The Four Foundations of Leadership

I have been fortunate throughout my career to interact directly with hundreds of CEO’s and their executive teams of international companies. For 15 years prior to the creation of Bradford Clark I was in the role of CEO, Senior Operations Vice President and Director of four international companies and Director, Vice President and Partner with two top 5 global strategy consulting companies. Since the creation of Bradford Clark Group in 1996 I have had the opportunity of working with hundreds of international executives and their teams in over 4,000 hours of executive coaching and 3,000 hours of counseling. Much knowledge and wisdom has been gained pertaining to effective leadership.  

The experiences and knowledge I have gained has been a rich source for insight into the makeup of leaders and leadership qualities. It has provided a unique opportunity to understand the behaviors, styles and capabilities of the best and worst leaders. It has also been the basis of understanding why leaders fail when certain critical qualities of leadership are missing.  

Over the years, the business climate has changed dramatically. A global economy has emerged. Technology has become a driver in every business category. The speed of change has increased. New generations of leaders have succeeded previous generations and brought different values and styles to their companies. Research and gurus on leadership has suggested the potential importance of new leadership skills. Given this changing picture, the competencies required for successful leadership have changed and evolved with time.  

Despite all this change, I have continually observed three fundamental components of leadership that seem to have remained constant. These three components I have called The Four Foundations of Leadership.  

Indispensable Leadership Qualities    

Like gravity, which quietly did its work for several billion years before Newton had his revelation under the apple tree, or DNA, which has invisibly structured the bodies of all living things since the beginning of time, they may represent timeless principles or natural laws, necessary for building and guiding any successful human organization. If you carefully investigate the leadership of any thriving organization, past or present, you will find them. Even if nobody knows they are there, they will show up as:  

• Mindful
• Visionary
• Temperament
• Execution Leaders

 The Four Foundations of Leadership  

Using a method of statistical analysis called factor analysis, I have found that the skills, competencies, and personality traits of leader’s cluster into three fundamental building blocks or styles required of effective leaders. These have been labelled Visionary, Relationship Builder, and Execution Manager:  

Being Mindful- Mindfulness is often defined as ‘non-judgmental, moment to moment awareness’. As leaders, it can also be thought of as the cultivation of leadership presence. Being present is quite a complex assignment in a world and global economy that measures time in internet seconds, conceives of the past as the most reliable tool for analyzing and assessing how to proceed into the future, is increasingly interdependent and relational, and dedicates little or no time toward the development of presence in its leaders. But presence can be cultivated and is necessary for a leader to bring all of his/her mind’s capabilities to leadership.  

A mindful leader embodies leadership presence by cultivating focus, clarity, creativity, and compassion in the service of others. Leadership presence is a tangible quality. It requires full and complete nonjudgmental attention in the present moment. Those around a mindful leader see and feel that presence.

Being Visionary- Visionary’s see possibilities and inspire others with their vision. They are leaders who have the ability to articulate a compelling picture of a desirable future state and this picture motivates people to follow their lead. Based on their natural creativity and astute observations of the marketplace, the global economic environment, technology trends, scientific developments and consumer behavior, the Visionary generate new ideas, approaches, products or solutions. They are self-confident risk takers who create, sell, and drive the strategy of the organization. They are also effective public spokespersons, who use their enthusiasm and charisma to build confidence in the organization’s potential for success. They take charge, push for action, and instill a sense of urgency to achieve the organization’s goals. Many, if not most, entrepreneurs are Visionary.  

Leaders who are Visionaries have the following Intellect Qualities:

• Strategic Thinking;
• Contextual Thinking;
• Creative Assimilation;
• Decision Making, and
• Ethical Judgment

Temperament- Being a leader requires followers and the temperament of a leader will define his/her success or failure in building relationships and enlisting the support and capabilities of others. This requires outstanding social skills and emotional intelligence and the ability to read other people and connect with them. The Relationship Builder is the kind of leader who does this most effectively. They build followership by listening to others, understanding their needs, building relationships based on trust, reading the social dynamics of the team, showing respect and sensitivity, handling disagreements diplomatically and having a direct, sincere, approachable style. Their presence in an organization helps create a positive work environment. Leaders who are Relationship Builders develop loyalty by investing in building their relationships with their co-workers. They are open to the ideas of others and are willing to share power. Their social skills provide the personal glue that holds together the organization.  

