What

Makes
Leaders
GREAT Many educators are finding that developing
great leaders isn’t about teaching skill sets.
It’s about helping students adopt the essential
behaviors that all great leaders share.
by Tricia Bisoux illustration by José Ortega

T
Those who study leadership have spent years asking the dif-
ficult questions: Can leadership be taught? Can it be learned?
One look at the number of new leadership-based centers and
programs cropping up at schools worldwide makes it seem as
if they’ve found their answers. And yet, even as business edu-
cators design leadership courses, many seem uncomfortable
with the idea of “teaching leadership.” Teaching implies the
delivery of knowledge from one person to another; where
leadership is concerned, they say, students must often dis-
cover that knowledge for themselves.
According to business educators, the deeper they delve
into what makes great leaders, the more they realize that true
leadership cannot be transmitted to students as a neat bun-
dle of skills or delivered via a series of guest lecturers and dis-
cussions. So says Terry Pearce, author of Leading Out Loud
and instructor at the Haas School of Business at the
University of California at Berkeley and the London School
of Business. True leadership, he emphasizes, must be experi-
enced, not taught.

40 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

FPO
 “Leadership starts with self-confidence, courage, and per- tant questions: Who am I at this moment? What do I want?
spective. You can’t teach those traits. Students must experi- “Most people go through their whole lives without asking or
ence them,” says Pearce. “Business schools that look at lead- answering either one of these questions,” says Alduino. “By
ership only as a set of academic skills will find themselves pro- the end of the course, I hope participants will hold these
ducing clones who don’t have it in them to lead.” questions in the palms of their hands and re-examine them on
Paula Hill Strasser, director of the Business Leadership a daily basis.”
Center at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, Noted author Warren Bennis, professor of business admin-
points out that the job of a business school isn’t necessarily to istration and founding chairman of the Leadership Institute at
teach leadership. “We don’t believe leaders are born, but that the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of
people are born with different potentials to lead,” she says. Business in Los Angeles, wants his students to ask two more
“Leadership can’t be taught, but it can be learned through pressing questions: Do I really want to lead? Am I willing to
facilitation, simulation, and one-on-one coaching. It’s a make the sacrifices leaders must make? To help them find the
process of self-discovery.” answers, the Marshall School not only brings in guest speak-
The goal for many schools, say Strasser and other leader- ers, but also requires each student to shadow a leader over the
ship faculty, is to create highly personal experiences that help entire semester. Students observe, measure, interview, and
students discover who they are, what they believe, and how take pictures of that leader, while exploring the issues and
their actions affect others. Each experience is carefully designed challenges of leadership.
to help students develop the behaviors required to discover “We confront them and help them evaluate their own lead-
how—and if—they can lead the way. ership and solve their own leadership problems in small
groups. They engage in a great deal of self-reflection,” says
Bennis. “We’ve found that there’s no difference between
being a really effective leader and becoming a fully integrated
LEADERSHIP’S “TOP 10” person. Unless students know what their strengths and weak-
As business schools parse the myriad elements of leadership, nesses are, and what their characters are like, I don’t think
one thing has become clear: Leadership is an intensely per- they can ever really deploy their full talents.”
sonal business. Business schools have the difficult task of cre-
ating experiences and reflective journeys to leadership that
often will differ from student to student. “For students, it’s
like the old mythology of the search for the Holy Grail,” says
2 PERSONAL CONVICTION

Self-awareness is key; but lead-

Pearce. “If you’re in the forest and see footprints, you’re on ership stems not just from who
the wrong path.” people are, but from what
Leaders often follow such incredibly different paths and take they believe, says Kembrel
such drastically different approaches that it’s difficult to pin- Jones, who is associate dean
point the common traits that make them effective. Educators of full-time MBA programs at
have found, however, that excellent leaders share a set of dis- Emory University’s Goizueta
tinct behaviors and characteristics, which students must possess Business School in Atlanta.
if they, too, wish to lead. With this in mind, Goizueta
recently revamped its curriculum to

