As published in the Winnipeg Sun. It’s not Magic! It’s Leadership. So says Disney and so says the latest McKinsey Consultants survey on what makes successful leaders. The recent McKinsey survey of over 1,000 executive participants for instance suggests that those leaders who continue to be passionate about their work and satisfied with their lives in general apply a number of personal principles to their daily lives. This includes understanding and applying personal strengths, employing a positive attitude to frame their views of various problems, creating a focus on networking and connecting, engaging in calculated risks and managing personal energy.

As an executive recruitment and human resource professional, I wholeheartedly agree with these findings, particularly as they fully support my own experience in recruiting, selecting and coaching senior executives. Yet, at the same time, these well balanced executives and CEOs do not just naturally come by these competencies, but rather they have learned and developed them over time.

While most senior leaders have, at one time or another, attended intensive learning workshops typically of three days in length or more, many are finding that the most effective means of learning and applying these skills is by implementing a more practical program. One such program, called “Results Centred Leadership”, is delivered over a six month time frame and meets just this need.

As outlined by the McKinsey survey, I wholeheartedly agree that it is critical that leaders first understand themselves, their personality and communication style, their leadership strengths and their areas of challenge. This awareness is accomplished through a number of assessments that incorporate both an intuitive view as well as a factual overview.

In many cases, while an individual may feel currently satisfied with a skill level, in order to progress in their career they need to expand their skillset to a higher level. Thus, the first assessment in the Results Centred Leadership program allows individuals to examine their strengths and challenges from this point of view. In addition, I utilize a psychometric assessment tool called “self management pro” as this allows us to identify specific leadership competencies including emotional intelligence, comfort with conflict, people orientation and achievement orientation.

Although I agree that positive thinking and the ability to connect and build networks are important for leadership success, in my view, these alone are not quite sufficient.  In fact, my personal experience suggests that these “soft skills” need to be accompanied by a strong ability to set personal and professional goals for both the leader and the organization.  A leader who can effectively set goals at the strategic and operational level, to apply a SMART goal approach, will eventually outpace other leaders who lack this skill. Setting these goals is not easy. Leaders must be able to see the end goal, examine the barriers that will hinder achieving the goal and understand what factors in the organization will support the goal.

But it is not enough for the leader to be able to set goals, they must ensure that all of their management team and all employees for that matter learn and apply a SMART goal approach. This means the following:

Specific – a specific goal answers the questions of who, what, when, why and applies a timeframe for completion.

Measureable – leaders must set specific concrete criteria for measuring ongoing progress and define what ultimate success looks like. Measurements such as “how many”, “how much” and “when for” need to be identified.

Attainable – this element ensures that the goal is attainable considering the resources, skills and organizational capacity to reach the goal. Identify the supports in your organization.

Realistic – while a goal needs to generate excitement and enthusiasm, it must also be realistic and reasonable. Otherwise, it will act as a demotivator for employees.

Timely – stating an end date for a goal serves to provide a timeframe for employees. This allows them to plan and manage their time.

Lee Cockerell, in his new book about human resource management at Disney World, suggests that their success has been built not simply on magic but on hard work and leadership. In my view, the key elements of this hard work and leadership is for leaders to first learn about their personality and leadership style and next to learn to effectively apply and monitor their SMART goals at both the personal and professional levels.


Source: Disney World: It’s Not Magic, It’s Work, HR Daily Advisor, Centred Leadership Through the Crisis: McKinsey Survey Results, McKinsey Quarterly, October, 2009.