Does the ‘How’ matter as much as the ‘What’

Does the “how” matter as much as the “what” ?

Had a fun conversation on the endeavor to “elevate the leadership culture” by raising the bar on how leaders deliver their what. It’s a cool idea when everything is already “good” but what if isn’t all good yet?

video transcript

I got into an interesting conversation the other day where a friend was talking about their organization wanting to “elevate their leadership culture”. Their belief was that GOOD leadership tops out when you’re doing most or all the right things … GREAT leadership requires not just the WHAT but also the HOW.

The idea was to hold their leaders to a higher standard, meaning they are not only doing the right things but doing them in the right ways.  One builds on the other and that’s how you get from good to great in a leadership culture.

That got me thinking, what if a “leader” isn’t doing both well at both?

• They could be getting tasks done but abusing or neglecting the people
• They could be a really nice person but not actually an effective leader of people towards shared goals

Either one kind of cancels out the other to be somewhat mediocre … which might be okay if they’re an entry-level manager or they’ve never managed before (or in a long time), but if the idea is to hold leaders to a higher standard — this isn’t it.

Or worse, what if someone in a leadership role is both ineffective at leading people … and their style is brutal, or absent, or unethical.

The point is = if the HOW actually does matter as much as the WHAT and that’s how you’ll go from good to great … then does the senior leadership team have honest way to recognize when one or both of those attributes are not being consistently demonstrated by people in positions of authority; to either fix them or fix the situation.

Maybe elevating your culture doesn’t start with leaping from good to great – but first just solving the leadership aspects that aren’t yet good? Not every senior person is an effective, or good, or great leader of people. Every org is different and different types of leaders fit different molds. I didn’t have answers for my friend as much as more questions, so please leave your thoughts below.

See you next Monday