The 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership
By Barbara Brown, Ph.D.

"Personal and Organizational effectivenessis proportionate to the strength of leadership."

-John Maxwell, Author

In their book, The Leadership Challenge, James Kouzes and Barry Posner describe the practices of individuals who exhibit exemplary leadership. These individuals interact with others in a manner that inspires commitment and dedication to the pursuit of organizational goals. Use these practices to increase cooperation and maximize the performance of everyone you work with. And remember, Leadership Is Everyone's Business!

Practice 1: Inspire A Shared Vision. Whether your focus is a task, project, or organizational initiative, clearly communicate what you see as a future outcome and result. Share your expectations using vivid, clear, and concrete images. Use positive language, slogans, and metaphors. Portray a high-level of personal sincerity and commitment.

Practice 2: Challenge The Process. Establish opportunities for responsible risk-taking by researching the Best Practices as well as Mistakes of other offices, departments, or organizations. Encourage others to explore new and different ways of solving problems or improving processes. Create a safe environment for risk-taking by examining mistakes from a perspective of lessons learned.

Practice 3: Enable Others To Act. Provide individuals with as much control as possible over the resources they need to do the job. Ensure that everyone is "in the know" and has access to required information and resources. Focus on gains, possibilities, opportunities, and potentialities rather than losses, setbacks, or failures. Foster collaboration by promoting "common goals" and using inclusive words such as we, us, and our when talking about accomplishments or plans.

Practice 4: Model The Way. Make the connection between individual performance expectations and organizational vision, mission, and values. Develop a mantra or focusing question that allows you to be consistent in your message. For instance, if "customer service" is your emphasis, you might have as a foundational question: "How will this action or activity allow us to better serve our customers?" Practice what you preach-be as dedicated and devoted as you expect others to be.

Practice 5: Encourage From The Heart. Celebrate "small wins." In other words, give praise or have a pizza lunch for progress toward the goal, not just after you have accomplished the goal. Better yet, put celebrations in your goal-achievement action plan. Find individuals who are doing Things Right and reinforce as well as highlight their performance. Create Pygmalions. That is, expect the Best and you will likely get the Best.

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PERMISSION TO REPRINT: Articles, Tips, and Tools can be reprinted in company newsletters or magazines. If placed electronically, a Live Link to Dr. Brown's website must be included. Please use the following credit for every item: Dr. Barbara Brown shows organizations how to use High-Performance Leadership to create the kind of links among people, goals & performance that produce positive results. For more tips, visit: www.DrBarbaraBrown.com or email: Barbara@DrBarbaraBrown.com.