Leadership can be complex—especially as we consider how 21st Century organizations must be led effectively. Together with her colleague, Dr. Lee Smith, one of us [Dr. Jeannine Sandstrom] as co-editor of Curated 2020, has simplified and distinguished five core competency platforms and associated critical success skills for successful leadership. These platforms represent a complete set of observable and measurable behaviors. The behaviors, when used in total, are leverage points for success. We included those practices of leadership that are essential for every leader, regardless of their industry or level within the organization.
In this section of Curated 2020, we provide both essays and recorded interviews concerning the overall Legacy Leadership Model. We also provide essays that specifically summarize the nature of each Legacy Leadership competency as well as two other essays that have already been published in the Library of Professional Coaching. These essays provide perspectives that complement those offered in the Legacy Leadership Model—as well as exemplifying the commitment of the Legacy Leadership founders to being inclusive regarding the value inherent in many other models of leadership. Given the complexity of the contemporary challenges facing 21st Century leaders, all viable theories of leadership are welcomed!
The Legacy Leadership Model
Three documents provide an introduction to Legacy Leadership, two of them initially created during the early years of Legacy Leadership and the third document being a recent interview conducted with one of us [JS] that provides an update of and reflection on the long, evolving history of the Legacy Leadership Model.
What is Legacy Leadership?
This essay offers not only an introduction to this leadership model, but also a brief review of the underpinnings, related knowledge-based theories and applications of this leadership model.
Legacy Leadership: The World Talk Interview
This document provides the transcript of a recorded interview with Drs. Sandstrom and Smith about Legacy Leadership. This interview was conducted during the 1990s and includes reflections by the Legacy founders on their creation of this model of leadership competencies.
Interview with Jeannine Sandstrom
This recording of a recent (2017) interview with one of us [JS] took place during a Legacy Leadership training program held in Dallas Texas. Insights are offered about not just the foundations of the Legacy Leadership Model, but also the history of this Model since its initial formulation by Drs. Sandstrom and Smith.
Best Practice 1 – Holder of Vision and Values™
Three essays are associated with this best practice, one focusing on the best practice itself and the other two providing concepts that complement this best practice, but also offer a somewhat different perspective.
Best Practice 1: Holder of Vision and Values™ (Being: Holder)
In this essay, the critical success skills associated with this best practice are identified, as are the BE attitudes that aligns with this practice. This essay concerns the ability to keep vision and values clear, sustain focus and clarity, develop and execute strategy, establish the measureables, and gain commitment to action.
Avalon and Glastonbury
In King Arthur’s legend, Glastonbury symbolized a visible city and Avalon an invisible city. Each, however, occupied the same physical territory. Only a few individuals like Merlin, the King’s Counsel, knew how to find their way between the two. In fact, most people no longer even knew of Avalon’s existence; let alone how to get there. By analogy, each of today’s corporations, government agencies, and communities includes these same two dimensions.
Counterfeit Leadership
Some leaders are causing irreparable damage to great institutions by shirking their responsibilities. They’re afraid to address difficult issues, make tough decisions, and introduce the change that’s required to achieve long-term success. Instead, these “counterfeit leaders” spend much of their time playing politics, protecting their turf, and promoting their self-interests.
Best Practice 2 – Creator of Collaboration and Innovation™
Three essays are associated with this best practice, one focusing on the best practice itself and the other two providing concepts that complement this best practice, but also offer a somewhat different perspective.
Best Practice 2: Creator of Collaboration and Innovation™ (Being: Creator)
In this essay, the critical success skills associated with this best practice are identified, as are the BE attitudes that aligns with this practice. This essay concerns the ability to be creative and foster trusting environments, to masterfully listen and facilitate, acknowledge the unknown and think beyond what is, gather perspectives and ask tough questions and discern need for change and project the innovative impact.
Fire and Pendulum
The mechanistic organization of the Twentieth Century ran like a pendulum. A pendulum epitomizes elegance and simplicity in motion. The pendulum, in modern systems theory terms, will always return to a homeostatic balance, retaining its basic form or pathway. Systems theorists would suggest that organizations tend to return to their previous form and function even with disruptions and interference. Is this mechanistic analogy to the pendulum still accurate for Twenty First Century organizations? Rather, many processes of the world are likely to resemble the phenomenon that we call fire. Fire is a perplexing problem in the history of science. Scientists have tended to ignore the complex, transformative processes of fire—as have many organizational theorists.
Dialogical Fitness
Dialogue is “the art of thinking together”. Thinking together involves more than just kicking ideas around. We do that all the time. We hear what others have to say, listening only for things we can agree or disagree with. Dialogue, on the other hand, is the quest for mutual understanding. It is the respectful exchange of personal viewpoints. Dialogue results in shared ownership of solutions and social cohesion. Whilst dialogue is rare these days, we believe dialogue is key to effective coaching and something to be aspired to. But dialogue is effortful, and we need to prepare ourselves if we are to be able to engage in dialogue when needed. We need to cultivate within ourselves high levels of ‘dialogical fitness’.
Best Practice 3 – Influencer of Inspiration and Leadership™
Three essays are associated with this best practice, one focusing on the best practice itself and the other two providing concepts that complement this best practice, but also offer a somewhat different perspective.