Leaders who are Relationship Builders have the following Temperament Qualities:

• Emotional Intelligence;
• Dealing with difficult and contentious issues;
• Mental toughness and resilience  

Execution- Leaders who are effective Execution Managers provide structure, focus, discipline and a sense of priority to the organizations they lead. They are excellent administrators and are skilled at getting things done. Put simply, they know how to get results, accomplish objective and see projects to completion. They also sweat the details. Whereas Visionaries are only concerned with broad brush direction and high level strategy, the Execution Manager develops the tactical plans and operational disciplines that enable the execution of the vision. They can be counted on. Nobody needs to worry about their meeting commitments. In fact, they are quite skilled at being sure that others meet their commitments; they excel when it comes to holding others accountable. Managers of Execution put an organization's systems and processes in place and monitor and measure to be sure projects are completed on time and on budget. They are practical realists who are sensitive to boundaries and limits. It is the Execution Manager who provides the rigor and control necessary to keep the organization on course. 

Leaders who are Execution Leaders have the following Execution Qualities…

• Directional Clarity;
• People Enablement;
• Change Orchestration;
• Execution Process 

Importance of the Four Foundations of Leadership for Organizations 

Most organizations need a senior management team that possesses all of the qualities of the three essential Foundations of Leadership. If an organization is led by a CEO who has mastered the four leadership qualities this is the supreme case. However, it is rare that one leader has mastered all four leadership qualities. So, for example, a visionary then needs to surround him/herself with an executive team that possesses the other leadership three qualities. If all of the bases are not covered, the organization will falter. A results-driven Execution Leader may possess great project management skills and put in place practical tactical plans but fail to inspire others or create a long-term vision. The same is true for any one-sided leadership profile. For maximum effectiveness, all four leadership qualities must be represented.  

Importance of the Four Foundations of Leadership for Leaders  

To be a successful leader takes many diverse skills. Nobody has them all. In fact, nobody needs them all. There are many types of successful leaders, and many ways up the mountain. There is surely a style of leadership that suits each person’s unique characteristics, and other people he or she can partner with, who have complementary qualities and strengths.  

The essential message that my experience offers to companies and their leaders is: Be who you are. You don’t have to fit a rigid, per-determined mold. You don’t need to be discouraged because you don’t have a leadership profile of highly successful leaders. You just need to discover your natural leadership style and qualities and develop it to its fullest potential.  

We succeed in enterprises which demand the positive qualities we possess. If you are a Relationship Builder by nature, you will do best in your life and your career by sticking to that path. Trying to be an Execution Manager would probably be difficult and stressful; it’s not natural to you. By adhering to your natural inclinations and abilities, you will be most productive and make your greatest contribution because you are suited to that kind of work and life. And not only that you will also be most at ease, relaxed, and happy, because it is natural to you. The pioneering humanistic psychologist Abraham Marlow said, “A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.”   

 A Practical Tool   

• Knowledge of the Four Foundations of Leadership provides a way for you as a leader to:  
• Understand how to leverage your natural style and its natural assets;
• Recognize the potential problems that accompany your style;
• Think more systematically and deliberately about the makeup of the team you lead and how to build that team with people who have the full complement of leadership styles;  

Two Additional Factors

In my experience and research, I have uncovered two additional factors as the basis of these four foundations of leadership. I call these Consciousness Grounding and Contextual Grounding. The more these factors are lively in a leader, the higher he or she can rise in effectiveness.  

Conscious Grounding is a condition of centered self-acceptance, self-awareness, self-purpose, self-integrity, self-assertiveness, self-responsibility, and self-accountability. It is a state of inner calm, solidity, and stability. It is awareness of who and what is happening around you. It is people with a strong sense of Conscious Grounding who find it relatively easy to adapt, without losing their sense of self or their clarity of focus. They see the world as it is. They stay in the Now. Confident and inwardly secure, they are not worried about defending themselves, and are open to others' opinions and ways of doing things. They tend to be optimistic and to believe that things will work out well. Because they are comfortable with whom they are, they tend to be genuine and authentic, not trying to be something they are not. This inspires confidence in their followers.  

 "The truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing." - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching  

Contextual Grounding is the ability to see the big picture, and to formulate strategy based on an accurate perception and interpretation of things as they are – in business and in the world in general. Contextual grounding is inextricably bound up with personal grounding. “With eyes unclouded by longing,” the leader who is contextually grounded looks out at the world and watches the unrolling of destiny. He observes carefully the life story of the world and tries to align the organization’s direction as you would adjust the sails on a sailboat, to adapt his approach, his style, the style of the organization, to the patterns that are happening in the now. Contextual Grounding is about looking, with minimal bias, at what is happening, and making choices about where to go and what to do that reflect an accurate understanding of what the world actually is. 

Combining the Four Foundations of Leadership and the Groundings forms the basis of the most powerful and sustainably successful leadership. 

If you are interested in UNLOCKING-AWAKENING-DEVELOPING the FULL POTENTIAL of yourself and your leadership team contact me at: 

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (859) 550-1655 

You can also refer to my Website www.satiguru.com and LinkedIn profile “Tom B Clark” …