Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.

—ANGELA DUCKWORTH

When it comes to leaders, few names in history are more synonymous with the concept of leadership than the name Roosevelt. Franklin Delano Roosevelt served as President of the United States from 1933–1945 and was the leader responsible for seeing the American people through the depths of the Great Depression and helping them regain their faith and optimism. He was also the first president to communicate directly to the American people through his “fireside chats”—the radio addresses where he would speak about issues of the day and concerns on the minds of the public at large. His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, was a trailblazer in her own right, a pioneering civil rights activist, named one of Time magazine's most important people of the twentieth century. In a time when female leaders were rare or nonexistent, Eleanor forged a path of her own. Her ability to speak to the masses and motivate them to action became one of her trademark skills. Though she was once terrified of speaking in front of others, she was encouraged by her husband to receive coaching to help sharpen her skills. Eleanor practiced diligently, even acting in homemade movies filmed on the Roosevelt estate, and eventually blossomed into a polished orator and someone historian Doris Kearns Goodwin named one of the most influential communicators of the twentieth century. “She gave a voice to people who did not have access to power,” said Goodwin. “She was the first woman to speak in front of a national convention . . . to earn money as a lecturer, to be a radio commentator and to hold regular press conferences.”¹

In 1901, with the assassination of William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, cousin to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, became the youngest president in America's history. Only 42 years old, Teddy Roosevelt brought energy and excitement to the office. As a young man he had read Shakespeare, drove cattle, and hunted big game—even capturing an outlaw at one point. During the Spanish American War, he was a lieutenant colonel of the famed Rough Rider Regiment. As a speaker, he excited audiences with his high-pitched voice, pounding fists, and a delivery style described as “an electric battery of inexhaustible energy.”²

After leaving the Presidency in 1909 and going on an African safari, Roosevelt returned to politics in 1912 running on a Progressive ticket. While campaigning in Milwaukee one day, Roosevelt sat in his open-air automobile outside of the Gilpatrick Hotel. He had written a long speech that he had rolled up and placed in the breast pocket of his jacket, along with his glasses case. As he waved to a cheering crowd, an unemployed saloonkeeper named John Flammang Schrank stepped forward, raised a Colt revolver, and shot Roosevelt in the chest before being quickly tackled and subdued. Fortuitously, the bullet had passed through his speech and glasses case, which slowed its trajectory before it entered his body. With the bullet still lodged in his chest, Roosevelt took the stage as the crowd cheered and said, “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I don't know whether you fully understand that I have just been shot.” The horrified audience gasped as the former president opened his vest, revealing his blood-stained shirt. Roosevelt reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his bullet-riddled, 50-page speech. “The bullet is in me now,” remarked Roosevelt, “so that I cannot make a very long speech, but I will try my best.”³

He then went on to deliver the entire 90-minute speech. Only after finishing his prepared remarks did Roosevelt finally agree to be taken to the hospital to receive medical attention.

Strength has been defined as “a person's capacity to make things happen with abilities and force of will.”⁴ In a business setting, productivity and accomplishment are powerful motivators, and while strength garners respect, warmth reaps support. When someone simultaneously projects both qualities, we look to them for leadership while investing our trust that they have our best interests at heart. Strong and steady leadership is essential for an organization to succeed and thrive. A good leader is someone who influences and inspires others, driving them toward a new vision or desired outcome. Sue Ashford, a professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, has studied leadership for decades and her findings have shown the world is not divided into leaders and followers. Instead, she believes that the quality of leadership is something anyone can emulate, whether they are a boss or not. “People grant a leader identity by their willingness to follow [them],” says Ashford. “We come to see ourselves a certain way based on our own thoughts but also based on the messages the world gives us.”⁵

Leadership is essential for a team or organization to move forward, but the word itself has many definitions. A leader could be a CEO or a new hire. Anyone who leads others toward mutual success is a leader. In this chapter, we will help readers understand what is required for strong leadership and identify what leadership qualities they personally display and which leadership style is right for them. Thinking like a leader and acting like a leader are not the same thing. Leadership takes focus and a unique set of problem-solving skills.

