Great leaders demonstrate 5 essential leader capacities or abilities. Each capacity is necessary, but it takes all 5 working together to be a GR8 leader. More importantly, the 5 essential leader capacities work best with a firm foundation of the 6 Critical Leader Values.
Thomas Edison stated, “Vision without execution is hallucination.” No doubt, execution is a critical part of leadership, but there is much more. The GR8 Leaders CATALYST System enhances not only execution but also results, teamwork, innovation, communication, and, most importantly, character.
Leadership Definition
GR8 Leaders uses this definition of leadership -
How the leader gets THERE tells you if they are a great leader. The GR8 Recipe makes the difference. Great leaders use these ingredients.
- 6 Critical Values
- 5 Essential Capacities
- 3 Daily Priorities
- 2 Remarkable Skills
- 1 Timeless Process
Each of those ingredients is important, especially the foundation of values. Most bad leaders have the 5 essential leader capacities, but they are not GREAT. Why? Because the foundation of the 6 critical values makes a leader GREAT! That foundation creates a structure to use the 5 essential leader capacities for good.
Results
Our definition of leadership requires results; that is what "THERE" is. It is a destination, the desired result that the leader dedicates energy and time.
History tells us about many people who got results, but the results were not good. You will misuse your abilities when results are not subject to excellent values. If you get inappropriate, illegal, or immoral results, your ability to get results hurts people.
So, GR8 Leaders pursue the right results (THERE) and maintain great values. The most important value is truth. It’s the foundation for the other 5 values: self-governance, humility, sacrifice, freedom, and valuing people. While the values are essential, you get even more results when you apply great principles like “structure demands behavior” and the creative process (THP + ALA + Persistence). You can learn those principles in course 1 - Value Right Results AND People.
Part of getting right results is being a strategic thinker. No organization works well without a clear purpose and strategy. The GR8 Leaders COMPASS helps you. The COMPASS tool helps you create purpose, core values, strategy, and more. All of that is available in course 2 - Motivate Right Results with Purpose.
So, it is better to rename this capacity to be...
Right Results - Using Transcendent Values
A leader with great values like developing people, self-governance, humility, sacrifice, freedom, and truth will focus on the Right Results.
Execution
GR8 Leaders use their energy to create high performers. All of the 5 essential leader capacities are important, but execution is the "how" for the other capacities. Since execution is critical, GR8 Leaders focus attention on each individual. The more each person improves, the more the organizational capacity improves.
If you want high performance for yourself and others, truth is critical. When expectations aren't met, you share the truth. You don't let emotional conflict keep you from helping people develop and grow. Yes, the truth can be difficult to share, but not sharing implies you don't mind people performing poorly.
GR8 Leaders know how to share truth with mercy when expectations are not met. You can learn how in course 5 - Share Truth for Excellent Performance. Each time you share the truth, those "moments of truth" help people perform better. If done correctly, it also results in their growth.
And the essence of excellent performance comes from self-governance. That means a person does what is right without others needing to direct them. Or, an all-encompassing definition is "delaying immediate gratification for future benefit."
So, it is better to revise this capacity to be...
Excellent Execution – Maximum Self-governance.
And GR8 Leaders shows you how freedom and self-governance are a much better way to lead. Those two values will change all of your relationships!
Teamwork
GR8 Leaders help individuals combine their strengths for even more outstanding results. Teamwork and collaboration require clarity about how groups and teams go through phases. As they go through the phases, they will suffer from common mistakes. You will learn about the mistakes and straightforward methods to reduce or remove them in course 7 - Develop Effective Teamwork and Enrich Work.
Teams require expert coaching to help them become high performers. Of course, when people are involved, conflict happens. So, learn how conflict is your opportunity for development and growth. Hopefully, soon, the TKI assessment will be available in our store. With the TKI, you can learn how you overuse and underuse five conflict styles.
So, it is better to revise this capacity to be...
True Teamwork – Real Collaboration.
Innovation
GR8 Leaders make changes in themselves first. When you are a catalyst for positive change, you maximize your influence. You are a leader who speeds up change and is not part of the problem.
As a catalyst, you are aware of common leadership mistakes and fatal flaws. And change increases the chances for failure. So, you see failure differently. You see it as a part of the path to success.
Fear of failure is a crucial element that makes change difficult for people. GR8 Leaders know how to help people adopt change. People fall into three groups; those who resist change, those who are undecided, and those who are early adopters.
It isn't wise to ignore those who resist change. And it isn't wise to spend much time trying to convince them to change. As a result, you need to learn how to handle all three groups of people better. Check out course 11 - Help People Adopt Change.
So, it is better to revise this capacity to be...
Healthy Innovation – Beneficial Change.
Communication
GR8 Leaders encourage a free exchange of ideas. So, you check out course 3 to learn how to communicate clearly, briefly, and persuasively. Clear communication helps you get things done.
You may not realize this, but excellent communication starts with something other than your speaking or writing. Exceptional communication begins with clear thinking! Your personality can help, but clear communication is a learned skill. When you use structure, you elevate your ability to communicate clearly. The Classic Form, Rule of 3s and 4s, and Recipes are excellent tools for creating clear and powerful communication.
Finally, being a great communicator requires paying attention to good values. You decide not to use your exceptional communication skill to manipulate people. Instead, you use it to influence people to higher values and performance.
So, it is better to revise this capacity to be...
Exceptional Communication – Honest and Clear.
If you want more instruction on communication, click here to see more about our THOUGHT-Talk System®. It is a separate workshop.