as Cesar Millan, the great management guru says, there are leaders and there are followers. (I’m kidding about Cesar, but somebody should tell him to write a management book.)

There is another thing that bothers me about “leaders” who overuse the “we-are-a-team” mantra. More often than not, they use it to justify their inability to say: “I’m responsible for this the mess we’re in.” Dick Fuld, CEO of now bankrupted Lehman Brothers and voted by Portfolio.com as the worst CEO, had this endorsement by Fortune in 2006: “Fuld’s modus operandi has been to bind his employees’ fates together—to turn the culture from one of sibling rivalry to cooperation and teamwork.”

I think we should move away from this “team” business and focus on leadership.  Funny enough, when you look at the dictionary definitions, this is what it says:  “the ORIGIN Old English tēam [team of draft animals,] of Germanic origin about ’team;’ related to German Zaum ‘bridle,’ also to teem 1 and tow 1, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin ducere ‘to lead.’” In other words, it’s all about leadership.  Can we agree on that?

©2012 AlfadogPR Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

Have you noticed how much our leadership values have changed since the economy tanked?  President Obama’s visit to Canada yesterday clearly showed this change, demonstrated by the value of decency, authenticity and, yes, intelligence.

The growing pain of the current economic mess helps to leave behind leadership attributes of the previous era, which ranged from unadulterated greed, arrogance and stupidity on a grand scale.  The new American president’s leadership style denotes a clear break with the past and a new era of leadership.

President Obama’s charisma helps, but charisma can only take you so far.  Many leaders start with great expectations, and promises they cannot or fail to keep.  One of the first challenges Mr. Obama had to overcome were unrealistic expectations of messianic proportions.  His inauguration address was a great example of trying to manage high expectations.

The President knows how to get across his objective in a way that connects with his audience. “I came to Canada on my first trip as President to underscore the closeness and importance of the relationship between our two nations, and to reaffirm the commitment of the United States to work with friends and partners to meet the common challenges of our times,” Mr. Obama said.  There is a lot of emotion in that statement but, to top it all, he said,  “I love this country.”

His unscheduled stop at an Ottawa market to buy sweets and souvenirs for his daughters made the President look like a caring person. It was also the only occasion when he could reach out and shake hands of ordinary Canadians and they responded with love and enthusiasm.  Caring is another critical attribute of the new leadership.  As the unemployment lines continue to grow daily, it will likely be appreciated more than ever.

What was really interesting was the impact the short visit of only a few hours had on Americans back home.  Reading responses to articles in Huffington Post, they ranged from people writing about tears in their eyes to feeling proud again to be Americans.

Now, to bring it back to executive communications, when was the last time your CEO’s speech brought tears to your employees’ eyes or made them proud to work for your company?  What did you do to make them think that you really care about them?  And, above all: when was the last time you said – in one sentence  - what is it you want to do and how is it going to benefit your company?

©2012 AlfadogPR Inc.. All Rights Reserved.