About Brad Sugars

Most large organizations already have their own point of view about the leadership competencies required for success in various roles.

These competencies form the basis of job descriptions, hiring and promotion decisions, performance reviews, and professional development plans.

At the same time, it is important for you as an executive to have your own point of view about what makes a successful leader.

Many executives cringe when consultants and coaches talk about fuzzy “feel good” concepts like mission, purpose, values, talent, and passion.

Like you, many have been through so many fad programs, wasted retreats crafting mission statements, drives to achieve quarterly results no matter what and short-sighted restructuring, that they get cynical when it comes to these concepts.

Despite this reluctance, you need to be willing to understand your own deeper aspirations and reasons for coming to work. Therefore, as you engage in conversations about vision, purpose, values, talent, and passion, acknowledge to yourself that you feel uncomfortable and skeptical. However, also be willing to explore the reasons that drive you to do the work you currently do.

All of the above work begins to form a foundation for you and your coach. To fill the gap and achieve their vision, the leader will need to have competency in the following areas:

Strategy - Strategy means defining what type of organization the company will be, setting direction for the organization, and creating a plan to achieve that direction.

Relationships – Nothing gets done in organizations without a committed, energized, and aligned group of people. The leader needs to be outstanding at engaging people and forming alliances to achieve extraordinary results. In today’s world, it is no longer acceptable to get people on board simply through formal influence (e.g., having a title).

The leader needs to command respect and influence people based on an ability to connect with people on a personal level.

Results – At the end of the day, leaders make things happen in significant, measurable ways. They know how to get things done, move things forward, get resources, anticipate and mitigate risks, and execute their plan.

The foundation of this triangle is attitude, behaviors, and talents/skills.

Attitudes are the mindsets that drive successful results, including passion, professionalism, a sense of possibility, and a desire to win.

Behaviors are the actions that motivate people and get results, and include powerful communication, influence skills, and taking time to build relationships.

Talents are the things the executive does well, while skills express those talents in relevant ways.