Leadership is mostly about judgment

Leadership is making others believe - in themselves, in the organization, in the impossible, and translating that belief into reality.

Leadership is part strategy, but mostly judgment. Its sense and sensibility.

Who are high-impact employees

IBM did a research a few years ago to judge high impact employees. The winning combination was ambition with humility. They coined a new expression: humbition.

The two key groups

Only two groups have the ability to make a company successful - its customers and its employees.

A balancing act

Leadership requires a balance between your authenticity and the role as the head of the company.

Impatience inspires fear

Impatience doesn't inspire high performance, impatience inspires fear.

Why leaders need to be accountable

The biggest hurdle to teams reaching their potential is the absence of accountability. As a leader, display a sense of accountability - consistently and publicly.

The age of perpetual strategic thinking

Today's strategic thinking must be dynamic and perpetual.

Make your leadership participatory

Sharpen your leadership to make it participatory. Sometimes you also need to drive a decision yourself in moments of uncertainty.

What to look for in leaders

Always look for leaders who have hunger, who have humanity and who have resilience.

What defines a company's culture

Few things are as powerful in determining a company's culture as the daily one-on-one interactions of its leadership.

Recognize performance

Good leaders are endlessly creative in recognizing performance and people. They should never celebrate efforts without results. If they do, they don't get accountability.

Filter data

Data is only as useful as your ability to filter and interpret it in context.

Feedback is the best data

Feedback is what will keep you ahead. It is not easy to hear but always very useful.

Communicate

Good leaders communicate in an authentic manner with stories from their experiences.

The quality of a leader's communication has a profound effect on culture and performance in the company.

Money is a poor incentive

Money can rent loyalty, but it cannot buy loyalty. If money is the only thing that keeps your employees to your company, they will stay there till someone else offers them more money.

When managers think rewards, they think money first. This is the 21st century workplace of knowledge workers.

The negatives of a money focus

A money focus produces a number of negatives: poorer performance, diminished creativity, doing the wrong things and reduced interest in tasks that were once intrinsically interesting.

What employees look for

Employees look for three things: autonomy, mastery and purpose.

Informal recognition is important, it must be constant and tailored.

Accountability leads to excellence

Holding people accountable takes discipline but then they will exceed your expectations.

Focus ahead

Leaders too often focus on probable changes versus possible changes. Good leaders focus ahead, do not look back.

Observe, measure and interpret

You must be a world class observer, objectively and continually measuring, learning and interpreting to make decisions tomorrow.

Inaction is dangerous

Inaction can be more dangerous than action, and failure to act is a choice.

Encourage information sharing...

You need to create an environment when people are free to express their views. Encouraging people to share information freely with each other builds authenticity and humility.

...And listen

When leaders listen they listen to nuances, tone, what is said and what is unsaid.

Listening takes diligent practice and a singular focus.

Learn constantly

"The most burning question for leaders today is - are you learning fast enough in a world that is changing fast." - Gary Hamel

Leaders acknowledge what they don't know.

Continued success requires growth and growth requires learning.

Know the history

Perspective comes from remembering the past but not staying there.

Apply that learning

At Korn Ferry, we highly value a trait we call 'learning agility' - the ability to draw from experience and apply that learning to entirely new situations.

Learn from mistakes

The most successful people make more mistakes than others, but they acknowledge it and learn from it.

Humility and wisdom

Success must breed humbleness, failure must impart wisdom.