If you want your life to be simple, you shouldn't be a leader.

—JACK MA

As a leader, every decision you make sends a message to the people around you, as does every decision you choose not to make. Every choice becomes a signal that will be interpreted by those with whom you work and interact. Are your decisions consistent? Are your decisions fair? A good leader takes the responsibility of leadership seriously, understanding that humility is required to guide and support every member of the organization. Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of General Electric, discussed the humbling aspects of leadership in his 16 years running GE, describing how he went to bed every night feeling like a failure but woke up every morning feeling on top of the world. Leadership, for him, was what happened in the space between those two extremes.⁶ Being a leader is a journey into yourself where you will be forced to navigate various challenges and opportunities on a daily basis. The ways in which a leader communicates information to their team or workforce can have a significant impact on the level of inspiration and engagement they experience while carrying out their role. An interesting example of this involved former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the unique way he communicated with the members of his department as Pentagon Chief.⁷

Donald Rumsfeld twice served as U.S. Secretary of Defense, from 1975 to 1977, and again from 2001 to 2006, where he demonstrated a very unique way of relaying information to his teams. A hallmark of his communication style was something that came to be known as “snowflakes.” Snowflakes were memos that Rumsfeld would draft himself and record into a machine or dictate through a secretary before distributing to his associates and subordinates in note form. The memos were known as snowflakes because they were white and seemed to descend like a blizzard from Rumsfeld's third-floor office. These snowflake memos generally covered a range of topics, from concerns Rumsfeld had about the progress being made in the war, to extended instructions to his subordinates, to a simple request for a haircut. These snowflake memos turned out to be very unpopular with the men and women who reported to Rumsfeld—these four-star generals and other government officials did not appreciate such an impersonal method of communication. During the five years that Rumsfeld served as secretary of defense, over 20,000 of these snowflake memos were dropped onto desks, slid under doors, and handed off in hallways. When Rumsfeld resigned from his role as Secretary of Defense in 2006, his replacement, Robert Gates, immediately discontinued the practice of communicating via snowflake and engaged instead in more in-person, face-to-face communication. When you think about the ways in which you communicate information to your team members or peers, are there individuals who could benefit from more in-person interactions with you? If you manage remote clients and tend to communicate only through e-mail, consider scheduling more frequent video calls or face-to-face meetings to allow you to stay more connected with them.

Effective leadership serves many purposes such as motivating a team, facilitating change, defining a culture, or overcoming adversity. Psychologist Angela Duckworth has studied leaders and other high achievers for years, trying to understand what makes them successful. What she discovered surprised her. In the end, it wasn't test scores or IQ or a degree from a top business school that was the predictor of success. Instead, said Duckworth, “It was this combination of passion and perseverance that made high achievers special. In a word, they had grit.” Duckworth found that for the highly successful, the journey and the lessons they learned along the way were just as important as reaching their final destination. “Even if some of the things they had to do were boring, or frustrating, or even painful, they wouldn't dream of giving up. Their passion was enduring.”⁸

No two leaders are exactly the same, nor do they possess and exhibit the same sets of skills or competencies. We've all experienced a boss or leader who has lacked the ability to motivate and inspire others by acting indecisively, shirking responsibility, scapegoating others, micromanaging team members, or refusing to apologize for mistakes they have made. True leadership drives an organization toward a specific vision, providing inspiration for every member of the company's hierarchy. There is no definitive list of traits required to be a perfect leader, but effective leaders will be seen by others as inspirational, decisive, visionary, honest, credible, self-aware, proficient, and self-directed. They manage change and handle adversity by relying on a specific set of principles—truths, values, and beliefs—that serve as their guide. These principles dictate how leaders behave and make decisions and serve as the foundational bedrock that grounds them.

