In Leadership, The Critical Convergence Drives Great Results

The Leader's Fallacy lives! We subscribe to the Fallacy when we believe our enthusiasm over a particular leadership challenge is automatically reciprocated by the people we lead.

If ignorance is bliss then leaders going around blithely adhering to the Leader's Fallacy have cornered the market on happiness.

The truth is, it's more realistic to believe in INVERSE RECIPROCITY: i.e., whatever motivates you, "DE-motivates" the people.

That's especially so for leaders who are trying to motivate people to meet extraordinary challenges.

You'll never know how good you are as a leader unless you are motivating others to be better than they think they are. In that endeavor, you'll inevitably get at least some of the people angry.

Most people are settled into a comfortable status quo and resist and resent being challenged to break out.

But if you aim to get great results, people not only have to be pushed but more importantly, they must be challenged to push themselves.

So, if you're not getting some people angry with you over the pushing, you're doing something wrong as a leader, you're not challenging people enough.

This doesn't mean you can't or shouldn't have the people share in your enthusiasms. You must. That sharing is called CRITICAL CONFLUENCE, the joining of your enthusiasms and theirs so they are as enthusiastic as you about meeting the challenges you face. Until a critical confluence happens, you can't get great results consistently.

The Leader's Fallacy is an obstacle to the critical confluence. Don't think the Critical Confluence will happen automatically. Know instead that you must work hard to achieve it.

After all, you yourself must be motivated about those challenges. If you're not motivated, you shouldn't be leading. But your motivation is irrelevant simply because it's a given.

Here's what's relevant: Can you transfer your motivation to the people so they are as motivated as you are? And can you translate their motivation into action that achieves results?

Everyone has major needs that shape their thinking and their actions day in and day out. If you want those people to take ardent action for you, you must provide solutions to the problems of those needs so the action you have them take brings them closer to realizing those solutions.

By the way, the critical confluence is not "win/win". It's much deeper and richer. Unlike "win/win", the critical confluence is an on-going relationship process from which flow mutually beneficial expectations and solutions.

Here are three steps you can take to help make a critical confluence happen.

(1) Understand their needs.

(2) Turn their needs into problems.

(3) Have their commitment to your cause be a solution to their problems.

To get the best out of people, we must embrace the best in them. Whenever you need to lead people to tackle important challenges, recall the Leader's Fallacy. Know that their commitment to your cause doesn't come automatically. You have to earn it by embracing the best of who they are. When you take the trouble to build a critical convergence, you'll see a significant jump in the results you have others achieve.

2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com

The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. ? and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at http://www.actionleadership.com

---

How to Build Your Business and Still Take Time Off

We all know people who are like human dynamos. They... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Employee Ideas Achieve Work Life Balance

This article relates to the Work/Life Balance competency, which investigates... Read More

50 Great Ways to Motivate and Not Break the Bank

Quick, Easy, and Even Fun! 1. Smile, say "Hi! How... Read More

ISO 9001, What Next?

The overriding goal of ISO-14000. (History 1995)As ISO-9000 becomes a... Read More

How To Use Outsourcing To Beat Your Competition

Outsourcing is when you hire outside professionals or services to... Read More

How To Delegate for Fun and Profit

Ah, the wretched pain of delegation. It comes easy to... Read More

Status Quo Pep Talks That Can Threaten Your Leadership

Organizations live and die by results. Yet most organizations get... Read More

PR Still a Mystery to Some

Unfortunately, there are managers who define public relations by its... Read More

Employee Success! - 7 Ways Feedback Works

By sharing how well you are doing and how well... Read More

Is Your Management Style Assisting or Hurting Your Business?

Many times business owners can have significant differences in management... Read More

Romford Accountants: Accountancy Firm Roles and Responsibilities

If you own or operate a business in the UK,... Read More

How to Create a Positive Work Atmosphere

Positive versus Negative WorkplacesWe have all worked in places where... Read More

Just The Facts

Attitudes are more important than facts. Dr. Karl Menninger... Read More

Procrastination and JDI!

In a management role procrastination can seriously hold back progress... Read More

Middle-Aged Managers, the Forgotten Digital Divide

The digital divide is defined by the role computers play... Read More

The 6 Steps to Six Sigma

Step 1Get the proper level of Six Sigma expertise at... Read More

Five Steps to Increase the People Power in Your Business

Take some bold steps and help your employees and business... Read More

Sending Documents Through Email? Dont Get Burned by Metadata!

During a recent seminar I gave located in the suburbs... Read More

Are Your Meetings Smart?

Soon after I finished a brief seminar on how to... Read More

Managing YOUR Expectations

I sit on the board of an organization and at... Read More

ISO 9001 What Records Does My Business Need To Keep?

Which documents must I keep for ISO 9001?In addition to... Read More

10 Resolutions For The New Year!!

Each year many people create a list of resolutions designed... Read More

Good Idea Generation ? A Process

It seems incongruous that good idea generation can be a... Read More

Managing People - No One Shows You What To Do

Imagine the following scenario - you pay a visit to... Read More

To Thine Own Self Be True--Its Better for Business: What Arthur Andersen Would Say to His Company

As a child, you probably heard, "to thine own self... Read More

Hire People For What They Do Best

I recently flew from Seattle to Atlanta, I realized, just... Read More

Allan Kempert Discovers That Truly All You Gotta Do Is Ask

A year or so ago, I met Allan Kempert. Allan... Read More

He Hate Me: Turning Their Bad Attitude Into Your Great Results

"He Hate Me" was the nickname of Rod Smart, a... Read More

Manage Communication to Add Value

Management guru Tom Peters says white collar workers and managers... Read More

Hiring Tip -- Picking The Best Candidates

I often hear leaders from all types of organizations ask... Read More

Innovation Management ? Raw brainpower versus experience

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Effective Meetings by Phone - Part 2, How to Hold a Teleconference

Even a well-planned teleconference can go poorly. Some people treat... Read More

Negative Self-talk is Too Expensive

I'm always fascinated by the people who lift huge weights,... Read More