1. Be an Incomplete Leader
Norman Chorn
“Be a good leader. Be incomplete. Don't be perfect, don't even try............”
There is evidence that the best leaders are distinctly far from perfect and simply incomplete.
When I look at my personal skills, this is the best news I've heard in some time!
An older article in the July 2007 volume of the Harvard Business Review caught my
attention recently. In Praise of the Incomplete Leader is the collaborative work of a group of
authors that includes Peter Senge (the Learning Organisation) and Deborah Ancona. The
article resonated with me from the first read of the summary tag line:
“No leader is perfect. The best ones don’t try to be—they concentrate on honing their
strengths and find others who can make up for their limitations”.
The authors state that it is time to stop visualizing the complete leader as a person at the
top who has all the answers. They go on to say that leaders shouldn't even try to fill the gap.
As they say,
“….the sooner leaders stop trying to be all things to all people, the better off their
organizations will be. In today’s world, the executive’s job is no longer to command and
control but to cultivate and coordinate the actions of others at all levels of the
organization. Only when leaders come to see themselves as incomplete—as having both
strengths and weaknesses—will they be able to make up for their missing skills by relying
on others”.
A quick summary of the author's findings suggests that a leader should focus on four
essential capabilities:
• Sensemaking: Trying to understand the contexts in which in which an organization and
its people operate. Sensemaking is similar to creating a roadmap that the team can follow.
• Relating: Building relationships within and across the organisation. Building a community
of confidants who can collaborate to solve problems.
• Visioning: Creating a compelling picture of the future. A leader should be able to
articulate what the team wants to create.
• Inventing: Developing new ways to achieve the vision. Similar to the innovation skills
required of entrepreneurs, this is more about execution than creativity.
Furthermore, leaders should diagnose their strengths in each of these capabilities and seek help
from others if they believe they are deficient. Some clues about your potential deficiencies can
be summarized as follows:
2. Capability Look for help in this capability if you….
Sensemaking
• Feel strongly that you’re always right
• Feel resentful when things change
Relating
• Feel that you are constantly being let down by others – they
can’t be trusted
• Frequently experience unpleasant, argumentative
interactions with others
Visioning
• Often wonder “why are we doing this?”
• Can’t remember the last time you felt excited about your
work
Inventing
• Have difficultly relating the organisation’s vision to what
you’re doing today
• Find that things tend to revert to business as usual
So, give up trying to be perfect. Recognise your incompleteness and seek
contributions from others. You’ll be a better leader for it.
Based on some ideas from David Rock, Deborah Ancona and Peter Senge
Norman Chorn
norman.chorn@centstrat.com
www.centstrat.com
www.normanchorn.com
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