As a leader, strengthen your core!

EXECUTIVE Read: “Impact” By Tim Irwin, Ph.D. BenBella Books, 2014

There are leaders who make an impact, and there are those who don’t. Some leaders sprint toward success; they lose steam—and then screech to a halt.

And, yes, there are leaders who truly make an impact. Something in their character empowers them to go through the peaks and valleys of leadership challenges—and then conclude such journey with great success.

There are leaders who, sadly, have some character flaws. After a stellar performance in business or politics, they get involved in irresponsible actions, are embarrassed by a reckless act—and are thrown to jail—and worse, consigned to the dustbin of history as failures.

These intriguing histories of promising leaders are addressed by a book simply titled “Impact”. This new book takes a much closer look at the reasons why promising people just end up “promising”—and they don’t deliver!

Subtitled “Great Leadership Changes Everything,” the book centers its attention on the Core of the individual leader. The core is the heart and soul of the leader, his essence—his “inward parts,” according to author Tim Irwin, PhD., using a phrase from the Scriptures’ Old Testament.

In fact, the book cites the “three faces of a leader”—which are: Style, Conduct, Core.

Style is the outward face of a leader—one that is easily observable. To illustrate, Irwin mentions the laid-back style of Steve Jobs and, in contrast, to the militaristic demeanor of General George Patton.

Conduct comprises a leader’s actions or a series of actions. The “man in the arena,” as Theodore Roosevelt who describe him, shows the leader in the thick of the action, getting bruised and yet, at the end, celebrates moments of triumph. These are “results,” says Irwin.

The Core is the focus of this book in all its 201 pages.

This book makes sure it advances its thesis in the earlier chapters, which is this: “Enduring leadership starts with a strong core.” Conversely, disappointing leadership proceeds from a weak core.

Come to think of it. Some of the people we meet are charming but spineless. We view them as inherently weak, “lacking in conviction.” Some are called leaders without “moral anchors.”

Bill Hybels, in a talk before Harvard Business School students, cited three qualities he looks for in a leader—summarized in three C’s—Character, Competence and Chemistry, in that order. Earlier, he placed Competence first.  Then, he changed his mind. “Character” is his number one criterion.

One central question is this: How come there are leaders who  are consistent to the very end? Former Senate President Jovito R. Salonga has been consistent in his political principles and his nationalistic stand until now.

We cannot say the same thing for some leaders, just about his age, who are embroiled in a high-profile controversy regarding the use of public  funds running into hundreds of millions of pesos!

Evangelist Billy Graham, past 90 years old, has been a model for integrity; his big organization untainted by scandal. We cannot say the same thing for televangelists and religious leaders who began greatly, but who deteriorated to a life and career of shame, greed, and embarrassment.

They have gone wayward, gave up their causes and proved themselves to be lesser mortals.

So, how does one develop a strong core?

One requirement, according to book author Irwin, is to have self-awareness—an honest to goodness look at one’s self, a ruthless assessment of your capacity to face challenges and, with it, face your weaknesses.

“Know thyself,” a creed forwarded by a Greek philosopher, is still true today. “An unexamined life is not worth living,” said another Greek thinker.

Irwin has a simple test to recognize a leader who is on his way to develop a strong core. He says: “When a leader has no problem revealing himself in all honesty and integrity, that leader knows his core.”

“Authentic leaders express a personal narrative alongside their vision and goals for the organization,” he explains.

He cites a congressman who sent lewd photos to a student via the Internet. What happened, to this otherwise promising leader? His answer: “His nitrogen bubble remained undetected,” he explains, and one day it burst!

He asks a pained question, that must be a wake up call to many leaders: “Why are so many leaders taking the low road of compromised integrity; when the dangers and certain harm appear obvious to us bystanders?”

When did Kenneth Lay of Enron snap? How come Dennis Kozlowski, Martha Stewart, Anthony Weiner and General David Petraeus have travelled the low road of scandal upon scandal?

The problem is—this is happening to our leaders in increasing scale, frequency, and number.  They have chosen to travel the “low road” to success—which ended in disaster.

Many stellar individuals fall. Often, Greek tragedy students exclaim: “How the mighty have fallen!”

So, how does one leader be consistent and make a positive impact? Find the high road, he suggests. Be governed by non-negotiable high standards of ethics and morality.

He cites a few of his own non-negotiables: I honor God, live a life of integrity and serve others in all that I do; I honor my family and provide for them, and protect them; and I attribute my successes to God’s grace and the help of many great people.

Irwin, who is an organizational psychologist and a management consultant, brings valuable insight to the study of a leader’s character—or lack of it.

And then he examines the socioeconomic and political forces that influence or challenge the leader’s “core.”

Usefully, he zooms in on the effect of power on the individual. He lends credence to the truism that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“Power can be self-righteous,” he points out. And “unchecked power fuels arrogance.

For this reason, Irwin devotes a chapter titled, “Who is watching your back?” He is actually pointing to one crucial need of a leader: accountability for his actions and for reactions.

From so many examples in the book, what is instructive is the story of a high ranking executive of a major beverage company around the world, who placed himself under the accountability of individuals lower than himself in an organizational chart.

Placing one’s self under an accountability group is one of the disciplines cited by the book “to strengthen your core.”

This is one book that promises to assure you  that you indeed can make an impact as a leader—not a short-lived one—but one that becomes a lasting legacy for  his organization—and even for a country.

What this book reminds us is this central truth: Leadership impact has no shortcuts. A leader must be aware of himself, must discover his core, and must proceed strengthening that core—as athletes strengthen their core muscles.

In this case,  the leader seeks to toughen his spiritual, emotional and ethical muscles. Let’s have leaders who are strong in character to the very core. dmv. [email protected]