Some principles of highly effective leaders include:

Treating team members as individuals

1. Every team member approaches their work with a unique set of expectations, concerns, and experiences. They bring their own perspectives to the way they perform tasks and interact with those around them. As a boss, it is important to understand the various backgrounds of your team members and stay connected with them at all times by asking questions and soliciting feedback.

Being technically proficient

1. You don't become great at swimming without getting in the water. If your company sells computer equipment and you are the CEO, you will need to possess a deep and detailed understanding of how your products are used, how they are installed, and who comprises your client base. You will need to know how your company differs from the competition and you will need to understand where your industry is headed so you can innovate and prepare for changes down the road. Leaders take the time to thoroughly train and become skilled at their given profession. They continue to learn and practice so they are able to execute their job duties and gain the credibility they need to lead those around them.

Developing the potential of others

1. As Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE, reminds us: “When you were made a leader you weren't given a crown, you were given the responsibility to bring out the best in others.”⁹ As a boss, it is important to recognize the unique talents and abilities of every member of your team and work to empower them so they can grow and excel within the organization. In most cases, people would rather work with a boss than for a boss. As such, give your team members a clear task and then support them with the resources they need to successfully complete it.

Making sound and timely decisions

1. Good leaders make decisions based on facts rather than emotions or assumptions. They set goals and honor timelines to make sure they are adhering to a plan. We work in a world that moves fast. Deadlines, budgets, schedules, bosses—all contribute to the stress we encounter as part of our roles. Being able to manage time while delivering results is not an easy feat but remains an important principle of effective leadership. As deadlines approach, tension and stress can often rise. Good leaders are aware of this and manage people and projects accordingly, understanding that as the end draws near, people generally become more focused and productive.

Developing a coherent team and strategy

1. To engage employees or team members, leaders must create a coherent strategic plan for the organization or individual project. And they must clearly set expectations that reaffirm or adhere to the company's vision and values. This helps to keep everyone aligned so as to avoid errors that can cost time and money. A great leader serves as the guide to get their team and the project itself across the finish line on time and on budget.

   To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time.

   —LEONARD BERNSTEIN

Motivating others to follow or take action

1. Leadership is about drive. It is about convincing others to do more or reach higher than they thought was possible. At times, it is about recognizing the achievement of superior workers and demanding improvement of those who do not meet set standards or benchmarks. Work to gain the trust and respect of your team by being an honest and open leader with your behavior and actions.

Clearly communicating information and vision

1. A team cannot align behind a vision or follow a specific process if it has not been clearly defined. An effective leader is responsible for setting goals and laying out how a process will work, who will handle each task, and also when those tasks are expected to be completed. By setting clear goals and defining benchmarks and expectations, you will avoid confusion that could result in frustration or low morale among team members.

Leading effectively by example

1. McDonald's founder Ray Kroc said, “The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves.”¹⁰ If you are in a leadership position, you have a responsibility to serve as a model for your team members to emulate. A large part of the perception you create as a boss involves leading others with your own actions. Workers look to those at the top for how to behave and what priorities are important to an organization. This includes the way you speak about clients, how you run meetings, and even how you emulate your company's values. By presenting yourself as a passionate, motivated leader who believes strongly in the mission of the organization, you become someone others will want to follow.

Seeking and accepting responsibility

1. Leaders manifest responsible behavior from others by demonstrating a willingness to take charge and make difficult (or unpopular) decisions. It also means staying on top of problems or challenges within an organization and figuring out solutions. An effective leader also accepts criticism for mistakes they have made. By acknowledging and owning up to errors, you will set a tone for others to emulate. If you are accountable, others will be inclined to be so.

