Measure of a Leader: The Legendary Leadership Formula for Producing Exceptional Performers and Outstanding Results

Here’s a story I would like to hear: A church pastor, a gang member, and a Fortune 500 executive leave these occupations (if only temporarily) to team up and open a number of successful restaurants. The enterprise inspires and amazes until someone gets caught doing something he shouldn’t. Alas, the harsh light of prosecution reveals some ugly truths behind the charmed partnership.

Actually, this tale happens to be true. It made headlines because the former gang member is now behind bars, convicted of defrauding employees, vendors and lenders. A number of the restaurants had to be closed, and lawsuits were in progress. In a brief news story, no mention was made of the fates of the minister or the former Starbucks executive. Common sense begs the questions: Aren’t all three of these men responsible, and weren’t there plenty of clues before it got this bad? A documentary or book would focus on the personalities and the dramatic moments, but the actual unraveling of the enterprise was probably far less interesting. 

Authors Aubrey and James Daniels suggest that the day-to-day processes in an organization, not the black ink or the personal styles of leadership, reveal early clues to its success or failure. In Measure of a Leader: The Legendary Leadership Formula for Producing Exceptional Performers and Outstanding Results (McGraw-Hill, 2007, $24.95), they point out that close attention to processes–and behavior that results from those processes–reveals the health of an organization.

In an extension of his well-known work in positive reinforcement, Aubrey Daniels and his co-author advise leaders to use this approach constantly. They expand the discussion by describing how a leader can (and should) consistently measure his or her impact. 

The authors begin with the tried-and-true ABC approach to behavior (antecedent, behavior, consequence). Like others who prefer positive reinforcement, they see punishment as a minimally effective antecedent. It comes before–and actually encourages–poor performance (behavior), which brings poor results (consequence). Punishment is simply a tool that a leader uses, in effect, to scoop up after employees after they’ve “done their business.”

To begin measuring your impact on followers, the writers offer their PIC/NIC Analysis®. These acronyms label consequences as either positive, immediate and certain (PIC) or negative, immediate and certain (NIC). There are also, of course, future and uncertain consequences (F and U). The problem is that PICs are not often built into the employee’s daily work process. So, the leader must intentionally look for ways to add them.

Many workplace rewards, such as a promotion or a yearly bonus, offer the employee positive, but future and uncertain consequences (PFU). Though positive, they do little to impact the immediate suffering, for example, of the customer service rep who faces dozens of angry customers in a poorly-planned service line. She might manage to think, “bonus, bonus, bonus” during the first few interactions of a chaotic day, but the twentieth angry face will likely divert her thoughts to lunchtime, or getting a new job.

The least effective consequence, of course, is the NFU, a negative event, uncertain in nature, that the employee won’t face until later. The service rep, for instance, is unlikely to spend much time thinking about the threat of “a good talking to” for poor performance from the supervisor who goes over customer complaints once a month.

Once you understand this framework, the authors invite you to test your effect on followers. The goal is to ignore personality factors, and focus solely on actions and attitudes. Of these, Daniels and Daniels suggest four to watch:

• Momentum: How many followers answer the leader’s call? How quickly do they respond? How closely do their behaviors match the leader’s priorities?
• Commitment: How many people relate their efforts to the leader’s vision, and how persistent are they in their commitment to the vision?
• Initiative: How frequently do employees help their peers or their work group? How about other work groups? How many employee suggestions support the mission or vision?
• Reciprocity: How often do followers take responsibility for mistakes, or ask the leader for advice/counsel? How many become leaders?

Daniels and Daniels also give practical advice on motivating followers, creating and maintaining excitement, cultivating commitment, and increasing initiative. They use excellent examples, which serve two purposes–to clarify the right approaches, and to show how they work in the real world.

The authors combine an engaging style, a deep understanding of organizational behavior, and a commitment to caring, effective leadership to make this book a great resource.