Best Practice 3: Influencer of Inspiration and Leadership”™ (Being: Influencer)
In this essay, the critical success skills associated with this best practice are identified, as are the BE attitudes that aligns with this practice. This essay concerns the ability to build positive, meaningful relationships with energy, place leadership emphasis on people for positive outcomes, recognize, acknowledge and inspire others, enable others to lead through positive modeling, and to be humble with a fierce resolve for each person’s success.
Staying Alive
Organizations, human systems are complex. Each part impacts others; all parts are in equilibrium with each other, and each and every one is impacted when you intervene in one. If we want to put it in few statements: (1) Organizations are complex, not simplistic. Linear “impact à effect” thinking usually fails, (2) Relational positions are dynamic, not static. Everything changes. All the time. Especially when you move, (3) Interactions are interdependent, not linear. When you move, your movement impacts all others. And then their move moves you and (4) Behavior is contextual, not personal. 80% of our (and their) behavior is determined by the context we find ourselves in.
The Four Wires of Leadership
There are four arrest wires on the deck of an aircraft carrier that are intended to stop the jet (which hooks to the wire and comes to a stop, after which the jet is moved off the runway and stowed below deck). The key issue is: which wire will stop the jet. The first wire is not a great place to stop—it means that the plane was coming in too low or too fast. A first wire stop is not only hard on the pilot—it results in real strain on the wire and the crew. The best landing occurs when the jet stops at the second or third wire. Kind of like how leadership should be engaged in an organization – not too abrupt and not too slow. A bit delayed so that the situation can be accurately assessed, but not too long a delay that could lead either to a critical situation (that might be too late to address) or to action that no longer fits with the ever-changing situation.
Best Practice 4 – Advocator of Differences and Community™
Three essays are associated with this best practice, one focusing on the best practice itself and the other two providing concepts that complement this best practice, but also offer a somewhat different perspective.
Best Practice 4: Advocator of Differences and Community™ (Being: Advocator)
In this essay, the critical success skills associated with this best practice are identified, as are the BE attitudes that aligns with this practice. This essay concerns the ability to be an advocate for people and raise their visibility, recognize strengths and build value, build diverse teams, promote an inclusive environment, and recognize impact of business direction and communicate appropriately.
The Art of Building Coalition
There are numerous situations we face at work where we need to build coalition with others. The results we can produce depend on relationships that are effective and sufficient to the goals of the organization or project. These others with whom we need to build coalition may be colleagues, the board, co-workers, vendors, customers, peers, teammates or subordinates. Sometimes we need to build coalition to navigate a political minefield in our organization, sometimes it is to move a particular idea forward, sometimes it is to most effectively lead, manage, or motivate others. We offer a time-tested method for building coalition, creating a partnering relationship for whatever your purpose, so that you can increase your visibility, clean up a messy interpersonal scenario, create development opportunities for yourself or others, or simply expedite the results of any project or team on which you are working.
Breaking Free from our Cultural Chains
We’re often afraid of what is different. It’s easier to stick with what we know, especially when it comes to relationships. We tend to stick to a group of people who think, act and do things like we do. This is where we feel confident that we belong. Everything is easier when we are around people we know; however this can also be severely limiting. When we know or think we know, we close ourselves off from knowing anything else because we already know – there is no more learning to be experienced. We know and that is enough. We can stay in our comfort zone secure in our knowledge where there is no fear or uncertainty. Human beings rarely, if ever succeed at accurately perceiving their own culture. It is true to say that this is how most of us live our lives. We are victims of our culture and most of us don’t even realize. We can’t see it unless we have an experience where we notice an absence of our cultural norms and we know at a visceral level that something is missing.
Best Practice 5 – Calibrator of Responsibility and Accountability™
Three essays are associated with this best practice, one focusing on the best practice itself and the other two providing concepts that complement this best practice, but also offer a somewhat different perspective.
Best Practice 5: Calibrator of Responsibility And Accountability™ (Being: Calibrator)
In this essay, the critical success skills associated with this best practice are identified, as are the BE attitudes that aligns with this practice. This essay concerns the ability to execute strategies well with implemented action plans, have vigilant awareness of progress towards goals, require peak performance with support and buy-in from all, have clear consistent accountabilities and follow through, and be aware of trends, adapt to change and recalibrate as necessary.
High Performance Teams
Is it possible to drive high performance in sales and profit way beyond industry averages and at the same time drive high engagement in the workplace? I know that the answer is yes and have experienced it. The reason this not happening everywhere is that a fundamental shift in the perception of leaders is necessary. This shift is from seeing profit as the goal to profit as the result of meaningful things done in fulfilling ways. Although this may sound improbable in the first place, the secret is found in corporate leaders becoming as fully responsible for Common Humanity in the workplace as they are for sustainable profit. It’s not about “either/or.” It’s about both at the same time. Being responsible for both is one thing. The art is in knowing when each of both aspects needs most attention.
Feedback Coaching
Organizations that subscribe to the systemic paradigm recognize the failings of this approach. They know that leaders working in an ever-changing complex system need a constant, ceaseless, regular flow of feedback if they are to be most effective. But feedback is hard to source unless everyone in the organization is comfortable asking for and receiving feedback, which is why some organizations seek to build feedback cultures. Some organizations see periodic feedback programs as a blocker toward enabling feedback cultures. If everyone knows that everyone else will be undertaking a 360 feedback exercise every year, it takes the onus off providing feedback on an ongoing basis, so goes the thinking.