John Zenger and Joseph Folkman’s research into leadership is really exciting stuff. They have looked into what it takes for a leader to move from being a good leader to a great or extraordinary one. Their conclusions in The Extraordinary Leader draws on data from over 200,000 individuals who have rated over 25,000 leaders to show how leaders can go from being good to being great, from being average to being extraordinary.

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Beyond Authority is the title my friend Julia Middleton has given to her book which is just hot off the press. (Julia is Chief Executive of Common Purpose www.commonpurpose.org.uk) Along with some others, Julia invited me to contribute to the book and this is something I was only too happy to do. More importantly, Julia argues that the work of leadership requires that we operate beyond given authority.

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This is the title of a book I think any leader will find very useful. It is also an exhortation to not always need to have something to say. Indeed, as the book very ably points out, increasingly skilful use of questions can yield several benefits:

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You may already be aware of it but for me this is a new discovery. Thanks to George Day, I have found myself fascinated by your and my eyes’ vision as a metaphor for how we lead organisations. Day is the author of Peripheral Vision: Seven Steps to Seeing Business Opportunities Sooner.

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Recently I was asked to give a talk on something like, “2020: A Report from the Future”. While preparing I was reminded of the words of Alan Kay, the celebrated computer scientist. 35 years ago, he said, “The best way to predict the future is to invent it”. Not exactly the way some businesses approach strategic planning is it?

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As some of you are already aware, the notion of competences (not organisational core competences) is hugely problematic. You may want to challenge yourself to come up with say 4 to 5 businesses that have made life difficult for the competition because of adopting a competency framework. Indeed, as one Chief Executive put it, ‘Competences will give you a competent workforce. If you want excellence you have to try something else’.

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In his insightful 2005 book The Master Strategist, Ketan, J. Patel points out some important gaps where it comes to effecting important change in our organisations:

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For an idea to be useful it need not be invented in your head. Indeed, in his book ‘Working Knowledge’, Thomas Davenport tells of an organisation with an unusual award. It is called the Not Invented Here But I Did It anyway Award. Every year staff are given special recognition for finding ideas or practices with potential for all kinds of benefit to the business and how it benefits customers and the bottom line.

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It is not rocket science but, in her book ‘Bad Leadership: What it Is, How it Happens, Why it Matters’, Barbara Kellerman’s picture of bad leadership is instructive.

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I have been having an email conversation with my friend Andrew, a Chief Executive who is leading and managing his very large business through complex and challenging change. It was not surprising to hear that initially, things were progressing at a slower pace than he would have liked. (Rather important as CEOs tend to get sacked for lack of execution rather than just failing to have appropriate goals).

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