Knowing personal strengths and limitations

1. As a leader, self-awareness is key to understanding how you are perceived by others within your organization, as well as what specific strengths and weaknesses you possess. A leader needs to understand how they make decisions, what triggers their anger, what bores or interests them, as well as what makes them happy. Polls during the 2016 presidential campaign showed that the trait “has the right temperament to be president” was Donald Trump's biggest weakness in the opinion of the voting public. Yet when he was asked about this fact during one televised debate, Trump confidently declared, “I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. I have a winning temperament.”¹¹ The audience in the hall roared with laughter as the comment demonstrated the candidate's obvious lack of self-awareness.

How Men and Women Lead Differently

According to recent studies, there are some slight differences in the ways men and women lead in the workplace and these differences can play a significant role in how individuals advance in their careers.¹² Alice Eagly, a leader in research on gender differences, found through multiple studies that the differences between men and women are small, but these minor differences often end up having a large effect on the way men and women communicate, and are perceived.¹³ Leaders often possess unconscious biases with regard to race, gender, and education level, among others, so it is vital that we check in on occasion to make sure our decisions are fair and sound ones. Says Barry L. Reece of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, “When people are influenced by one or more of these filters, their perception of the message may be totally different from what the sender was attempting to communicate.”¹⁴ These biases are real and can have a serious impact on the ways in which people lead or collaborate. One example of such bias took place in 2017, when a Polish nationalist member of the European Parliament named Janusz Korwin-Mikke, said that women “must earn less than men because they are weaker, smaller and less intelligent.” The statement caused outrage and resulted in Korwin-Mikke being suspended for 10 days.¹⁵

In an experiment conducted in 2003, Columbia Business School had students read a case study about a successful venture capitalist.¹⁶ For half of the group, the entrepreneur's name was Howard and for the other half the name of Heidi. When they asked participants in the study what their impressions were of the entrepreneur, “Howard” was described as likeable and appealing while “Heidi” was seen as selfish and not “the type of person you would want to hire or work for.” This is an example of inherent bias, as the data for both case studies was exactly the same—the only difference was the gender of the venture capitalist. An interesting update to the Howard/Heidi study: In 2013, Anderson Cooper repeated the experiment with New York University's business school during a segment on his CNN show. This time around, 10 years later, students rated the female entrepreneur as more likable and desirable as a boss than the male.

One of the best ways to influence people is to make them feel important.

—ROY T. BENNETT

When it comes to the overall effectiveness of leaders, new research has revealed some interesting distinctions between male and female bosses. For example, women tend to be rated higher in areas such as achieving results, completing tasks, being transparent, and building rapport with others, while men scored higher in aspects that dealt with strategic planning, persuasion, and tasks where the ability to delegate was required. Past studies have suggested that women are better at using and decoding the nonverbal intention cues of others, such as facial expressions, and are generally stronger with the use of gestures than their male counterparts.¹⁷ And while research suggests that female leaders are more skilled overall at sending and receiving nonverbal messages, studies on gender communication in the medical field alone have demonstrated some significant differences between the way male and female doctors treat patients.

In a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from Harvard wanted to find out whether patient outcomes were affected by the gender of their doctors.¹⁸ A few studies had already shown that the gender of a patient's physician did influence the quality of the care they received, but up until then, there were no statistics detailing whether or not it affected actual mortality rates. What they discovered when they delved deeper into this research was remarkable. The Harvard team found that patients being treated by a female doctor actually had a 4 percent lower risk of dying prematurely than those being treated by a male doctor. “Your chances of dying are lower if your doctor is a woman,” said Harvard's Ashish Jha, one of the coauthors of the study and director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “There are about a dozen studies out there that suggest women seem to practice differently.” And precisely how do female doctors practice differently? “They communicate more effectively with patients.”¹⁹ According to Dr. Anna Parks of the University of California, “Previous work has shown that female physicians have a more patient-centered communication style, are more encouraging and reassuring, and have longer visits than male physicians.” Would there be benefits if male doctors started operating and communicating more like their female counterparts? According to JAMA, the results would be significant and could save lives. “We estimate that approximately 32,000 fewer patients would die if male physicians could achieve the same outcomes as female physicians every year,” they wrote.²⁰

