The Hard Question

“So, what do you consider to be the one universal goal for every leader,

at any level, and in any environment of leadership?” I ask leaders this

question during leadership conferences, training sessions, professional

consultations, or personal coaching to get them to consider the power of

asking the right question that can clarify the real problem and carve a

path toward a relevant solution. The answers I received to the question

vary dramatically.

Topping the answer chart are many goals centering on matters of trust

and the importance of building and maintaining environments of trust.

Other answers focus on establishing goals that support developing and

strengthening leadership character, competence, or consistency. Still

others point to making issues of integrity, sincerity, or security as primary

goals. There are almost as many different answers as there are different

people present.

What is intriguing is that everyone has answers, but they cannot seem to

collaborate and agree with one correct response. Most would argue that

there is no single answer to the question posed earlier, it is an

impossible question to answer with a single, simple response. One could

more specifically argue that because matters of leadership are primarily

subjective in nature any answer offered can be considered the correct

answer. 

There is, however, a single correct answer to the above question and it

has nothing to do with pride or self-promotion, but everything to do with

leadership practices. The answer is this, “As a leader your primary goal

is to move people from beyond questioning your leadership to quoting

you as a leader through their words and actions.” Let me leave you with

two questions. First, “are people questioning or quoting your leadership

practices?” Second, if they are not quoting you, “What are you going to

do about  it?”