| Every since serving a hitch in the military, I have | | | | seeming passiveness of "have." Leaders cannot get |
| been nagged by the question that's been hanging | | | | results by themselves. They need others to help get |
| around leadership since time immemorial: How can | | | | those results. Today, with speed, flexibility, and |
| some leaders persuade people to believe in them and | | | | teamwork being driving competitiveness, the |
| follow them and other leaders can't? But it wasn't the | | | | control-freak order-leader who must tyrannize and |
| military that provided me with a framework to | | | | micro manage can't compete against the leader who |
| answer that question. It was Albert Einstein and his | | | | can build and motivate teams to get results. In short, |
| quest for the unified field theory of the | | | | the leader who can "have" others get results.(3) THE |
| universe.Einstein is well known for his special and | | | | BEST WAY TO HAVE PEOPLE GET RESULTS IS |
| general theories of relativity, two of the crowning | | | | NOT TO ORDER THEM BUT TO MOTIVATE THEM. |
| intellectual achievements of the 20th century. But | | | | Like leadership purpose, motivation is another |
| what he is not so well known for is a magnificent | | | | concept that is misunderstood by many leaders. If |
| quest that he carried on for some 30 years - and | | | | we misunderstand the concept of motivation, how in |
| ultimately failed in. That was his quest for a unified | | | | the world can we motivate anybody to do anything? |
| field theory of the universe, a theory that explains all | | | | Here are the four "eternal truths" of motivation: A. |
| the forces of the universe. And it was a quest that | | | | Motivation is not something people think or feel but |
| inspired me, in my small way, to find an answer to | | | | what they PHYSICALLY DO. Only when people take |
| the leadership question.Einstein's special theory | | | | physical action can they in truth be defined as |
| combined space and time into a single concept | | | | "motivated." B. Motivation is not something we can |
| known as the space-time continuum. He spent the | | | | do to anyone. We as leaders can only communicate. |
| rest of his life failing to develop a unified field theory | | | | The people we want to motivate must motivate |
| that incorporated gravity into the electromagnetic | | | | themselves. The "motivatee" and the motivator are |
| field. But it wasn't his trying to solve the conundrums | | | | always the same person. C. Motivation is driven by |
| of physics that inspired me. It was his trying to unify | | | | emotion. In fact, the words emotion and motivation |
| the grand forces of the universe that's so | | | | come from the same Latin root, meaning "to move." |
| compelling.Just as there are grand forces driving the | | | | When we want to move people, motivate people, to |
| activities of the universe, I'm convinced that there | | | | take action, we engage their emotions. D. Motivation |
| are grand forces driving the activities of leadership. | | | | happens best when it is triggered by face-to-face |
| Whether we are talking about small or large | | | | speech.(4) WE LEAD WELL ONLY WHEN THE |
| organizations, organizations of butchers, bakers or | | | | PEOPLE WE LEAD ARE LEADING WELL. Let's throw |
| candlestick makers, the same leadership forces - | | | | out the old concept of leadership. That concept is |
| leadership laws, if you will - apply. Or at least that I | | | | based on the idea of "followership" - successful |
| was my theory, that was my quest: to find the laws | | | | leaders being the ones who got people to follow |
| of leadership, if they did indeed exist, and then show | | | | them. Baloney! Today, the speed and scope of |
| how those laws can be applied in any organizational | | | | change in the marketplace demand a new vision of |
| challenge. In short, we can have a "unified field | | | | leadership, leadership that can not only deal with that |
| theory of leadership."I won't go into the details of | | | | change but actually speed it up and make |
| how I came to develop the theory - only that after | | | | opportunities of it. That vision is this fourth |
| a quest of several decades, working with leaders of | | | | proposition. How many times have we heard this |
| all stripes, I developed what I call the Unified Field | | | | seeming praise, "They're such great leaders, they |
| Theory of Leadership Success. I'm certainly not | | | | can't be replaced!" Within the terms of the new |
| unifying such grand concepts as gravity and the | | | | leadership dynamics, those "great, irreplaceable |
| electromagnetic field; but my theory, in its small way, | | | | leaders" are in truth poor leaders that should be |
| has helped many leaders around the world raise their | | | | gotten rid of! If the leader's function is to have |
| leadership effectiveness to much higher levels.Here | | | | others get results, then the best way is not simply |
| then is the Unified Field Theory of Leadership | | | | to motivate them but to motivate them to lead |
| Success. It is not magic dust to transform you into a | | | | others to get those results. When we challenge our |
| great leader. It is instead a polestar to guide and help | | | | leaders to truly lead, we change their world and ours. |
| you invigorate your leadership and communication | | | | Only then are we leading well.Those are the four |
| efforts.The UFTLS is expressed as a series of four | | | | propositions of the Unified Field Theory of Leadership |
| propositions.(1) BUSINESS SUCCESS HAPPENS WHEN | | | | Success. Einstein failed in his quest for a unified field |
| PEOPLE GET RESULTS. Clearly, this is not some | | | | theory; but the success or failure of this Theory of |
| strange, UFO- like concept. Instead, it is a BFO - a | | | | Leadership rests with you. Put it into action. Guided |
| Blinding Flash of the Obvious. Yet obvious or not, it is | | | | by its ideas, develop strategies, processes, and |
| ignored by many leaders - too many leaders. Too | | | | leadership skills. You will start on the road to being a |
| many leaders focus on enabling such drivers as | | | | better leader. Because the four propositions do |
| quality initiatives, re-engineering projects, and | | | | provide defining differences between leaders. Those |
| cost-cutting programs - at the expense of the | | | | differences are not as grand as the differences |
| people who must animate those drivers.For instance, | | | | between gravity and electromagnetic fields, but they |
| I know of a company that is engaged in the fourth | | | | can help you do that very simple, down-to-earth |
| major restructuring in the past half dozen years. | | | | thing that your career, that any career, rests on: |
| Three of those initiatives have failed, mainly because | | | | leadership.============================= |
| they ignored the human/leadership aspect. In fact, I | | | | 2004 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All |
| propose that the new initiative is doomed to fail too. | | | | rights reserved. |
| It's obvious why: instead of being driven by a | | | | |
| compelling market strategy, strong products, or a | | | | =============================PERMISSION |
| vision of marketplace leadership, this new | | | | TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in |
| restructuring is being driven by a new computer | | | | newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is |
| system!The officers are restructuring the company | | | | provided to the author, and it appears with the |
| primarily to better employ that system, not to better | | | | included copyright, resource box and live web site link. |
| employ people for results. I daresay the light that | | | | Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not |
| they may perceive to be at the end of the tunnel will | | | | required: mail to: The author of 23 books, Brent |
| turn out in truth to be a search party looking for | | | | Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: |
| survivors.(2) LEADERS DO NOTHING MORE | | | | THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS |
| IMPORTANT THAN GET RESULTS. Another | | | | TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder |
| seemingly obvious statement. Yet when I give talks | | | | and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. - |
| to leaders around the world, and ask them, "What is | | | | and has worked with thousands of leaders worldwide |
| the most important thing you do as a leader?" some | | | | during the past 20 years helping them achieve sizable |
| 95 percent of them give every answer but this one. | | | | increases in hard, measured results. |
| This is the right answer. Understand the power in the | | | | |