Leadership - A Framework

The consultant and author, Warren Bennis, once said, “Leadership is a lot like love. Everyone thinks it is special, but hardly anyone agrees on a definition.” Far be it from me to attempt an absolute definition, but decades of experience and endless books, articles, and podcasts on the subject have given me a perspective worth sharing in this document.

I make no claim on this being exhaustive, but the list represents a framework to help think about some of the more important elements of leadership. With a couple of obvious exceptions, I’ve refrained from prioritizing the respective topics, but I do believe the first point warrants its place at the head of the list. Thereafter, no order of priority should be inferred.

In compiling this framework, I was thinking specifically about the top job in an organization. While there are numerous people in top jobs who betray a deficit of leadership qualities, we also know many people who possess wonderful leadership qualities but who are, for a variety of reasons, not in the top jobs in their respective companies. This document speaks to the former but could certainly be used to assess the latter if they are being considered for the top position.

Sets the Direction for the Organization

Good leaders set the direction for the organization and reiterate those goals as often as possible. You can refer to them as headlines, bumper-stickers, or elevator pitches, but whatever you choose to call them is not as important as doing so repeatedly so that everyone in the company knows what the mission is.

Sets Long-term Plans with Near-term Pragmatism

Maintaining the longer-term vision of the organization is a central tenet of a leader’s responsibility. Becoming a slave to a given month or quarter may satisfy short-term cravings, but it should never threaten longer-term objectives. That said, a long-term goal that has merit should provide near-term wins and tangible evidence of long-term viability.

Can Change Course When Necessary

There are no points given for chasing lost causes or sending good money after bad, but leaders should be willing to navigate headwinds and setbacks. They should demonstrate a commitment to their plan, even when things don’t go smoothly. However, when circumstances dictate the plan itself is no longer viable, they must display the courage to shift direction and explain their actions to the team. Failure to do so can result in damage to the leader’s credibility, team morale, and even fuel suspicions of future plans.

Aligns People and Resources

Putting your people in the roles that give them the best opportunity to succeed should be fundamental but very often misaligns. You cannot put square pegs in round holes, no matter how positively you feel about a given employee. Likewise, asking a team to do a job without providing the necessary resources (people/process/budget/infrastructure etc.) is nothing but well-meaning delusions. Stop trying to fit people to an ideal, recognize their unique talents, and work with those. Then give them the tools to do the job.

Empowers and Gives Agency

When you have the right people and resources in place, let your team know they have your complete support and give them the space to do their jobs, That should include permission to make mistakes so they can learn from them. People need to feel respected and empowering them is the best way to show that respect, provide agency, and enable them to grow. If you want to lose quality people, go ahead and micro-manage them. ?

Sets the Standard and Walks the Talk

No matter what you say, your team will always determine who you are by what you do. Preaching without practicing is a sure-fire way to lose your people, and leader-inauthenticity is a deep hole to have to climb out of. If you make a mistake, own it. Walk your talk or change your conversation.

Is Empathic

If you don’t care about people you’ve no business being a leader. The 1980’s long-since called and asked for its autocrats and bullies back and if you still rule by fear, you’re not only in the wrong role, you’re in the wrong decade. Good leaders don’t use the pretense of listening as a precursor for dispensing their ‘leader-intellect’. They listen to learn, and to sincerely understand their employee’s point of view. They recognize that listening, in its truest form, can result in profound moments of mutual discovery. They demonstrate respect for their people and ask lots of open-ended questions such as “Tell me what you think? How would you approach this problem?”

Serves as a Resource for their People ?

There is a strong case to be made for the upside-down pyramid, where the leader is serving the team. Like most things, the premise is complex, but if you’ve put your people in positions to succeed, and you have provided both the clarity about what matters most and the resources to accomplish those goals – you can make an argument for the servant leader, where your most important role is being the go-to resource for your team. One of the simplest and most effective of questions is, “Tell me what you need from me?”

Drives Individual and Team Development

Every professional environment should proactively facilitate learning opportunities for its people. Growth and development are fundamental needs and employees actively participating in learning are much more likely to be positively engaged at work. The learning can take the form of internal and external classes and courses, formal and informal learning, and group and individual sessions. A culture of development can galvanize, empower, and help avoid the stasis that derails so many organizations as its top talent seeks greener pastures elsewhere.

