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FUNDAMENTALS
OF LEADERSHIP

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Table of Contents

Introduction 3

Leadership Skills 5

Leadership Attributes 8

Schofield’s Definition of Discipline 11

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INTRODUCTION

The question of whether leaders are born or built has long been a debate among
scholars. It seemed certain individuals were “born leaders.” They were either
triumphant in their goals or they were failures. Historians traditionally focused on a
leader’s final outcome, with little attention to what made him effective or the time in
between successes or failures. What was happening behind the spotlight?

One major observation is that leaders evolve, spending many years, developing and
refining their talents. For example, Tim Cook who successfully followed Steven Jobs
as the CEO of Apple, was a manager at Apple for more than 22 years before earning
the seat of CEO. His experiences at Apple, from Senior VP of Worldwide Operations
to interim CEO during Steven Job’s illness, helped contribute to his learning and future
success.

Cook is one of many examples showcasing the slow, steady rise to leadership,
confirming the evidence that leaders are not born but rather evolve over time. Even
though certain inherited traits foster some abilities, leadership is a skill. Like all skills,
leadership requires learning and practice.

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Leadership is defined as “the action of leading a group of people

or an organization.” Although this definition is overly simplified, the
key word here is action. Leadership is about actively influencing
groups and individuals toward accomplishing a goal.

In order to improve your abilities to lead others, it is helpful to

understand that leadership is a set of skills supported by positive
personal attributes. Most often, leadership styles fall into seven
categories, but it’s their personal traits that determine whether they fail or achieve long-
term success.

In 1726, a twenty-year-old Benjamin Franklin recognized that success in his life

would depend on his ability to improve himself. He identified thirteen virtues that he
could improve to become a more productive and valuable member of society. With
each virtue, Franklin graded his daily progress and reviewed his performance to find
additional areas of improvement.

There is a timeless lesson from Franklin’s efforts. In order to

improve your leadership abilities, first determine what to focus
on and improve. Leadership is a vast subject, and deciding
where to begin and how to start can be overwhelming. Think of
leadership as two parts—skills and attributes. Leadership skills
are the actions conducted to better organize and execute a plan.
Leadership attributes are personal traits that help you better
exercise your skills.

Over the course of a career, numerous skills and attributes serve as stepping-stones
for developing leaders. While it helps to be an industry expert when leadership
opportunities arise, any aspiring leader can focus on a few primary skills and attributes.
Focusing on a few qualities does not devalue the importance of other skillsets or
personality traits, but rather, offers a foundational starting point for developing the
leadership skills and attributes necessary to succeed.

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LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Individuals must master two primary skills to become an effective

leader—planning and decision-making. Honing a plan and
projecting its outcome is a core skill of all leaders. Accompanying
the plan is a need for decision-making. Decisions are equal
parts art and science, and no two decisions are the same.
Understanding how your mind works helps to avoid some of the
main cognitive biases that result in poor decision-making. Begin
leadership mastery with a solid plan and firm decision to hone
these two skills.

Planning
One of a leader’s primary functions is formulating plans. Accomplishing a complex goal
requires imagination and thinking deeply about ideal outcomes and associated risks.
Two techniques will help improve your planning—backwards planning and scenario
planning.

The future is unknown, which is the main reason planning is so difficult. Information will
always be imperfect, and results will be affected by random events. While you cannot
account for all variables, you must create the best plan possible with the information
and resources available and maintain flexibility as the project moves forward and
changes are required.

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The US Army spent more than 200 years studying the most efficient ways to plan for
uncertain futures, and adopted a methodology that is also effective for planning any
complex business project. Eschewing traditional thinking that begins with a review
of current resources and possible outcomes, the Army instead uses a process called
backwards planning.

Backwards planners begin by projecting themselves into the

future and thinking deeply about what complete success entails.
What would the future look like if the project ended perfectly?
What are the trade-offs?

Beginning with the ideal end result, planners ask the question,
“What major task must be accomplished just prior to this
task?” They continue asking this question while identifying major tasks in reverse
sequence until they arrive at their present state and time. Only after the major tasks
are determined do they consider constraints, such as time, money, people, knowledge
etc. Backwards planning allows decision makers to quickly understand the scope of a
project.

In Summary, any team with an end goal can use backwards planning to outline their
course of action. First, identify the best possible outcome and identify major tasks and
milestones. Then, review the plan in light of constraints such as your team’s expertise,
resources, tools, money, time etc.

Once you have an understanding of what it will take to

accomplish the base plan, look at other potential scenarios.
Think of scenario planning like insurance. You might buy fire
insurance for your home because the potential loss is financially
devastating, even though the likelihood of your house catching

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fire is minuscule. You buy insurance because it greatly mitigates risk for a small price.
It’s wise to have a fall-back plan for each highly variable factor.

Your goal is to understand the probability of each potential outcome and be prepared.
For instance, what if a vendor does not deliver on time or a key member of the team
is unavailable? You might place the order with the vendor an additional four weeks
early and identify a potential backup to a key employee. Imagine the obstacles
and put reasonable contingencies in place. Increase your chances of success by
understanding potential outcomes in advance; you will be much better prepared if and
when they occur.

Decision Making
Of the two key leadership skills, decision-making is the most difficult. Many leaders fall
into a loop of indecision in the face of imperfect information, unknown variables and
limited resources. So, many unforeseen factors play into the end result.

