The Attributes of the Leadership Sweet Spot and its Five Secrets David J.C. McKenzie
In golf you hit the ball with a club that is specially designed with a sweet spot. The sweet spot is the specific area on the head of the club where, with the right technique, the golf ball will go further, faster and easier. The club and ball connect in a deliberate manner that maximises the power of both. There is a joy and purity in the stroke. Leadership is like that. There is a sweet spot – a place where the actions of leadership go further, faster and easier. This leadership sweet spot is a unique compendium of eight internalised, higher order, refined qualities, understandings and beliefs. The leadership sweet spot is . . . Altruistic: There is a genuine care for others. This goes beyond direct defined leadership responsibility. It spans all people. It seeks the best for all. It works on the philosophy that all boats rise on a rising tide and it works to rise that tide for all. The antithesis of this is a bias, aggressive, competitive spirit. ■■ Borderless: There are no defined physical or intellectual borders to this sweet spot. It expands beyond workspace and classroom. It expands beyond the gates and fences. Sweet spot leadership draws in a wider group of influencers. It knows no borders and is deliberately unsuspicious. It reaches out trustingly. It believes that together is better. The antithesis of this is protective siloism. ■■ Aspirational: Sweet spot leadership genuinely looks into the future and sees something transformational. It has a powerful, forward, optimistic belief in what is possible. It always hopes. The antithesis of this is bleak, cynical, worn-out negativity. ■■ Sacrificial: There is a 100 per cent commitment in time, energy and resources. This sacrificial work ethic includes a relinquishing of personal priorities to see the greater good. Sweet spot leadership does the jobs no-one else wants to do because it sees the bigger picture. The antithesis of this is selfish, myopic, personal gain based ambition. ■■ Courageous: There is courage in the sweet spot to push forward and overcome the continual obstacles that are thrown up when leading. This courage takes the flack, weathers the storms and keeps on moving in the face of resistance. The antithesis of this is a fearful reluctance to offend anyone at all. ■■ Present-Continuous: Sweet spot leadership, whilst being informed by the past, operates in the present-continuous tense. It makes the most of today and looks constantly into the future to ensure that today’s decisions help make tomorrow’s decisions better. The antithesis of this is rigid, entrenched, status-quo thinking, that harks back to years long passed. ■■
Emotionally intelligent: To be in the sweet spot for leadership a leader needs to be highly aware of their emotions to the point that they allow themselves to experience them but do not allow the emotion to manipulate them. The antithesis of this is emotional dependency with a need for continual validation from others. ■■ Values based: Sweet spot leadership is governed by a set of deep values that ensure interactions between people and decisions are kept at the highest level. These values permeate all that is done. They are explicit and lived out in the lives of leaders. The antithesis of this are decisions and interactions based on negative, momentary feelings. ■■
The development of the sweet spot compendium of attributes takes time. Each has its own unique journey. Some come from experience. Some grow in strength through trials, testing and tribulation. Some require honest personal and professional reflection. Some are drawn from a deeper well where the metacognitive meets the meta-physical. When all eight sweet spot attributes align within a leader they become the engine room for growth. The work of that leader will go further, faster and easier. The sweet spot is on the head of the club, but how that club is swung is crucial to the utilisation of this sweet spot. There are five secrets to this. Secret Number One: A sweet spot is more than words. Without actions, words are empty intentions that might sound grandiose but are effectively worthless. The sweet spot is powerful due to the congruence, consistency and continuity between actions and words. The sweet spot is believed with passion, articulated intelligently and lived out clearly. In essence, the sweet spot is expressed, into the world, through the deliberate and conscious actions of leaders. You cannot have an oral sweet spot alone. It must be backed up with on-the-ground actions. ■■ Secret Number Two: It only takes one. One individual (Figure 1) can achieve a significant amount across many people and ■■
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down through time. The sweet spot is rare, few attain it but those that do see their power and influence increase. Think of people like Mother Theresa and Nelson Mandela. They did not seek their own glory or personal greatness. They were motivated by something bigger and more powerful – an altruistic, borderless, sacrificial, courageous, aspirational goal. Both individuals impacted the world in their own special and unique way. They led from the sweet spot. ■■ Secret Number Three: It takes time. The leadership sweet spot is like daily compounding interest. Each day leadership operates from within this powerful compendium of eight attributes, is a day that interest is added to the organisation’s actions. The leadership sweet spot is a long term investment. With any long term investment the great rewards will not be there in the short term. A leader needs to be in this for the long haul.
As Principals, the combination of Secret One, Secret Two and Secret Three is powerful. One person, leading a school, over a prolonged period of time, aligned with the sweet spot in word and deed, produces positive progressive appreciating change. ■■
Secret Number Four: As well as being expressed within an individual, the sweet spot can also be expressed collectively as a ‘oneity’ across people. When the right people, in the right places, with the right authority, all functioning within the eight attributes of the sweet spot, come together within one organisation, a synergetic sweet spot emerges that produces exponential growth. This corporate cooperative sweet spot can change a community, a province and even a nation.
Secret 4 – There is a ‘oneity’.
In a school setting, when the leadership of the principal (management), Board of Trustees (governance) and parent support group leader (fundraising) comes together in the sweet spot ‘oneity’ the school is in a strong position for swift effective growth. ■■
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Secret Number Five: The final secret is deeper and more hidden. It is directly related to Secret Four and is often missed. It is ‘onus’. Onus is the internal initiative to get things started without external pressure or compulsion. The onus for a collective ‘oneity’ always comes from one person who often works patiently, quietly, often in obscurity as an unassuming catalyst to bring things about. This person, functioning in the sweet spot, seeing the big picture, seeks to draw like-minded people in. Without this first catalyst person, the fullness of the ‘oneity’ sweet spot cannot be realised.
Sweet spot leadership leaves a lasting legacy. It is a powerful and attractive force that draws others towards it. It is essential for long lasting growth. Sweet spot leadership is not an accident. It is a conscious expression of deliberate thought. Sweet spot leadership understands the fulcrums of change and utilises these for the good of all around them. Margaret Mead, a 20th century American anthropologist gives us a great conclusion. She is once reported to have said “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” As Principals, let us be those ‘thoughtful, committed citizens’ that go about changing the worlds where we are.