1 SELF-AWARENESS

First and foremost, great leaders

create its MBA Leadership Program. The
program’s mission is to develop principled leaders who know,
and follow, their own convictions.
must know who they are, says “We are focused on values-based leadership. The word ‘val-
Peter Alduino, leadership devel- ues’ may evoke ethics, but it’s more than that for us,” says
opment consultant and president Jones. Goizueta has based its new leadership program on a set
of Bridge Group Communica- of seven core values: courage, integrity, accountability, rigor,
tions in San Francisco, California. diversity, team, and community. “These are the values that our
Alduino requires each of his stu- students and faculty live by,” explains Jones. “They permeate
dents to ask themselves two impor- everything we do in the program.”

42 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

 Call for Research on Multicultural Leadership
Leadership consultant and author Terry Pearce and former ple around the world share,” says Pearce. Once organization-
Charles Schwab CEO David Pottruck would like to see al leaders better understand the commonalities among ethni-
more research on what it takes to lead people who live cally diverse individuals, he adds, they can lead multicultural
in different countries and follow different practices and groups more effectively.
beliefs. To that end, they have developed the Initiative The research generated by the grant program will help the
for Multicultural Leadership, which is offering grants to initiative achieve its main goal, which is “to create, within ten
academics around the world who are interested in this years, a core group of leaders in leveraged institutions who
area of study. can inspire people from every culture and country by kindling
Pearce is looking for elements of “common mythology”— common themes that create meaning for virtually everyone.”
the common myths, stories, and legends—that inspire peo- Academics interested in more information about the
ple, regardless of their cultural backgrounds. “As we begin Initiative for Multicultural Leadership, as well as its grant pro-
to adapt ourselves as leaders and develop others as leaders, gram and its requirements, can visit www.terrypearce.com or
we can help them understand the common threads that peo- contact Pearce at [email protected].

3 COURAGE

Because great leaders will always

mob, the article notes, U.S. soldiers are trained to fire warn-
ing shots in the air. Yet, when Hughes and his team were con-
fronted by an enraged crowd of Iraqis in Baghdad, Hughes
face resistance to change, they must instead ordered his men to kneel down and point their rifles
have the courage to act on their at the ground. The once-angry crowd quieted immediately.
beliefs no matter what the circum- Hughes had not learned that approach in his training;
stance, says Alduino. “Students instead, he thought of a different, more effective way to solve
must ask, ‘Do I have the courage to a very immediate problem.
lead this charge despite resistance?’ “Military leaders must be hands-on, and their decisions
They must ask, ‘Do I have the courage are often environmentally driven. They constantly have to
to have my beliefs questioned?’” ask, ‘Here I am. What do I do now?’”
says Miller. Miller emphasizes that,

4 CREATIVITY

Today’s business schools are selling not only their grad-

like Hughes, students must be
able to imagine more effective
solutions than those they
uates’ functional skills, but also their creativity and abil- have already been taught to
ity to think on their feet, says Jones. Business schools truly lead effectively.
must provide students with experiences that test their
creative limits, whether in simulations or on military
training courses. For example, second-year students in
Goizueta’s MBA Leadership Program participate in a
5 CURIOSITY

Great leaders have an inher-

capstone leadership experience at the Marine Corps ent curiosity that drives them
University in Quantico, Virginia. During their experience, to ask questions and try new
students are pushed to solve life-and-death problems that things, just to see what happens.
require split-second thinking and on-the-spot creativity. “Leadership requires regularly thinking of
Paddy Miller, professor of leadership at IESE in Barcelona, the questions that affect the world we live in,” says Alduino.
Spain, points to an example cited in “Battle Lessons,” an arti- “Only by asking those questions can we have the opportunity
cle by Dan Baum, which was published to make a difference in the world and create something that is
in the January 17, 2005, issue of fundamentally better than what is already there.”
The New Yorker. The article,
which explores the lessons the
military is learning about lead-
ership, describes the actions
6 ABILITY TO INSPIRE