For years, traditional gender roles have dictated that traits such as assertiveness or aggressiveness are considered more masculine while silence and submissiveness were seen as more feminine. For decades, women in leadership roles were forced to play by rules established by men about how to behave in the workplace—how to act, speak, disagree, manage conflict, and handle emotions. In the past, while men have been more comfortable “taking space” during a meeting or discussion—speaking up and asserting themselves—women were more likely to “give space”—remaining quiet or ceding the floor to others. If a woman in the modern business environment asserts herself or speaks up—taking on what is seen as a more traditionally “male” role—it violates gender norms and can be met with disapproval. This creates a challenge for female executives when it comes to assertiveness and advocating for their ideas. In their book, The Confidence Code, authors Katty Kay and Claire Shipman say there is a definite confidence gap between the genders, “a chasm, stretching across professions, income levels, and generations.”²¹ Which begs the question: Does a woman in the corporate arena need to behave more like her male counterparts to be a successful executive? “The quick answer is no—except when it comes to confidence,” says Tacy M. Byham, a global human resource consultant. “Women need to do a better job of declaring themselves and becoming their own advocates—speaking and acting confidently and mentally promoting themselves to a future-focused role. With this mindset, our own behaviors change. And a woman's impact is strengthened and improves her ability to get that seat at the table.”²²

Women in the workplace have gradually become more comfortable taking on more behavioral characteristics that are typically seen in men, amid the challenges of a traditional system that has previously limited their choices and even punished them for self-advocacy. According to recent polls by Gallup, female bosses give more frequent praise than male bosses.²³ Another difference involves access to opportunity. Studies show that female executives are more likely to create a pipeline that results in the hiring of more women and minorities than their male counterparts.²⁴ Currently, the percentage of women in the workforce stands at 47 percent of the labor force, up from 29 percent in 1950, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.²⁵

And which gender do employees prefer working for—a male boss or female? According to Gallup, both genders report a preference for a male boss—with 33 percent of Americans saying they would prefer a male boss and just 20 percent preferring a female boss (with the rest saying it makes no difference).²⁶ While women were more likely than men to say they preferred a female boss, they were still more likely to prefer a male manager over a female manager when given the choice. For female leaders such as Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, and Marissa Mayer, the former CEO of Yahoo!, promoting female leaders to executive positions is important because it sets a precedent. Simply seeing women in leadership roles can inspire other rising females to be leaders, a sentiment echoed by Tony-Award winning Broadway producer Kristin Caskey, who said, “For girls, you have to see it to be it.”²⁷

According to Sandberg, when it comes to numbers of female executives versus male, there is still work to be done—of the 197 heads of state, only 22 are women and of the top 500 companies by revenue, only 21 are run by females.²⁸ Why the lagging numbers for women in positions of power? For Sandberg, the problem is a result of the way we talk to children about leadership. “We start telling little girls not to lead at very young ages,” says Sandberg, “and we start telling little boys to lead at very young ages, and that's a mistake. I believe everyone has inside them the ability to lead, and we should let people choose that, not based on gender, but on who they are and who they want to be.”²⁹

One example of this type of gender bias mindset occurred in 2016 when Jameis Winston, the quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, spoke to a group of elementary school students in St. Petersburg, Florida. Attempting to preach self-confidence to a classroom of students, Winston's pep talk went like this: “All my young boys, stand up. The ladies, sit down. But all my boys, stand up. We strong, right? We strong! Now a lot of boys aren't supposed to be soft-spoken. But the ladies, they're supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men [are] supposed to be strong.”³⁰ No one doubts Winston's sincerity or the good intentions behind his pep talk, but what was the message for the children listening to him speak in that classroom? Men, stand up and be strong. Women, sit down and be quiet. This type of historical bias positioning men as leaders and women as followers is ingrained in society and female leaders encounter it in direct or indirect ways in the workplace every day.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton famously became the first female politician ever to run for the office of president as a candidate representing one of the two major parties. Although she received 3 million more votes, she lost electoral college votes and the presidency to Donald Trump. Throughout the campaign Clinton struggled to define what it means to communicate as a female leader. She knew there were challenges she would need to navigate. Raise your voice as a female leader and you could be seen as shrill or strident. Show vulnerability or shed a tear and you are weak or overly emotional—challenges that don't apply in the same way for male candidates. “It's hard work to present yourself in the best possible way,” said Clinton. “You have to communicate in a way that people say: ‘Okay, I get her.’ And that can be more difficult for a woman. Because who are your models? If you want to run for the Senate, or run for the presidency, most of your role models are going to be men. And what works for them won't work for you. Women are seen through a different lens.”³¹

