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 Leading
Wholeheartedly: A Quality Approach
Full
Engagement Leadership
In the spring issue of The Journal for
Quality and Participation, we shared the
insights of Robert Staub, author of The Heart of
Leadership: Twelve Practices of Courageous
Leaders and The Seven Acts of Courage.
We’re now pleased to launch a column by Staub
that can help you learn how to lead wholeheartedly
every day.
“Son, any fool can tell you that you
can lead a horse to water, but you can’t
make it drink. A leader will tell you that you
only have to figure out how to get the horse
thirsty, then you can’t stop it from
drinking.”
Lt. Col. Bob Staub
My father was a wise and experienced leader,
having led men in World War II, Korea, and then in
three businesses after he retired from the military.
What he tapped so successfully in others was their
deep reservoir of commitment and good will that
constitutes getting the very best from those with
whom you work and lead. This “discretionary
effort” inherent in all of us is that extra
effort it takes to go from compliance and doing what
is expected to a passionate effort to give our all
and then some.
When I am not coaching consultants within my own
firm or working with the senior team of a client
organization, I am giving keynote speeches. In one
recent speech, I was able to physically and
powerfully demonstrate the difference between
compliance and full engagement. I asked everyone in
the audience to raise their hands. Everyone politely
raised a hand, about halfway extended. I then asked,
“Can you raise them even higher?” The
hands shot up with elbows fully extended, twice as
high as before. I asked the audience with more
passion and urgency in my voice, “Can you get
them even higher?” A half dozen people stood
up, making their hands 100% higher than they had been
in the second attempt! I laughed and said, “I
wonder if any of you can get them even higher.”
Two people stood on their chairs, taking it 100%
higher again from their third attempt. Then, one of
them had the bright idea to raise both of his hands!
Then I said quietly but with all of my heart,
“That is full engagement. This is what you want
from your work force and those you lead, and it is
all too rare.”
How many of you are really asking for the very
best that those around you, at work and at home, have
to give? Are you really getting the full
discretionary effort that differentiates so-so work
from effort leading to superior work and powerful
leadership? To get full engagement leadership
requires five things:
- Realizing that whatever you currently are
getting is only a fraction of what is available and
having the courage to look more deeply into how you
are engaging others.
- Starting to ask yourself—and then of
those with whom you work and live—that the
best you/they have to offer be given. Do this by
asking the magical, power questions, “What
else can we do to make this even better?” and
“What will it take for us to get the very
best, the full power of what each of us has to
offer?”
- Clarifying the core sense of purpose of what
you are doing together and engaging the potent
motivations to make a difference and contribute to
something greater.
- Demonstrating the courage to challenge and to
invite challenges, and showing through your
non-defensive actions that the mission and purpose
are more important than your ego in the
moment.
- Inviting ideas and full participation by the
way you listen and respond.
ROBERT EARL (DUSTY) STAUB II is a nationally known
author with two books in print and is the founder and
CEO of Staub Leadership Consultants. He facilitates
leadership development programs for individuals and
organizations and is based in Greensboro, NC. E-mail
your questions to questions@staubleadership.com
or call 336-282-0282.
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