On the first day of class, Pearce routinely asks students two

taken by Lieutenant Colonel questions: When were you last inspired? Why was it inspira-
Chris Hughes during an inci- tional for you? Such discussion helps students find, explore,
dent in Iraq. To dispel an angry and activate their own abilities to inspire and earn the trust of

BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 43

 others. “Students must get a “Students often don’t have sufficient innovative abilities,”
sense of themselves as inspir- says Miller. “They need to know not just how to lead, but
ers who can generate change how to drive change in an organization and convince an
and move others to act,” says entire organization to do things differently. We’re often not
Pearce. “When you look at lead- good at teaching that particular skill.”
ers who have changed the world,
they have some kind of internal spirit that has
led them to do it. That capability resides in every one of us.” 9 &10 EAGERNESS TO EXPERIENCE
AND WILLINGNESS TO REFLECT
When it comes to leadership, says Jones of Goizueta, students

7 ABILITY TO LISTEN

When people think of leaders, they may think of individuals

don’t “learn by doing.” They learn by doing and then reflect-
ing on what they’ve done. In fact, the first year that
Goizueta’s new MBA Leadership Program was in place, fac-
who can talk a good game. In fact, communication and pres- ulty and students didn’t take enough time to
entation skills have become a hot ticket at many business reflect, Jones says. As a result, the program
schools. But great leaders often do their best when they stop suffered. Now, debriefing and reflection is
communicating and start listening. To that end, developing an essential portion of the curriculum.
listening skills has also become a priority at “Everyone must understand how
Goizueta for both faculty and students. important it is to take time to reflect
“Faculty involved in our program on an experience,” Jones comments.
are going through leadership coach- “People have their ‘aha’ moments
ing training,” says Jones. “We work during times of reflection, not when
on our listening skills so that we they’re going 90 miles an hour.”
can hear what students are saying, Only by participating in a curriculum
know where they’re running into that relies on experience, discussion, and
problems, and be able to talk them reflection can students develop their own leader-
through it.” Improvisation exercises ship potential, agrees Martha Maznevski, professor and director
help participants—including Jones for the Strategic Leadership for Women program at IMD in
himself—hone their listening abilities. Lausanne, Switzerland. “We rely a great deal on structured dis-
“I teach the communications course; but in cussion and reflection on experiences,” says Maznevski. “We
taking this training, I realized that I don’t listen that well!” find that students must reflect on their experiences, develop
says Jones. “By learning to listen, I’m becoming a better generalizations from that experience, and move that forward
leader, a better problem solver. We discuss that with students. into new experiences to truly develop as leaders.”
Many of the biggest problems they’ll face won’t be about a
financial calculation. Their biggest problems will be about The Hardest Soft Skill
people.” It may be a tough order for business schools to make the cur-
ricular changes necessary to help students develop these

8 ABILITY TO INNOVATE

It has been said that the difference

unique and often ineffable behaviors. In fact, leadership
may be the hardest “soft” skill for business schools or
students to tackle, says Jones. “We know leadership
between management and lead- is difficult because of the leadership void we see in
ership is the difference between business right now,” he says. “If the elements of
keeping the status quo and leadership were easy—knowing yourself, under-
innovating to drive change. The standing your values, identifying your leadership
business programs that fail to style—we wouldn’t be seeing the problems we see
teach leadership are those that today.”
focus on managing skills, says Miller of IESE often shows his students these
Miller of IESE. Those who succeed, hard-to-define nuances of leadership by taking them
he believes, will focus on innovation. to an orchestra’s rehearsal to watch how a conductor

