Executive or Leader? Is one always the other?

Leadership Inspires Excellence

I would imagine you are already asking, “What does he mean by that?” Well, in my fifteen years in the marketing industry I’ve found that there are far too many “executives” who definitely are not leaders. Conversely, I’ve found a lot of leaders who don’t hold a “C” title: CEO, COO, CFO, CMO, you get the idea. These executives are really just managers. They manage tasks. Unfortunately, they don’t have the skills to inspire and lead people. As you read on,  I will share my experiences in the marketing and advertising arena to show you that you quite likely have the skills to be a leader and just haven’t practiced them enough to be confident.

It amazes me how many executives will spend hundreds of thousands, if not millions, on external marketing efforts and forget the most important marketing asset they have: their people. I consistently ask, “If you can’t lead your company’s team and gain their trust, how do you intend to bring customers to trust your brand?” That question is usually met with a blank stare or profanities.

Understand that decision making, communication, confidence, resolving conflict, holding people accountable, these are all skills a leader must possess to help a leader move his team to success. However, all of these skills are of little value if they are not founded in honesty and trust. If your team (whether that be two people or two-hundred people) cannot firmly believe that you have their best interests at heart, you will have very little chance of being seen as a leader, possibly a dictator, but not a leader.

Here is a perfect example. We have a client that is a franchise company with more than 13,000 franchisees worldwide. My team works closely with the marketing department, providing services across the marketing and public relations spectrum. There are, without question, some potential leaders in that marketing department. I wish I could say the same about the president and CEO of the company. Their only concern is “me, myself, and I.”

While the company does see success, they succeed in spite of the actions of the C-level positions. The marketing team feels as though they are no more than “yes men.” They no longer want to bring ideas to the C-level simply because they are tired of being shot down. They recognize that they are not valued and are seen more as an expense. No one in the marketing department trusts that the executive group has the employees’ best interests at heart. Regrettably, this is the feeling from the vast majority of people within the company, including franchises. Just imagine what this company and its people could accomplish with true leadership instead of mere executives.

Another of our clients, an insurance brokerage firm, operates in a similar fashion. However, there is hope. This company is a family owned corporation where the father is the president and CEO. He exhibits none of the qualities of a leader, the least of which are honesty and trust. He trusts none of his employees. Therefore, none of his employees trust him. Furthermore, many of his employees find humor in anything negative that happens to the company. There is simply an aura of fear and contempt present when he is in the office.

The hope resides in the son who will one day run the company. He is loved and trusted by every member of the company. He shows respect and gratitude to everyone, and genuinely wants to see each employee put in a position to utilize their individual strengths and flourish. While I know the results of this type of leadership, I am constantly amazed at the level of productivity I see when his father is away and he is in the leadership role. Employees confide in me how much they love working for this guy. The dichotomy could not be any clearer. Leadership, not dictatorship, produces positive response and remarkable results.

Okay, so we’ve covered the real foundation of what it takes to be a leader: honesty and trust. Let’s not forget some of the other skills I mentioned earlier. An effective leader has to be a good communicator, a good listener, make tough decisions, resolve conflict, delegate, and hold team members accountable. Having your heart in the right place, but not being able to communicate and inspire, will only get you so far.

A colleague and good friend of mine exemplifies this perfectly. The guy has a great heart. He really wants to see his team succeed. He says he wants open communication; that he wants to listen, and he doesn’t want to micro-manage. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” My friend is so emotional that he can’t calmly make a tough decision or communicate what he really wants. He does everything he can possibly do to make the team resent him, then proceeds to say, “I’m sorry.” While we can all appreciate the stress that leaders endure, after a while, all that this type of behavior creates is assumptions and confusion. And we all know where those little beauties take us.

Up to this point, I’ve illustrated three situations in which only one of five executives truly displayed the qualities and practiced the skills necessary to be a leader. Ah, yes! I said practiced. It is quite possible that every one of these executives, at one point, had the skills to be a leader. And for unknown reasons, each of them decided to quit practicing those skills and they became weak to nonexistent.

I challenge myself everyday to practice these skills. I actually read some form of leadership material (whether that be the Bible or leadership book) everyday and have a list of leadership skills taped to my desk as a reminder to put them into practice. I know that I can easily slip into bad habits without that practice. Just like any star athlete, one needs to continue practicing to keep one’s skills sharp.

Then there is the accountability factor. I have learned that if I expect others on my team to be accountable, I, then, must be accountable as well. How can I ask something of someone that I am not readily willing to do myself? So who holds me to account? Well, there is my God, my wife, my kids, my employees, my colleagues, and my friends. I ask them to point out my flaws and to let me know when I am falling short in the practice of my leadership skills.

So let’s tie this up with a few simple questions that require only “yes” or “no” answers and a final point.

Am I an executive? Yes. Does this title automatically bestow upon me the right to call myself a leader? No.

Like everything else worth having, being a leader takes hard work. It requires me to think of others first. It calls me to be open and honest, especially when I fail. It means I have to be calm in the midst of conflict and make tough decisions. Being a leader, at times, means being unappreciated.

However, if you are willing to practice the skills it takes to be a leader and will accept accountability from others, the reward of watching others grow, as people and leaders on the way to success, is immeasurable.