The book is based on the focus of four disciplines.
Discipline Number One: Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team
Building a cohesive leadership team is the most critical, because it enables the other three. It is also most elusive, because it requires considerable interpersonal commitment from its leader.
Build and Maintain a Cohesive Leadership Team---Cohesive teams build trust, eliminate politics and increase efficiency by:
Knowing one another's unique strengths and weaknesses.
Openly engaging in constructive ideological conflict.
Holding one another accountable for behaviors and actions.
Committing to group decisions as a leadership team.
Cohesive leadership teams resolve issues and create environments of trust. This ensures most of the energy expended by all is focused on the desired results of the organization.
Discipline Number Two: Create Organizational Clarity
Almost every leader would agree of the importants of clarity in communication, yet few make it a passion. Organizational Clarity is not just your mission, strategy and values, it is agreeing on the fundamental concepts that drive it. It provides vocabulary and a set of assumptions about what is important and what is not. It allows individuals to make decisions without constant supervision and advice from above. It empowers employees with a true sense of confidence.
Discipline Number Two: Create Organizational Clarity---A healthy organization minimizes the potential for confusion, by clarifying:
Why does our organization exist?
Which behavioral values are fundamental?
What specific business are we in?
Who are our competitors?
How are we unique?
What are we trying to achieve?
Who is responsible for what?
How do you assess your organization for clarity? It's actually pretty simple. Ask your team members to answer the above questions (A-G).
Discipline Number Three: Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity
Over-communication is the simplest of the four disciplines, but most under-achieved. The reason this is so important is because your organizational clarity determines your success. When things are very clear, your people don't spend time speculating on what you might be thinking. They aren't looking for hidden messages and are not reading between the lines. There is a strong sense of common purpose and direction. This supersedes any departmental or ideological allegiance they may have.
Discipline Number Three: Over-Communicate Organizational Clarity---Healthy organizations align their employees around organizational clarity by communicating key messages through:
Repetition: Don't be afraid to repeat the same message over and over and over and over.
Simplicity: The more complicated the message, the more potential for confusion and inconsistency.
Multiple Mediums: People react to information in many ways; use a variety of mediums.
Cascading messages: Leaders communicate key messages to direct reports; the cycle repeats itself until the message is heard by all.
People in healthy organizations often joke and even complain about the volume and repetition of information they receive. In the long run, they are much happier than being kept in the dark about what's going on.
Discipline Number Four: Reinforce Organizational Clarity through Human Systems
An organization that uses human systems properly maintains its identity and sense of direction even during times of change. It insures that employees will be hired, managed rewarded and yes, even fired for reasons that are consistent with its organizational clarity.
There are four primary human systems that serve to institutionalize an organizations sense of clarity.
Discipline Number Four: Reinforce Organizational Clarity through Human Systems---Organizations sustain their health by ensuring consistency in:
Hiring-They look for qualities in new people that match the core values of the company.
Managing Performance- It serves to help employees identify their opportunities for growth and development. They can constantly realign their behaviors in the direction around the direction and values of the company Rewards and Recognition- No one is promoted unless they represent the behavioral values of the company as well as the bottom line.
Employee Dismissal- If an employee always seems to be going against the grain of your organizations values; this can be an indicator of future problems before they become too costly.
OK Randy, why this diversion from marketing and advertising to talk about leadership?
John Maxwell says it best: "Everything rises and falls on leadership!"
Advertising only speeds up what is going to happen anyway. Great companies, churches and other organizations have one thing in common. They have a great leader.
Business Runs On Relationships, Relationships Take Time.
Randy Allsbury
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