44 BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005

 Pumping the Leadership Pipeline
Many companies have developed their own comprehensive, the “leadership essentials.” These refer to what we have identi-
in-house, leadership training programs, which will ensure fied as the behaviors of high-performing leaders: They drive
them a homegrown supply of leaders. As a result, some and deliver results, excel in customer service, inspire achieve-
business schools are looking to corporate leadership pro- ment, build relationships, create inclusion, and live integrity. We
grams as models for their own. also use 360-degree feedback with every officer of the compa-
BizEd spoke to Dennis Donovan, executive vice president ny to ensure that leadership will be covered on all fronts.
of human resources for Atlanta-based Home Depot.
Donovan oversees the company’s 325,000 employees and Eighty percent of students in the BLP are at master’s level, and most are
helped design the company’s three formal leadership train- mid-program MBAs. What is lacking in MBAs coming out of business
ing programs. The company’s two-year Store Leadership school that your training program addresses?
Program (SLP) trains store managers, and its 12-week Future At one time, the BLP was actually a program for undergradu-
Leaders Program (FLP) is aimed at college seniors and grad- ates, but we decided to weight it more toward those at the
uate students. Both were launched in 2002. The best and MBA or master’s level. We wanted to stimulate their motiva-
brightest students from the FLP are then invited to attend tion and supplement their knowledge by giving them more
Home Depot’s intense two-year Business Leadership Program exposure to our organization and building on the experience
(BLP), which has been in place since 1998. Together, these base they already have. The BLP, SLP, and FLP are pipelines
three programs train hundreds of individuals a year. that help us identify good people and accelerate their growth
The key for Home Depot, Donovan explains, is not just to in the company.
find the best talent. The company also wants to ensure,
through these programs, that it develops and retains talent What would you like to see more of from graduates of b-school based
with exactly the leadership skills it requires. leadership programs?
I’d like to see business schools focus more on helping students
Why did the Home Depot find it necessary to start the SLP, FLP, and BLP? understand how to drive large-scale change in organizations.
To fill leadership positions, we first promote our best people; Too many people have the best strategic plan in the world, or
second, we look for experienced retailers. But we wanted to have gone to the eighth layer of an operating plan, but can’t
create a third option and create what we call “pipeline pro- bring about competitive advantage in their organizations. They
grams.” That way, we know we have a continuous pipeline can’t drive systematic change on a sustained basis.
of the best talent. The best CEOs are those who bring about successful
change. Business schools that focus on this aspect of leader-
What leadership skills are taught in these programs? ship will help catapult their students into success in business. I
We focus on three basic planning processes in the company: think a number of schools seem to be onto this, but a number
strategic, operational, and HR. We then look at what we call of them aren’t.

works with musicians. There, he says, they see a metaphor for self-discovery over test grades, many educators believe they’re
business leadership in action. Although a conductor may be a on the right track to creating a generation of truly inspired
good musician, he never touches an instrument, Miller and inspirational leaders. “I’ve been teaching a course in lead-
explains. He must trust each individual performer to play his ership for the last ten years,” says Bennis. “It’s only been this
part well. And while each performer’s score shows only what year that I can say with confidence, not that we can teach
he or she must play, the conductor’s score includes every part leadership, but that we can create the right conditions in the
and shows the entire piece in all its complexities. classroom so that students can learn leadership. I’m now cer-
The ability to direct the whole, even while inspiring the tain that we’ve got it right.”
individual, is at the heart of leadership, says Miller. In addition, As educators develop a new understanding of leadership,
Miller notes that even though different orchestras may be play- they may render moot the old questions of whether leader-
ing the same music, no two performances of that music sound ship can be taught or learned. It could be that leadership can
exactly alike. “Every conductor has a unique passion and only be discovered. Business schools can aid the process by
vision,” says Miller. “If students get that, it’s inspirational.” providing experiences that spark that discovery. Whether or
By emphasizing active experiences over passive discussion, not students emerge from those experiences as great leaders,
behavioral change over functional skill sets, and reflection and say educators, is completely up to them. ■ z

BizEd SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005 45