Did I forget something? ….Leader 0.001

Because our society is complex we have high standards for leaders.

We are all trusting you to be good at your job.

One need only look at the business pages of any paper to see the out-sized role senior leaders play in our livelihood, comforts and opportunities. Yet, despite the importance, leaders’ value and what is required to create it is often overlooked and generally misunderstood — even by executive leaders. They often forget one key requirement.

They never forget that they are under real-time pressure to act and make a difference. They know they are trusted to effectively control their organizations’ changing complexity — creating valuable service and products — or increasing the value of one’s struggling mutual fund portfolio. Clearly, what business leaders do matters, to all of us.

Leaders, especially in business, exist in a challenging reality, one that drives a need for reliable and insightful methods of knowledge and influence, of action and control, of design and development.

But, they do, often, forget one thing.

The market of ideas is saturated with notions of executive value and requirements, and what leaders can do about it. These guiding ideas are put into practice every day, by numerous, well-intentioned leaders.

Unfortunately, the temporary or partial success of these efforts has created a cottage industry, where the latest fad trumpeted as a reliable method of executive enhancement, continues to disappoint leaders.

It is because they forgot one thing…

RIGOR

The trusted Executive must bring RIGOR to the analysis of their organization. Without it, you may as well come to work naked.

The leader, executive or not, who can bring rigor into the realities of organizational complexity will unlocks the “captive value” of people, reinforced by the strengths of technology and training. Rigor is the disciplined commitment you make to test all and any factors affecting value.

To do less is to be less of a leader.

This next Century promises a lot of disruptive innovation and hyper-competitiveness. It will require unprecedented demands for efficiency, accountability and transparency, amid continuing uncertainty.

So, please, for all of us — don’t forget to bring your RIGOR.