TeacherAide
A weekly teaching aide for student developers

Common Unity 

SESSION 15

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ILLUSTRATING THE POINT

USC President Shares Leadership Lesson

Steve Sample is the president of the University of Southern California. In his book, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, Sample shares a leadership lesson he learned early in his career.

One of my earliest introductions to real leadership occurred in 1971, when I was named (at the tender age of thirty) to be deputy director for academic affairs of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. There I learned a great deal from the board's chairman, George Clements, who had made a name for himself as the man who built the Chicago-based Jewel Tea Company into a major national grocery chain.

When I first arrived at my post, Mr. Clements said, "Steve, let me give you some basic advice about leadership. You should spend a small amount of your time hiring your direct reports, evaluating them, exhorting them, setting their compensation, praising them, kicking their butts and, when necessary, firing them. When you add all that up, it should come out to about 10 percent of your time. For the remaining 90 percent of your time you should be doing everything you can to help your direct reports succeed. You should be the first assistant to the people who work for you."

Steve Sample, The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership (Jossey-Bass, 2002), p.121

 

THE MORE YOU KNOW

What makes a good leader? That question was asked by the Army War College in a study of highly regarded major generals in Iraq. Subordinates rated the officers anonymously. The responses, in order of importance:

1) Keeps cool under pressure.

2) Clearly explains missions, standards, and priorities.

3) Sees the big picture; provides context and perspective.

4) Makes tough, sound decisions on time.

One of the study's authors, General Walter Ulmer (retired), said, "One thing we found, is that it's still easier to teach technical skills than to teach people how to gain trust and build teams. Ulmer noted that many key behaviors are learned by example, so good leaders tend to produce more good leaders.

Lyric Wallwork, Parade (7-10-05), p.10

 

I THOUGHT I HEARD YOU SAY

“Leadership is like the Abominable Snowman, whose footprints are everywhere but who is nowhere to be seen.”     Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus 

“Perhaps the most central characteristic of authentic leadership is the relinquishing of the impulse to dominate others.”     David Cooper 

“Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there.”     John P. Kotter

“The first step to leadership is servanthood.”     John Maxwell 

“Leadership is the courage to admit mistakes, the vision to welcome change, the enthusiasm to motivate others, and the confidence to stay out of step when everyone else is marching to the wrong tune.”     E. M. Estes