Feature:
Leadership Relevance…
A Leader’s Edge for Driving Successful Corporations

Properly aligned, dynamic organization cultures are a powerful force in business and are essential to elevating a company to the next level. Such cultures instill tremendous intangible qualities – employee loyalty, high morale, passionate engagement, innovation and the willingness to seek change. All of which significantly impact tangible results: reduced operational and training costs, enhanced customer service, profitability and revenue growth. The key ingredient here is “leadership relevance.”

What are you doing to develop relevant leaders within your organization? Today’s leaders must develop the wisdom to identify with today's employees who span four different age generations, come from diverse and multi-cultural backgrounds, possess a wide-ranging work ethic and varied thinking style from what most are accustom.

History reveals wisdom is the most valuable component of leadership. It is the other extreme from arrogance and autonomy. Much of wisdom stems from our desire to understand our true self, our strengths and weaknesses. This is the right first step, but leadership relevance requires that we demonstrate a continuous commitment to excellence, a caring attitude, noble character that earns the trust of others, and a calming responsive demeanor in adverse situations.

Wisdom is often viewed as the cumulative knowledge attained from a leader’s years of experience in his/her chosen field of expertise. So what is a young leader to do who doesn’t have the years of experience? Successful leaders learn what they need to know. The young leader must understand that wisdom is a character trait, which must be painstakingly developed as the leader expands his or her perspective on life. Never underestimate what you already know, or refuse to act on what you know is right. Gut instinct is critical to the success of every leader. When wisdom calls, listen. Never refuse the wise counsel of others or the opportunity to discuss elusive issues amongst your peers. These are traits that distinguish you as a relevant leader and one who is committed to your people.

When Wegmans Food Markets of Rochester, NY, was recognized in 2005 as the number one company on FORTUNE Magazine's list of the “100 Best Companies to Work For,” Robert Wegman received accolades for his understanding of leadership relevance and building a great organizational culture. It is noteworthy that Wegman's motto is Our Employees Come First.

In their book, The Service Profit Chain, authors Heskett, Sussa and Schlessiger make the case that, "no matter what your business, the only way to generate enduring profits is to begin by building the kind of environment that attracts, focuses on and keeps talented employees." Unfortunately, during the "dot.com craze" many corporations became focused solely on the shareholders and lost focus on their employees and customers. I contend if you focus first on your employees, they will take care of your clients and customers, who in return will tell many others just how awesome your company is, and your shareholders will be most pleased with the outcome.

Data from researched performed by the business schools at Emory, Stanford and Harvard further supports this philosophy noting that for every 1% improvement you make in service climate you drive a 2% increase in revenue. Of course, it's the leaders who must create the right emotional climate.

Your ability to demonstrate leadership relevance resonates your values and vision throughout the organization and is a driving force in building a dynamic culture, which will sustain creativity, innovation and profitability for years to come.

Roger Blackstock is Founder & CEO of Peer Synergy Group (www.peersynergygroup.com), an Atlanta based organizational leadership and executive performance enhancement firm. Roger also serves as a Group Chairman for Vistage International (www.vistage.com), the world's leading chief executive organization with more than 14,000 members in 16 countries. Blackstock is a U.S. Army Veteran, business executive with more thirty years experience and trusted advisor to CEOs. For more information you can reach Blackstock at roger@peersynergygroup.com or 770.530.2383.