I almost cried when I read this excellent article: “Of Cell Phones, Maps and Mental Models: Why Doing What Was Right Is Sometimes Completely Wrong” from the Wharton website.

This article hits it squarely on the head. It is an excerpt from the book: “It Starts with One: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations” by authors J. Stewart Black and Hal B. Gregersen.

I am terrified to read the book. I might weep. Many times, we wonder why great leaders fumble. We look at the great companies and watch them fall. The Chinese have a saying “The bystander sees the clearest”. Why then, do these brilliant leaders fail to see?

From the corporate level, to the division level, down to the departmental level and even to individuals; the principles apply. We are blinded by the light of what we currently know. You should go read the article. Heck, buy the book: Starts with One, It: Changing Individuals Changes Organizations But for now, let me leave you with this quote:

Consider the transition from individual contributor to manager of individual contributors. Managers consistently tell us it is one of the most difficult. Why? Simplified, as an individual contributor you get things done by doing them yourself. If you are a salesperson, you get the sale by going out and making the pitch and closing the deal yourself. Over time, you establish a personalized set of maps for navigating this individual contributor territory. However, as a sales team manager, you must transition from doing things yourself to getting them done through others; you must change from motivating yourself to motivating others. Because the situation has changed (you’ve been promoted), what was clearly the right thing before (i.e., doing things yourself) has become the wrong thing, but you are still very good at doing it.

If you think about it, running a business really isn’t that difficult. I mean, it breaks down to be as simple as:

Now, how complicated can that be, right?

If you would just take a look at the many companies around, apparently, this is not as easy as it looks. To keep a business running smoothly, to keep a team running smoothly; there are processes and controls that need to be in place. To be a good leader, you must be familiar with how it all works.

Can you imagine not knowing how money is collected? You think it is as easy as picking up the phone, asking for the accounts department, quoting your invoice number and viola! you are paid? Maybe. But do you know for sure?

You must be intimately familiar with how things are run. The higher up you are in the organisation, the more you need to have a feel of things in general. Let me clarify something here. Being an expert at all things operational can sometimes make leaders into “micro managers”. These are the bosses who seem to be breathing down everyone’s necks, either telling them what to do, or how to do it. Love those, eh?

The leader needs to understand and be comfortable with the operations. This will enable him to see solutions when problems arise and to spot opportunities. It will require a heavy text to go through all the various details, but know this – operational competency will make you a better leader.

One other word of caution – don’t abuse others with your operational competency. Allow others to do their work, their way. A leader is not there to tell everyone what and how to do. The good leader allows his team to work their way out of challenges and to be on hand to assist and guide.

This is a story about product management, product marketing, subject matter experts and protecting one’s behind. Enjoy.

I decided that my car needed a new color. So, off I went to the spray paint workshop. They had this color consultant there, an expert in getting the best color for whatever impact you want to create.

Happily, I told him about what I liked, disliked and how I wanted the car to be. Delighted to have a discerning customer at last, the color expert proposed one of the new colors in their range. Perfect. It was everything I could want – the brightness, the energy, life and power!

The color expert did a mock up against my car’s model. Disappointing. It was just a little bit out. Huh? I could not see it. But, “… trust me… it’s out.”

The color expert was certain that when painted onto the car, it will not have the impact and the effect I wanted. Disppointed, I asked him. “What should I do? Can you propose a new color?”

The color expert then said, “According to my expert opinion, this is the best color. You should change your car and come back to get it sprayed.”

When you stand and up say, “let’s go!” do you expect people to follow?

Why would anyone follow you? Well, usually, it is because you know where you are going. Or rather, they hope you know where you are going. In a world of fast results and instant action, sometimes, people forget that it takes training, time and experience to gain skills.

If you want to be a leader in any group, you have to understand what it is that the group does. For example, within a group of plumbers, usually, the “leader” is a plumber. He or she would be a person that the other plumbers respect. But you know, if I were respected by them, and I am a baker, I might be able to lead them to the local pub, but I doubt if I will be acknowledged as a leader of the “plumbers”.

How often have you heard the lament that “… my boss has no idea what he is doing..”?

Or how about this one “Without me, my boss won’t know how to get those reports done…”?

Sure, that boss is the supervisor, he is the manager. But by any measure, he is not the leader. At the very least, we expect the leader to know what is going on. There is a certain level of implied skill and knowledge. Have you ever put a software project leader in place who has never coded a single line before?

If you find yourself falling back on the curve, it’s time to get training. Get skilled up. Sure, you as the leader will not the one doing the work, but the troops need to know that you can get in there and scrap with the best of them, or at least, that you enough know-how to give it a good shot.

Just because you are a successful sales manager in one company will not automatically make you a success in another. You need time to learn the products, learn the ropes and most importantly, learn your way around the new company. You need to be technically competent.

I would like to propose that for anyone to be a good leader, there are certain basic competencies that are needed.

A lot of focus has always been put on the charisma of a leader, the tasks and the roles f a leader. These are important or not important, depending on what theory you subscribe to. However, I would suggest that there are some basics that any leader must have. This is regardless of the leadership type, leadership style and so on.

There are basic competencies that a leader ought to have. I have tried to sort them out and have put them into five basic “competencies”

• technical competence
• operational competence
• financial competence
• people competence
• strategic competence

If you think about it, anyone without any single one of the above, would be a weak leader. In fact, it would be surprising to find them in leadership positions at all. OK, brown-nosing don’t count.

Next week, we will explore Technical Competencies of a Leader and what that means.

It is quite a common lament by small businesses that advertising and marketing that seem to work so well for others, are almost always a total waste of money for the small business person.

I just did a guest post over at Versa Creations Blog: “A 500lbs Gorilla will beat a 100lbs human anytime”

Would love to hear your comments on that.