Know and Understand People

"Extraordinary achievements demand extraordinary leaders."

People are the primary reason for most failures and successes in all human endeavors. There is little question that the leader of any organization of any size has an amazing impact on that organization and the outcome of whatever activity in which it is engaged. All of us have seen organizations that were previous failures, yet a new leader is put in charge. The new leader may have the same resources as the previous leader, or he or she may have more or less resources. It doesn't seem to matter. What does matter is the leader himself. If it is the right person for the right job, frequently the turnaround is almost instantaneous.

Patton at the Kasserine Pass
For those who have seen the movie Patton, it provides a good example of this. In its first battle with the enemy at Kasserine Pass in North Africa, the U.S. Second Corps is badly beaten. Patton is sent in to replace the old commander, Major General Frederick Fredendall. The unit and resources are the same, but under Patton they are successful.

Recently I have been studying such turnaround situations, in all types of organizations. What I found was not only was it the leader at the top which made the difference, but those who the new leader put in charge at subordinate levels. Sometimes key personnel were replaced by the new leader; sometimes not. But what was important was that that the right individual was put in the job which changed the situation.

Drucker Shows the Way
I learned a lot the world famous management thinker, Peter Drucker. Many of these lessons came in the classroom, but many others came from his personal example. In addition to being a management "guru" and having such a major impact on management throughout the world, Drucker was a first class leader.

For example, I was surprised to what extent Drucker was able to master the names of his students and frequently how much he knew about each. Drucker might ask about a student's son or daughter. But by the very way he inquired, you knew that he really cared and already knew a lot about you. It wasn't just, "How is your daughter doing?" It was "How is your daughter doing in law school?" He strived to learn about his students at every opportunity, and he remembered who he met and what he learned about them.