The Benchmark Email

...benchmarks, strategies and ideas for improving your agency
A service of Fazzi Associates, Inc.

September 15, 2003

New Insights Into
What Makes an Exceptional Leader

Question:
In the home care field as well as all other fields, questions always come up as to what makes a great leader. Are there any new insights or research now available on traits of a great leader?

Answer:
To say that there are new studies on leadership would surprise no one. What is a surprise, however, is that one of the most interesting findings comes from a research project where the focus was not on leadership. The findings come from a national study of publicly traded companies that demonstrated exceptional performance (average of 6.9 times the stock market) over an extended, fifteen year period of time.

In his national best selling book Good to Great (2001), Jim Collins and his research team analyzed the public filings of over 1,400 organizations and reviewed nearly 6,000 articles. They ultimately discovered eleven organizations in different industries that met their rigid criteria for greatness – major turnaround and sustained (15 years) exceptional performance. They then began a methodical analysis to identify organizational commonalities of these "great" organizations. Structure, strategies, and technology were high on their list; leadership was not. In fact, Collins reports that he encouraged his colleagues to look beyond leadership thinking it was "too simplistic." What he discovered was that leadership was far from simplistic and, in fact, a particular style of leadership was found in the leaders of all the great companies.

All the company CEOs (100%) exhibited the same key leadership traits. All demonstrated personal humility with zealous professional commitment and will to make their organizations world class leaders in their industry. All were "fanatically driven, infected with an incurable need to produce results." All were somewhat modest and focused on the success of their company rather than self promotion. All accepted responsibility when things went wrong but were quick to share credit when things went right. And all exhibited all five traits of the Leadership Pyramid.

Source: Good to Great (2001), Jim Collins, Page 20

How important is leadership? Steve Schroeder, MD, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation stated that in evaluating the success of hundreds of major grants, the single most important factor that distinguished successful projects from unsuccessful, was the strength and competence of the leader. No doubt, many of them were Level 5 leaders.

The question then, for home care leaders is, "Where do you stand on the leadership pyramid?" Better yet, what can you do to increase your competence and ultimately move to a Level 5? Given the importance of leadership, strengthening your personal and professional skills clearly represents a direction worth considering.