Coaches and Mentors

A leader should consistently coach and mentor his or her people. There are myriad ways to do that and the effects of an occasional quiet word, or piece of advice, can have a lasting impact on team members. Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking “how are you doing?” and being fully present to listen to them after asking the question. A small win, or a disappointment, provides a good opportunity to ask a team member to walk you through their thought process during the project or interaction. You can then follow up with a few supportive words of counsel. An occasional meal (even a casual lunch in your office, or off-site) can also be a great platform to touch base and give personal time and attention to one of your people. Coaching and mentoring is all about leader mindset and the small investment of time is a worthy outlay in fostering employee engagement.

Invests in their Own Continued Development

Charlie Munger, the late vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway once said, “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time – none, zero.” Simply put, I cannot fathom anyone in a leadership role who does not continually invest in his or her own development, and who is not a habitual reader. There is an inherent obligation to remain curious and bring new ideas and approaches to your team from time to time. Constant reading will also lesson the infuriating habit of some leaders who read a single book every once in a great while and then foist their ‘remarkable discovery’ on the organization as if the wheel had just been reinvented.

Reiterates and Reinforces Best Culture Attributes

Culture is one of the most oft-misunderstood aspects of business, frequently reduced to bumper-stickers, catch phrases, and self-delusions. While it is true that a clearly defined culture can and should sustain through regime change, a leader has the opportunity – and in some cases, the obligation – to clearly establish what accepted norms are in the company. If the culture demands respect, honest communication, and psychological safety for all its employees, than the leader cannot be selective about when those principles are reinforced or ignored. The leader must set the tone and underscore the values of the organization in all matters, large and small, such that the culture becomes entrenched and understood by employees, new hires, customers, vendor-partners, and visitors alike.

Communicates Good and Bad News

Good leaders are honest and open in their communications. That includes appropriate acknowledgement of good news and, just as importantly, an honest sharing and contextual presentation of bad news. There is nothing worse than lying to your team by pretending things are okay when the opposite is true. Some leaders keep their people in the dark about challenges, arrogantly believing themselves to be the smartest person in every room. Good leaders, however, engage their teams in honest conversation, celebrating wins and working setbacks together.

Hires Talented People and Gets Out of Their Way

No leader will be an expert in all the important disciplines. You might be a sales driver and/or a good marketer and/or a good finance person, but it is unlikely that any given leader will excel in all the respective disciplines, including technology, product development, operations etc. Identifying the right talent to compliment or augment a leader’s skill set is critical and, having done so, empowering them to do the jobs they were hired to do. While that seems rudimentary, it is too often crushed amidst micro-management and a hail of second guessing. If you hired the right people, let them do their jobs. If not, hire better.

Moves on from Non-Performers

One of the hardest decisions leaders must make is firing people. This is particularly true when those employees are nice and/or tenured. If a leader enjoys firing people, please go back and check their empathy quotient. It should always be a hard decision to remove good people, and it ought to make you feel bad. That said, the first obligation of a leader is to the health of the entire business and to the whole team. As tough as firings can be, the business and the most productive employees are best served when everybody performs their role to the requisite standard. When removing people from their positions, it should always be done with dignity and respect and not, as many companies do, under the cover of darkness with nothing but inuendo and whispers left behind. Do it fast, do it with sensitivity and respect, and broker no tolerance for bad-mouthing or denigrating the departed employee once they’ve gone. ?

Fosters Collaboration, but Encourages Constructive Debate

One of the most important jobs of a leader is to foster collaboration on their team. Organizations will always be better for having everyone pulling in the same direction. That said, every leader and company should insist on respectful and constructive debate on important issues. Requiring and facilitating alternative points of view from within, and between, departments is the most effective way to combat groupthink. It doesn’t always feel great in the moment to have your newest idea challenged, but the company will ultimately be better for the debate.

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I hope you found this framework useful as you consider the essential elements to you and/or your organization. For those inclined to do so, this framework can easily be converted into questions to help interview internal or external candidates for leadership roles.

I’m always happy to hear from readers if you have questions or comments about my work.

All my very best,

Peter Smith

[email protected]

Under no circumstances can this document be reproduced in its entirety, or in parts, without the express written permission of the author.

Peter Smith, The Retail Smiths, January 20, 2025