According to recent study from Clear Company, 86 percent of employees and executives cited a “lack of collaboration” or “ineffective communication” as the source of most workplace failures.³² This statistic is alarming for anyone who manages others because it is the job of a boss to lead a team to success. If an organization fails to grow its profits or satisfy its shareholders, everyone will look to leadership for answers or to shoulder the blame. To manage and lead effectively, you need to be mindful of the team's overall objective, the team itself and each of the individuals involved.

Effective Leadership Communication

Great leaders must be great communicators. They have to be able to create a vision that others will want to follow. Their words must be supported by strong and active intentions and their objectives must be clearly defined, appealing to the aspirations and emotions of their team members. Without clarity, a leader's ideas will not be understood and without passion their proposals will not be championed. There are some very specific tools in a communicator's arsenal that a leader can use to shape the delivery of their message and influence the emotions of their audience, including the following:

Embrace silence

1. Actors and leaders understand the use of silence can have a powerful effect on the attention and emotions of another person, allowing a listener to ponder a question, consider a thought, or weigh a new option. As inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci reminds us, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”³³ Great speakers are never afraid to let an important thought hang in the air so their audience has time to consider its importance and impact. Stanislavski spoke of the three types of pauses that actors use to influence their audience and they are the same ones a leader can employ to impact a listener: logical pauses (moments where you stop so an audience can read information or look at a new visual aid), psychological pauses (where you pause for dramatic effect), and physiological pauses (when you simply need to take a drink of water or catch your breath).³⁴

Vary the pace

1. Leaders can use a varied speaking rate to captivate an audience and draw them in. As excitement builds, speed up your pace to signal urgency to your listeners. By slowing your pace, you signal what you have to say is important by giving them a chance to process and consider the information you are providing. If you are delivering a message that is complex or technical in nature, it is even more important to slow down and also check in frequently with an audience to ensure comprehension. Listeners need time. Most likely, your audience is hearing information for the first time. When you introduce yourself to a new client or team member, say your name slowly. Too many times people rush through the introduction of their name and forget that most people have never heard it before.

Avoid hedging language

1. When projecting confidence and being assertive with communication, words matter, so try to avoid passive words and phrases, such as “I think,” “kind of,” and “I mean.” These are examples of hedging language, words that are vague or tentative, meant to soften the impact of one's message. They often weaken an argument or make a speaker appear less than committed to a particular point or assertion. They also make it easier for others to offer differing opinions or challenge someone's ideas. Linguistically, a hedge is a marker of uncertainty for a speaker, and according to one cognitive scientist, “When you use a hedge, it marks the information as unreliable.”³⁵

Beware of generalizations

1. Generalizations are broad statements, covering whole groups of people or things. Generalizations can be problematic because they infer to an audience that there are very few exceptions to a statement and often occur when leaders rush to a conclusion before gathering all the facts or base their opinion on insufficient information or bias. In 2012, presidential candidate Mitt Romney ran into trouble when he was secretly recorded saying, “There are 47 percent [of the American electorate] who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.”³⁶ Hillary Clinton stumbled in a similar way during her campaign when she described half of Trump voters—nearly 31 million people—as “a basket of deplorables.”³⁷ Trump himself angered many when he proposed banning all Muslims from entering the United States and referred to large groups of Mexican immigrants as “rapists” and “bad hombres.”³⁸ In a business environment, leaders should be careful when using generalizations that could be perceived as unfair or untrue, such as: “That client always pays invoices late,” “That department is so disorganized,” or “He never shows up on time.”

