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10 Secrets of What Great Leaders Know and Do

This article is more than 9 years old.

Ten years ago Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller shared The Secret. The book was a business fable told through the eyes of Debbie Brewster. Through her journey of transformation, she learns the answer to a simple question,

What’s the secret of great leaders?”

It’s a compelling short read. The Secret has sold over a half a million copies. Easy to understand and implement, the book outlines five key components of servant leadership through a model called SERVE. Serve is an acronym for:

S - See the Future

E - Engage and Develop Others

R - Reinvent Continuously

V - Value Results and Relationships

E - Embody the Values

In honor of the 10th anniversary edition of the book coming out this week, here are ten of my top takeaways from The Secret:

1. An iceberg as a metaphor - Think of an iceberg. What is above the water line is what you can see in people. This is the “doing” part of leadership. The little things that are demonstrated by the actions of leaders.  What is below the water line – and is so much bigger – is the “being” part of a person. These are the values and the character of a leader. Similar to an iceberg, these things are not visible but they are the foundation of leadership.

2. Everything rise and falls on leadership - Leadership sets the table for culture in an organization. To quote former IBM executive Louis Gerstner, “Culture isn't just one aspect of the game; it is the game.”  Leaders reinforce values. And values are the cornerstones of culture, becoming the beliefs that drive our behavior.

Photo Credit: Stan Phelps

3. The T-Shirt slogan - See the future and rally your team towards it. What’s the essence of your task? For Debbie, it was challenging her team to go from “Worst to First.” Forget 140 characters, a great rallying cry fits on a T-shirt or a bumper sticker.

4. Leadership isn’t conferred by a job title

Photo Credit: Stan Phelps

5. Relationships First - According to John Maxwell, "People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care."  Leaders take time to know their team. We all have two ears and one mouth. Great leaders listen twice as much as they talk. They are interested in developing and supporting their team before serving themselves. To steal the title from Simon Sinek’s latest book, “Leaders Eat Last.”

6. Little things can make a big difference - Willingness to serve in small ways is an indication that you are ready to serve in more strategic ways. Find ways to capture both the heart and the minds of your team.

7. Be both "Heads Up" and "Heads Down" - Leaders spend time today to ensure that there is a tomorrow .

8. An ounce of prevention = pound of cure - Engage by taking the appropriate time when hiring to make sure you select the right people. Be more focused on FIT than FIX.

9. Have a healthy disrespect for the status quo - Leaders are constantly seeking ways to do things differently. Continuously reinventing themselves both personally and professionally. To steal a line from the famous Apple commercial, “They change things.”

10. Leadership is about R&R - results and relationships. Great leaders expect results and have strong relationships with those they lead by providing both challenge and support.

Lagniappe (a little something extra thrown in for good measure) - Here is Steve Jobs narrating the classic ad, Here's to the Crazy Ones:

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