Last time we looked at the philosophy of leadership – the ‘set of belief’ that makes up the first of the three elements of leadership. The second element of leadership is a ‘set of functions’ – the WHAT of high performance leadership.  (By the way, the third element of leadership is a ‘set of forms to share power’. We’ll look at that next.)

In high-performance organizations (HPOs), successful leadership is found through out, in everyone. We call it ‘leadership-at-all-levels’ (LAAL). We understand that good leadership can’t only be left to the top managers. LAAL means that everyone is -- and should be expected to be -- a leader wherever she or he sits in the organization.

So then, what makes a leader? The LAAL perspective means that people are leaders when they do certain things.  Leadership is not title or ‘innate charisma’ or training. Leadership in HPOs is a set of five functions. Anyone, anywhere in the organization, is a leader if she is doing these five things. (And she should be doing them!)

The five functions leadership in high performance organizations are:

• Strategic Stakeholder Value Analysis – A leader continually analyzes WHO he, his team, and his organization are relating to. These stakeholders may be internal to the organization or external. They may be taxpayers, elected officials, partners, competitors, regulators, etc. A leader reviews and updates information on how the relationship is working with each critical stakeholder (or stakeholder group): Does the stakeholder need more information? Do we need to give more information or praise or attention to the stakeholder? What value are we adding to what the stakeholder needs and vice versa?

• Vision / Values that are supported by Strategy / Structure / Systems – Leaders set and maintain visions. They help establish the values that are the fingerprint of the organization. But they must also help ensure that the organizational hardware – the strategies, structures, and systems – are ordered in such a way as to help the organization live out its vision and values. For example: If we value teamwork, are the performance review systems focused on reviewing teams rather than individuals?

• Suprasystems Integration / Stewardship – I call this ‘big picture analysis’.  Leaders need to continually see where their organizations, teams and individuals fit into the larger landscape of services or products. Leaders ask: How does this activity/product/process/demand/etc. align with the entire picture that is going on? And then leaders are humble enough to not fight turf wars but rather to work towards a ‘whole that is greater than the sum of the parts’.

• Learning / Thinking / Changing / Renewing – LAAL leaders focus on their own professional development and their self-awareness to be able to do their piece of the work better and better. This learning may be technical in nature or focus on best practices. It may be process based, such as working towards a systematized ‘learning organization’. The learning may be skills-based (such as conflict management skills). Or it may even be personal (such as working on improving one’s own emotional intelligence).

• Enabling / Empowering / Engaging / Energizing – Leaders help others reach their own potential. Leaders teach and mentor and coach. They work to develop their colleagues in as many ways as possible and they work tirelessly to remove barriers to the growth and engagement of all employees.

So there you have it: Do these five things – perform these five functions – and you will be a true leader.  Easy, right?  No, not really.  As you can see some of these functions take time – to change systems, processes, behaviors, and even attitudes. Yet there are other functions that you can do RIGHT NOW. For starters, if you are reading this blog at all, you are learning and hopefully thinking. ‘Check’ for the fourth function for today! Now, go tell someone else what you have learned here. Point that person to blogs or articles or books that have helped you be the educated, aware, informed leader-at-your-level that you are. That will be a ‘check’ for function number five. Then work with that person to start in on the other functions. As I’ve written before – the real key to high performance organizations is in working in teams!

Please note:  We offer an introductory seminar to the HPO model through various ICMA mechanisms.  CMS can also help you get long-term assistance in applying the model and the principles to your organization.  Be on the look out for notices or contact Cheryl Hilvert if you would like to host an HPO Open Enrollment session or for further information