Limit jargon and acronyms

1. Many companies or industries use terms that serve as shorthand ways of naming things, much like a tribal language of sorts. And if you are not part of the “tribe,” you may not understand what each one means. While some acronyms or industry jargon can be a shorthand way of claiming membership or creating a brand, excessive jargon or acronyms should only be used if you are confident that every audience member knows what they mean. Analyze your audience before you speak and make sure your language is inclusive and relatable to everyone present. You want your language to show you are thoughtful and well-versed but not make you appear snobby or pretentious. Too many buzzwords can alienate an audience and make it harder for you to get your message across.

Strive for simplicity

1. It is much easier to complicate something that is simple than simplify something that is complicated. Keeping your message simple is the key to making it clear.³⁹ Keep this in mind as you prepare for any form of communication, no matter the topic, no matter the setting. Steve Jobs frequently peppered his presentations with words like “amazing,” “unbelievable,” and “beautiful.” He used them because they were simple and because each one created an emotional reaction in his audience that supported his objective of getting them excited to learn about the new product. Whether designing a visual aid, creating a meeting agenda, or putting together a client proposal, make simplicity a priority. The easier your message is to communicate, the easier it will be to understand. John Maeda, a professor from MIT, puts it like this: “Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful.”⁴⁰

   Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.

   —MARTIN H. FISCHER

Leadership and Power

Power is about influence and authority and leaders require it to get things done for their organization. Winston Churchill spoke of the essential link between power and effective communication at the age of 23 when he said, “Of all the talents bestowed upon men, none is so precious as the gift of oratory. He who enjoys it wields a power more durable than that of a great king.”⁴¹ In essence, when we use power, we're utilizing our authority to get something we want or need from others. And while a leader may hold power, the way he or she wields that power depends on factors such as leadership style, the specific audience, and even their situation or surroundings. Power comes in different forms and understanding the types of power you possess as a leader is essential to understanding how you can effectively use that power to lead those in your organization and drive results. The types of power a leader may possess include the following categories.

1. Positional power comes from the position a person holds within an organization, such as their title or job responsibilities. It is based upon a person's ability to bestow rewards or punishments, in the form of job assignments, schedules, and pay or benefits to others. The higher the position of power, the more authority they will have to direct and influence the actions of others.
2. Network power is based upon who knows whom, or whom a person can have influence over, such as other powerful people within a given company. If you have trusted allies in positions of influence, you are more likely to be able to walk into their office and make a request or suggest an idea that will be given serious consideration than someone who does not have those same connections and relationships.
3. Expert power comes from a person's expertise, education, knowledge, or experience on a given topic or in a given field. If you are a thought leader or possess a unique set of skills or experiences that are essential for an organization to thrive, it is only natural that you will begin to gather expert power if these particular abilities or information become important or required for a company to be able to achieve a desired outcome.
4. Informational power can derive from someone who possesses or has access to valuable or important information that others may not know. This can be information that is secret, classified, or has only been shared exclusively with select people within the organization. If you are friends with your company's CEO and they tell you over drinks that the company is being acquired by a competitor and everyone is being given severance packages, you are able to make decisions and plan accordingly because you have information that equates to power.

Styles of Leadership

The way someone in the corporate environment provides feedback and direction, implements plans, and manages others demonstrates their leadership style. There are many different leadership styles for bosses to exhibit and it can be useful for a leader to employ different leadership styles depending on their audience and the situation in which they are involved. According to the American Psychological Association, men generally exhibit a more command-and-control style as leaders while women usually employ a more collaborative style. Men are more direct and task-oriented, while women are more cooperative.⁴² Both styles can be effective but it is also important to modify your style at any given moment to suit the needs of your audience.

Five common leadership styles that executives use most frequently are:

Autocratic leadership

1. With this style of leadership, the person knows exactly what they want done, who is to do it, and when it should be completed. They often make decisions without consulting with team members and generally solicit little input. This can be effective when decisions need to be made quickly but can be detrimental to morale in the long run as it does not create a feeling of trust and sense of ownership for workers. Because of this, it can often lead to high levels of absenteeism and turnover within an organization. In Chapter 2, we told the story of “Tiger Mike” Davis, the Texas oilman who despised making small talk with his employees. He is one example of an autocratic leader, as are Genghis Khan and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Democratic leadership

1. This type of leader will often make the final decision, but leading up to it will encourage and include employees and other stakeholders in the decision-making process. They value the input and opinions of others. The democratic style can be a positive and motivational experience because team members feel they are contributing by being allowed to share ideas and offer suggestions. Because everyone is included in making decisions with a democratic leader, the process can often require more time to get things done; therefore, if time is a consideration or the situation that presents itself is an emergency, this style of leadership can be less effective. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln, and John F. Kennedy are examples of democratic leaders.

Delegative leadership

1. A leader who gravitates toward this style generally adopts a more “hands-off” approach to leadership and gives employees freedom as to how they do their work and how they meet their deadlines. This autonomy often results in high job satisfaction, but can be ineffective or even detrimental if team members do not manage time well or lack the skills or self-motivation required to handle their responsibilities effectively. Ronald Reagan was a delegative leader and explained his approach like this: “I don't believe a chief executive should supervise every detail of what goes on in his organization . . . I think that's the cornerstone of good management: set clear goals and appoint good people to help you achieve them.”⁴³ Besides Reagan, other delegative leaders include Warren Buffett and Herbert Hoover.

Transactional leadership

1. This type of leader operates via a style based primarily on a system of rewards and punishments for job performance. Often leading “by the book,” this type of leader is more concerned with following existing rules than with making changes to the organization or its processes. First described in 1947 by Max Weber, this style of leadership is centered on a management process that involves controlling, organizing, and short-term planning.⁴⁴ Studies show that men exhibit more of a transactional style of leadership than women, defining responsibilities for their workers and then rewarding them for meeting objectives or disciplining them when they do not.⁴⁵ This style can be helpful to make sure routine work is getting done on time but does not generally inspire creative thinking or initiative from team members. Many military leaders, CEOs, and NFL coaches are known as transactional leaders, including Vince Lombardi, Norman Schwarzkopf, and George H.W. Bush.

Transformational leadership

1. This type of leader is often brought in when it is necessary to completely change the culture or direction of an organization. It is currently one of the most popular styles of leadership and can be applied across various industries. A transformational leader is usually charismatic and challenges or inspires team members by creating a sense of excitement while charting a clear vision and path forward. Studies have noted that women often gravitate toward this style of leadership, which allows them to more easily gain the trust and confidence of their workers.⁴⁶ Transformational leadership allows a leader to make necessary changes to an organization's current business model and perhaps even reinvent it, if needed. Examples of transformational leaders include Oprah Winfrey, Marissa Mayer, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Effective bosses lead based on strength and vision, not titles or threats. They empower others and modify their leadership style for each audience with whom they interact. In a landmark study by psychologist Daniel Goleman published in the Harvard Business Review, his research revealed that a manager's leadership style is responsible for 30 percent of a company's bottom-line profitability.⁴⁷ That is a huge number and should provide a wake-up call for any organization where members of the leadership team don't know how to lead effectively. Think about your own organization and your personal leadership style, as well as the communication of those with whom you interact on a weekly basis. By making slight adjustments to your communication and leadership style, you can strengthen your ability to influence others and create passionate, inspired teams willing to collaborate and push forward toward a common objective and mutual vision.