As you know, I've got a huge file of book notes that I thought I would share periodically with my blog readers. So, here are notes from a classic! Max is on the Board of Fuller Seminary and a fantastic leadership thinker.
Leadership is An Art, Max DePree
It is now nearly sixty years since the millwright died, and my father and many of us at Herman Miller continue to wonder: was he a poet who did millwright’s work, or was he a millwright who wrote poetry?
In our effort to understand corporate life, what is it we should learn from this story? In addition to all of the ratios and goals and parameters and bottom lines, it is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people’s gifts and talents and skills.
Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. It also enables us to begin to think about being abandoned to the strengths of others, of admitting that we cannot know or do everything.
What is leadership? The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader.
The goal of thinking hard about leadership is not to produce great, or charismatic, or well-known leaders. The measure of leadership is not the quality of the head, but the tone of the body. The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict?
Leaders owe a clear statement of the values of the organization. These values should be broadly understood and agreed to and should shape our corporate and individual behavior.
Leaders are also responsible for future leadership. They need to identify, develop, and nurture future leaders.
Leaders are responsible for effectiveness. Much has been written about effectiveness – some of the best of it by Peter Drucker. He has such a great ability to simplify concepts. One of the things he tells us is that efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing.
Leaders can delegate efficiency, but they must deal personally with effectiveness. Of course, the natural question is “how”.
- Respect people.
- Understand that what we believe precedes policy and practice.
- Agree on the rights of work.
- Understand the respective role and relationship of contractual agreements and covenants.
- Understand that relationships count more than structure.
I was inspired by a Charles Kuralt segment reporting on a talented high school gymnast paralyzed from the waist down. The young athlete was really good, and it was fun to see how accomplished he had become. Something he said applies in a special way to each of us: “I don’t come with the wheelchair. The wheelchair comes with me.”
There are at least two things we learn about corporations from these tales of giants. The first is that while productivity is important, giving space to giants is much more important. The second is that giving space to giants lets them and others practice the “roving leadership”. These two lessons may, from time to time, be hard on the hierarchical leadership. But if you want a corporation to be truly effective, you will need to help corporations be open to giants at all levels.
Who owns this place? Broadly speaking, there are three categories of owners in the typical American corporation. The first group, those normally thought of as owners, invest mere cash in the business. The second, because they have dedicated their working years to the corporation, invest their lives and their gifts in the corporation. The third group, essential contributors to the corporation, invest some special skill or talent or creative energy and have a strong commitment to the corporation, but part time.
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