Summary: Results-Based Leadership

Review and Analysis of Ulrich, Zenger and Smallwood's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511018170
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Leadership
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger and Norm Smallwood's book: `Results-Based Leadership: How Leaders Build the Business and Improve the Bottom Line`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger and Norm Smallwood's book `Results-Based Leadership` highlights that a leader's effectiveness can be measured by a simple equation - effective leadership is based on 4 Key Leadership Attributes and 4 Key Stakeholder Groups. In their book, the authors explain each of these features and how you can implement them to set direction, generate staff commitment, build organisational capabilities and demonstrate personal character. This summary is a must-read for any leader who wants to find management techniques that will deliver meaningful results.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
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To learn more, read `Results-Based Leadership` and discover the key to management that gets results.

Summary of Results-Based Leadership (Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger, Norm Smallwood)

Section 1
The 4 Key Leadership Attributes

Main Idea

Business leadership is a dynamic combination of who leaders are, what they know and what they do. Effective business leaders do four key things well:

1. They set direction.
2. They generate a commitment from each person.
3. They build organizational capabilities.
4. They demonstrate personal character.

Supporting Ideas

Taking each of these four key leadership activities in turn:

1. Effective leaders set direction.
   Leaders position their organizations advantageously so they can take advantage of the new and emerging opportunities of the future rather than being welded to the past. In other words, they anticipate the future, articulate an inspiring vision of future success and allocate resources in ways that enhance action towards that future. Leaders turn their vision into tangible actions and ultimately into actual results.
2. Effective leaders generate individual commitment.
   The very best leaders don’t try and do everything themselves. They engage others in the achievement of a common objective. In particular, leaders dedicate the time, energy and focus needed to ensure everyone in the organization is committed to the same goal. These are collaborative relationships, wherein the leader has shared power and authority in order to allow others to have meaningful levels of participation.
3. Effective leaders build organizational capability.
   For an organization, its capability are those processes or practices by which added value is created. Effective leaders translate their vision into practices and processes in five different ways:
   1. By building a strong organizational infrastructure.
   2. By leveraging diversity.
   3. By forming and deploying effective teams.
   4. By developing productive human resource systems.
   5. By acting as a catalyst for change and growth.
   Organizational capability can be highly leveraged -- it can outlive the career of the leader who built it and it can generate the synergy by which results far beyond those that could be achieved individually will be realized.
4. Effective leaders demonstrate personal character.
   Character, in its purest sense, is a blend of personal behaviors, habits, skills and personality characteristics. Leaders with character are honest and open, have the ability to inspire, are fair-minded and supportive, practice whatever they preach and create in others a positive self-image. The most effective leaders possess character in abundance and depth.

Results-based leadership states that while each of these key leadership activities are important and essential, the final measure of effective leadership must always be the actual results generated. In other words, the attributes of a leader must connect directly to the results accomplished.

The benefits of evaluating leadership by the results rather than by any other factor are:

• Productivity becomes freed from the constraints of hierarchy and the limitations of position.
• The leader’s role becomes defined in terms of practical action. That is, the leader’s agenda is clarified and transparent.
• Effectiveness becomes unambiguous -- it is measured by comparing results against objectives.
• Everyone in the organization becomes more motivated because there is accountability and clarity.

Key Thoughts

“Let me state a personal bias that leadership is really a matter of character. The process of becoming a leader is no different than the process of becoming a fully integrated, healthy human being.”

– Warren Bennis, author

“It is not enough to have mastered the attributes of leadership; effective leaders must connect attributes to results.”

– Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger & Norm Smallwood

“The leadership pendulum, which has in recent years swung too far to the attribute side of the equation and stayed there too long, must start its return swing towards the results side of the equation. When leaders fail to exhibit concern for results, however many attributes they possess, they will ultimately be ineffective and their tenures unproductive.”

– Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger & Norm Smallwood

“Leaders exhibiting attributes without results have ideas w...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of Results-Based Leadership (Dave Ulrich, Jack Zenger, Norm Smallwood)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright