The following contains excerpts from the book, The 360-Degree Leader (Maxwell).
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we believe that music is more than sound, it is relationships. The subject of Leadership becomes of the greatest importance, regarding relationships, and we encourage our students to learn the value of successfully interacting with people and community to bring positive influence through music and the arts.
The concept of this book is to be able to develop leadership and influence from anywhere in the organization. Just because a person is not the CEO of a company doesn’t mean he or she is incapable of powerful influence, both to their authorities as well as to those who are under them. Many times middle management people feel that their role is particularly difficult, as they try to navigate between those who are in authority over them and those they lead. This book helps shed light on the possibility that wherever a person is in an organization, their contribution can be of great significance.
Maxwell begins the book by exposing several myths common to those who do not have top positions of leadership in their organization, showing that top leaders have many constraints and difficulties that differ from lower management positions. Contrary to popular belief, high positions of leadership won’t give a person total control or protect them. In some ways top leaders have less freedom and more vulnerability the higher they go up.
Maxwell gives the illustration of Vice President Dick Cheney as an example of a great leader in a subordinated position. He has all the criteria of a top leader, yet throughout his career, he chose a secondary role, being an excellent adviser to higher profile leaders.
Maxwell asserts that in order to gain respect with one’s authorities in order to ‘influence up’, a person must do the following:
-Lead yourself exceptionally well: manage your emotions, manage your time, manage your priorities, manage your energy, manage your thinking, manage your words, manage your personal life
Perhaps one of the greatest lessons we can teach students in our music school in Odessa, Texas is the role personal discipline plays in life, leadership and achieving high results in the arts and communication.
-Lighten your leader’s load: it’s almost impossible for you to win, if your leader fails. Do you own job well first. When you find a problem, have a solution. Tell leaders what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. Go the second mile. Stand up for your leader whenever you can.
-Be willing to do what others won’t: take the tough jobs; pay the price, serving others at the expense of self; be willing to work in obscurity; succeed with difficult people; put yourself on the line by taking personal risks; admit faults, but never make excuses; do more than expected; be the first to step up and help; perform tasks that are not your job; take responsibility for your responsibilities
Music success begins in obscurity, doing things that are routine, basic habits in one’s private development. We teach students in our music school in Odessa, Texas to value the ‘alone time’ it takes to gain self-mastery. This, in turn, will create external results that are significant and undeniable.
-Do more than manage, lead: managers work with processes, leaders work with people (both are necessary); leaders think longer term, leaders see within the larger context, leaders push boundaries, leaders put the emphasis on intangibles (morale, attitudes, timing, momentum, reading between the lines); learn to rely on intuition, leaders invest power in others (good leaders give their power away, instead of maintaining control), leaders see themselves as agents of change.
We believe in each student’s potential, at our music school in Odessa, Texas, endeavoring to help them see their unique potential and helping them to maximize it through hard work and discipline.
-Invest in relational chemistry: listen to your leader’s heartbeat, know your leader’s priorities, catch your leader’s enthusiasm, support your leader’s vision, connect with your leader’s interests, understand your leader’s personality, earn your leader’s trust
-Learn to work with your leader’s weaknesses
-Respect your leader’s family
-Be prepared every time you take your leader’s time: invest ten minutes of your time in preparation for every minute you will meet with your leader; don’t make your boss think for you; bring something to the table (resources, ideas, opportunities); when asked to think, don’t ‘wing it’, prepare; learn to speak your boss’s language; get to the bottom line (don’t waste time explaining); give a positive return on your leader’s investment
-Know when to push and when to back off: it’s wise to wait for the right moment to voice an idea: Is time running out? Do I know something my leader doesn’t? Are my responsibilities at risk? Can I help my boss win? When to back off, ask yourself: Have I already made my point? Is this my personal agenda? Must everyone but me take the risk? Does the atmosphere say, ‘no’? Is the timing right only for me? Does my request exceed our relationship?
-Become a ‘go-to’ player: be able to produce when the pressure’s on, when the resources are few, when the momentum is low, when the load is heavy, when the leader is absent, when the time is limited
-Be better tomorrow than you are today: the better you are, the greater your potential for the future
At our music school in Odessa, Texas we don’t believe in instant success, but help the student understand the value of daily progress, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to ultimately produce exponential results.
Great leaders not only lead ‘up’, influencing those above them, or ‘lead down’ leading followers. Great 360 degree leaders know how to ‘lead across’, leading others who work alongside them in the organization. You can help your peers win by doing the following:
-Understand and practice the ‘Leadership Loop’: 1) care about them, 2) get to know them, 3) appreciate and respect them, 4) contribute value to them (don’t keep your best stuff to yourself), 5) affirm them, 6) influence them, 7) succeed with them (to fulfill a vision, to see others succeed)
One of our greatest joys, at our music school in Odessa, Texas, is to see our students develop into mature artists, capable of autonomous learning. Ultimately, we want them to come to a point where they don’t need us and can maintain a life-long journey of personal development and influencing others.
-Put completing fellow leaders ahead of completing them: competing has a ‘scarcity’ mindset, while completing has an ‘abundance’ mindset
-Be a friend: “If you would win a man to your cause, you must first convince him that you are his sincere friend.” (Abraham Lincoln) A friend is honest and helpful, and his honesty stems from an established friendship.
-Avoid office politics: don’t’ become ruled by a desire to ‘get ahead’ instead of an attitude of ‘excellence’. Avoid gossip. Stay away from petty arguments. Stand up for what’s right, not just what’s popular. Look at all sides of the issue. Don’t protect your turf. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
-Expand your circle of acquaintances
-Let the best idea win
-Don’t pretend you’re perfect
The last third of the book to ‘lead down’. The basic concept of this material is the desire to ‘add value’ to those you lead, giving them resources to win so that their lives will be made better.