Leaders are trying to make decisions about future uncertainties, and many fall into
an information trap that leads to endless indecision. They attempt to make the “right”
decision by gathering more and more information in order to reduce uncertainty; but
information gathering consumes time, and at some point, more information becomes
difficult to process and analyze accurately. They overlook the value of adjusting a plan
while it is in progress.

Making a quick decision with imperfect information is almost

always preferable to endless waffling. Beware of a quick
decision made with poor information—it should not be an
impetuous one. A decent plan executed now is far more valuable
than a “perfect” plan far in the future. Harness the ability to
adjust a plan as the future unfolds. No plan can be perfect in
light of infinite variability. Perfect is the enemy of good enough.
Making decisions quickly based on the best information
available; it will improve your overall project performance.

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LEADERSHIP
ATTRIBUTES
Success as a leader depends on your ability to plan and make
decisions, but those skills are only one part of the puzzle. Success
also depends on your ability to motivate and connect with the
team. To begin, self-acceptance and self-confidence are necessary
for earning the support and cooperation of others. Connecting with
them means building rapport each individual. You cannot treat
everyone exactly the same, there are all different types of people
with differing interests, communication styles and needs.

Respect, empathy and focus are the three personal attributes to begin building your
leadership foundation. These three attributes promote influence, and you can apply
them to any situation in life. They are necessary for successfully managing a team.

In 1879, Major General John M. Schofield, delivered an address to the corps of cadets
(see bottom for full address) at West Point which later became known as Schofield’s
Definition of Discipline. General Schofield served in the Army for more than 40 years,
and he was a pivotal figure in the push to improve professionalism in the Army. Every
cadet at West Point and the Airforce Academy is required to memorize and know
his address, because it is considered a first step to understanding the foundation of
leadership.

Schofield understood that respect is a foundation of trust.

Leaders must have a deep regard and admiration for their
team members. If there is no respect, trust cannot be built. The
absence of respect breeds conflict and passive resistance to
your plans. By first giving respect, leaders are more likely to
earn the respect of their team members.

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Closely linked to respect is empathy, the second primary

attribute of a true leader. Empathy is the ability to understand
and even feel the emotion of others. People are not robots. They
have hopes and dreams, and a complex mix of feelings that
affect their day-to-day work. You must be sympathetic to their
humanity.

Many older leadership styles promoted a distant and almost brusque style of
interacting with subordinates, but science points to a very different paradigm. Effective
leaders strive to be sensitive and understand the feelings of their team. Team members
are more likely to give their “all” to a project and their leader when they feel respected
and understood.

To be an empathetic leader, you must learn what motivates the

individual members of your team. Different factors motivate
different people. Knowing those motivators will help you devise
strategies for keeping team members action-oriented and
productive.

Ensure the team understands your reasoning when making decisions. Answering
questions about why they are doing something goes a long way toward enlisting their
support, even when they disagree. Whenever feasible, include them in decisions and
consider how each individual might perceive your decisions. A little foresight will help
garner goodwill and support, especially if you have to make an unpopular decision
that makes their jobs more difficult. Empathy will help you navigate issues before
they arise. Regularly ask yourself, “How will each member of the team feel about this
decision?”

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Respecting team members and being empathetic to their needs does not mean
you forgo accountability or “take it easy” with their duties and responsibilities. You
are leading a team where each member has an important role. In many cases, the
team is only as strong as its weakest player. Individual performance reflects on the
overall team and has the potential to determine outcomes. It is possible to enforce
accountability within the bounds of respect and empathy while
recognizing that sometimes players have to be replaced. As
a team leader, you will have to make changes if performance
does not meet standards, weather that means reassignment or
replacement. Being able to identify when it is time to remove
someone from the team is one of the most important component
for long-term leadership positions.

The final leadership attribute is focus on the mission. Keep your attention on the
overall mission, and do not lose sight of the most important part of the project. The
goal transcends the team; it is the reason the team exists. Whether you are leading a
business or a team within a business, results are vital. Focus on the mission without
giving in to distractions.

US Army Rangers think of a mission in very dire terms. Intense focus on mission
accomplishment is one reason Rangers are so successful on the battlefield. Intense
focus on accomplishing the mission is always of the utmost importance.

There is no cookie cutter formula to becoming a successful

leader. It begins with the realization that leadership is a skill, and
like any other skill it can be learned and improved upon. You will
be able to begin building a leadership foundation and a lifetime
of continuous improvement by focusing on developing a small
set of fundamentals.

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SCHOFIELD’S DEFINITION
OF DISCIPLINE

“The Discipline which makes the soldiers of a free country reliable in battle is not to be
gained by harsh or tyrannical treatment. On the contrary, such treatment is far more
likely to destroy than to make an army. It is possible to impart instructions and give
commands in such a manner and such a tone of voice, as to inspire in the soldier no
feeling, but an intense desire to obey, while the opposite manner and tone of voice
cannot fail to excite strong resentment and a desire to disobey. The one mode or the
other of dealing with subordinates, springs from the corresponding spirit in the breast
of the commander. He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot help but
inspire in them regard for himself, while he who feels and hence manifests disrespect
toward others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.”

John M. Schofield
Major General US Army 1879

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