How you can become a leader in any organization

Some concern themselves with the question: Are leaders made or born? If leaders are only born, there is little you can do but wait but fortunately, research indicates that leaders are both made and born. However, Peter Drucker found that there is a single factor which is more important and it is required for leaders who are in either or both groups. Is it education? Connections? Action? Luck? Performance? Certainly, these factors and the situation can play a part, and the US Army breaks it down into three elements: Be, know, and do. However, Peter Drucker discovered that the key factor is a single decision that all leaders must make.

Drucker’s discovery of the single critical element

Drucker concluded that there was only one essential leadership decision, the first and most important decision which all rising leaders must make and will form the basis for all that follows: the decision to become a leader. Without it, no future leader will ever go forward.

Many want to be leaders but not all accept the challenge

The majority, even some who eventually become top leaders, may not really want to become leaders at first no matter what they say. They may be attracted by the prestige and other benefits that may go with being a leader. However, many, if not most, do not want the responsibility for bad decisions or erroneous judgments and are afraid that subordinates will not obey them, or that they will think their performance is poor even if they make the correct decisions.

An article in the Harvard Business Review cited a survey that found that only about 34 per cent of thousands of employees surveyed across many industries and corporations of all types really wanted to be managers of any unit in the organization. Only seven per cent really aspired to be a top ranked executive. Another study of undergraduate students in England found the percentage of those wanting to become leaders even lower. Most wanted responsibility only within their specialty and not on the actions of others. Those that were actually willing or sought to accept the responsibility of leadership felt they must wait until they were promoted to a leadership position to become one.

You do not need to be promoted to be a leader

Those that are not in leadership positions and want to be but are actively seeking promotion have this backward. Although there are exceptions, you must demonstrate that you are a leader, or at least show the potential for being a leader before first before being selected for promotion.

Some start incredibly early, even as a child by assisting parents or siblings by helping them in some way. By being a big brother, big sister, or a ‘little helper’ to one of their parents, they demonstrate their potential to themselves, acquire self-confidence and develop their skills very early.

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The woman who gave away pink Cadillacs

Mary Kay Ash, the lady who gained fame by giving away pink Cadillacs to her most successful salespeople, all of whom were women. She built the multi-billion dollar Mary Kay Cosmetics corporation starting with her life-savings of $5,000, but her leadership development started much earlier.

When Mary Kay was only seven years old her father fell ill with tuberculosis and could not take care of himself so her mother went to work to support the family. She was entrusted with taking care of her father and running the household by cleaning, shopping and cooking for herself and her father. When she had a question, she would call her mother and receive instruction over the phone. However, she accepted the responsibility and had the authority for domestic decisions while running the household during the day. She made Drucker’s decision to become a leader and became one before she even knew what leadership was.

Years later, after a successful career working for a large corporation but with limited opportunity to advance because she was a woman, she quit. She and her husband planned to start a cosmetics company with her $5,000 savings and his income. She borrowed the additional money needed, hired saleswomen and staff, rented a storefront and with a detailed business plan approved by the bank, she was all set to go. Then a month before she was going to open shop and before any sales, her husband died suddenly of a massive heart attack. Friends, the bank and everyone else advised her not to risk opening the company under these circumstances and sell the assets she acquired for the business. Instead, she modified her plan, borrowed more money and built what became a $3.6bn corporation.

General Ronald Fogleman’s advice to his officers

General Ronald Fogleman, once US Air Force chief of staff and the highest-ranking Air Force officer, told his officers and airmen: “If you want to be a leader, all you need to do is raise your hand.” He explained that there are numerous and desperately needed but unwanted leadership positions unfulfilled in any organization. In many cases, all one need to do is volunteer and take these positions. No one needs to wait for a promotion or an official assignment.

Frequently, the less desirable the job, the easier it is to become a leader

One of the least wanted of the non-paid jobs available in many organizations is that of running the annual organizational savings bond or fundraising campaigns that require voluntary contributions of time or money. These positions are required and needed in every department, and they are usually easy to obtain, as few seek them.

How a new engineer moved up quickly

A few years ago, a young engineer graduated from college and acquired an entry-level job as a design engineer at a large corporation. He had only been working for a few months when his boss, the department manager, called him into his office. He told him that once a year it was the custom of the company to have a US savings bond drive throughout the corporation. Every department had its own bond drive manager and the employee selected to run it was usually the most recent hire in that department.

It was voluntary and there was no financial compensation or reward for this additional assignment. Most employees had already purchased a few bonds in previous years, so convincing them to buy more was a challenge. The young engineer agreed to accept the responsibility for being bond drive manager in his department that year.

All of the other bond drive managers in other departments simply got a list of employees in their departments and called them by phone asking them to participate by purchasing additional savings bonds. This new engineer did things differently, he insisted on seeing every engineer personally and went well-prepared. He researched written material from the government regarding the advantages of buying US savings bonds. He obtained a book on selling from the corporation library and put sales techniques from the book into practice when he met fellow engineers. He was always pleasant and enjoyed meeting and talking with his associates. He made friends with them and, most importantly, he sold a lot of bonds.

There was a large chart in the company cafeteria, which graphically compared bond sales in each department. His department sales were far greater than other departments and Other department heads, as well as other executives, wanted to know why the sales in his department were so high. The answer the department head gave was straightforward. It was this new employee who not only visited every employee in the department but called every engineer or other employee that was traveling and talked with them too. Sales soared and his were so far ahead of every other department’s bond sales that the president of the company noticed and called the department manager to find out what was going on. The bond sales campaign was over in a month, but it was not forgotten, nor was the young bond salesman.

When an engineering project came up that required job overtime and hard work, his department manager gave the job to him although he was not the senior engineer in his department. As expected, he did a superb job. When the department manager was moved to a different job, he recommended the young engineer for his replacement. He was not selected, but when a new engineering department was formed, he was named department manager. Only a few years later, he became the company’s youngest vice president.

According to General Fogleman, you can become a leader immediately by making this critical leadership decision and volunteering for an unpopular job that needs a leader, showing what you can do by executing it as best you can. To begin, make your decision to become a leader and take action by raising your hand to become one.

References

A Class with Drucker by William A. Cohen (AMACOM, 2008)
The Practical Drucker by William A. Cohen (AMACOM, 2013)
Consulting Drucker by William A. Cohen (LID, 2019)
Drucker’s Way to the Top by William A. Cohen (LID, 2019)