Several years ago somebody told me that there was a study out that indicated that “leadership” is a word the most people can’t relate to, and that if it’s used in the title of a book, the author’s own mother would find an excuse to read something else. As a salesperson, I can solve that problem by using one of the oldest, grungiest maxims of sales—“Don’t sell the steak, sell the sizzle.”

Here it is: Sweaty people in expensive clothes, dancing. That’s my idea of leadership sizzle. The leader’s job is to run the strobe light, crank up the volume of the music, and play a little air guitar. Interested? Send your resume, references, and salary requirements to P.O. Box 10–5–2.

While I wait for the mail, there’s just enough pulp wood growing in northern Wisconsin for a few more chapters. I’m going to make a final run at leadership because I owe it to your kids and mine. I owe it to them to recruit you and rerecruit you on the rewards of leadership and its absolute necessity.

When I began writing this book, my son was moving full speed ahead toward his sophomore year in high school. He brought home an impressive catalog of courses. I went through page after page and discovered that there wasn’t a single course or extracurricular activity on leadership. Nothing.

I guess they don’t have time for leadership in the Upper Arlington, Ohio, schools. A lot of time for computers, though. They are winning the battle for computer literacy, which is fine. I’d just like to know that Frankie and Alle have some exposure to high-touch activities like leadership, along with high-tech. In a country where leaders are made and not born, we’re awfully indifferent to the means and methods of learning how to lead our own lives, and lead our families, churches, communities, business organizations, and the nation itself.

Leadership is fun, fulfilling, rewarding—and necessary.

I’d prefer my children and yours got on the Internet to learn leadership skills rather than to learn how to make pipe bombs, or used the PC to play in a leadership “situation room” working out what-if scenarios that sharpen interpersonal skills and problem-solving abilities instead of having their heads filled with gory visions of Doom.

I’ve written about the need for dreaming big dreams and then systematically living the dream. How about these big dreams?

• What a great life to live!
• What a great place to live!

But we must learn how to live those dreams, not just luck into them. That’s the art that leaders have mastered and that those who aspire to leadership must learn: the art of how. At the moment, a good place to start learning it is the University of South Florida. The school, located in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, is creating a leadership center that could serve as a model for other academic institutions to follow. When I visited the campus not long ago I was impressed by the hip, media-savvy approach that Dr. Bill Locander and other faculty members of the business school use to help students create what Locander refers to as a “mental model of how they see leadership in different environments.” In one class, students are assigned to watch five films: Flight of the Phoenix, Norma Rae, Hoosiers, Bridge Over the River Kwai, and Lord of the Flies. Each student must design and lead a presentation that showcases the key leadership styles and techniques in the selected film.

It’s a great exercise. Rent those films from a video store and see for yourself.

There are also field trips to area companies in which students are cut loose to interview people about which leadership techniques work and which don’t. But the most innovative approach is Leadership House, which amounts to total immersion in real-life leadership experiences. It’s based on the philosophy of Robert K. Greenleaf’s book Teacher as Servant, an account of life at the fictional Jefferson House, a college dormitory that is open only to students who agree to take an active part in building and running a leadership-centered community with a mission to serve and to share. The University of South Florida’s Leadership House is the real thing and it was the first of its kind (Butler University in Indianapolis launched a similar program in 1997). Forty students, drawn from all over the campus, become residents of the house for the school year, and most stay two or three years. There is an ongoing program under one roof involving weekly meetings, service projects, speakers, and other leadership-oriented activities. The whole facility and its programs are run by the resident students, using leadership methodologies that are studied as they are practiced. In the first year, there was a small hitch. The students decided on a “no leader” approach and anarchy reigned.

Since then, the students have chucked the “no leader” model and learned to be adept at consensus building, conflict resolution, and communications.

With my love for sports, I was tickled to discover that Leadership House has also used its team-building skills to become an intramural sports power—including winning the university’s intramural coed football championship a few years ago and becoming the first dorm to ever win the “intramural triple crown.” Even better—although there’s good news and bad—a community has evolved which acts as a magnet for young area business leaders who, I was told, regularly visit the house to take part in the programs to gain leadership skills that they are, unfortunately, not getting a chance to hone on the job.

If you run a business near Tampa-St. Pete, take some truth serum. Are your young leaders headed for Leadership House after work? Good for them. Shame on you for not building a Leadership House under your own roof.

One of the things I really like about the U of SF program is that the close camaraderie is like a fraternity house, but instead of a bond created by beer bashes and Caddie Shack–style stunts, the glue is a common interest and commitment to leadership issues and the idea that leaders serve the community. And since the students are a mix of majors, there’s a rich diversity and a valuable intermingling of disciplines.

One of the advantages of the University of South Florida’s approach is that it isn’t totally textbook dominated. Leadership is a hands-on skill that has to be learned on the job, mistakes and all (as the kids discovered with their “no leader” experiment). While Robert K. Greenleaf’s strong spirituality isn’t to everyone’s taste, I’d like to see versions of Leadership House on college campuses and in high schools all over the country. Something similar could be offered to elementary and middle school students as well. If we can teach marketing, public relations, accounting, and law, we can teach leadership—and we should start early.

Leadership centers could serve as a the ultimate training grounds and clique-busters in our high schools. Being a leader is about

• communication, not alienation
• rapport, not rejection
• cooperation, not conflict
• achievement, not anger
• building up, not tearing down

Why not establish a team-based leadership culture within our schools? It works for athletes. Those jocks have a wonderful time; there’s pride, self-confidence, and a sense of accomplishment. But you don’t need to be running around on a ballfield to feel all of that. Why not let every student have the same thrill? Assign them to teams on the first day of school—athletes included—deliberately mixing personalities, academic skill levels, and social backgrounds. From then on, they work, play, and succeed together. Kids would be graded for their individual development, as well as the way they function as team members and team leaders. Their parents would be part of the team and expected to help coach.

Let’s stopping knocking the jocks, and start clocking the jocks. Figure out how the coach makes Johnny run, try the same techniques and maybe Johnny will read and write and talk about his problems. Leadership builds self-esteem and self-awareness. By exposing children to “nerds” like Bill Gates and the other successful men and women who might have been considered “strange” by their peers at one time, an understanding and respect for diversity can be fostered that can only strengthen our communities. A leadership program is a way to let the popular football players find out real quick that someday soon they could easily be working for the geeky kid with the big vocabulary. By mixing and matching the teams properly, the athletes and nonathletes can form common bonds—he’s not so dumb, she’s not so flaky. The sooner a child realizes that value is measured by who you are and what you do, rather than what you wear or how you look, the better it will be for all of us.

They ought to hear my friend and mentor Neil Lamey’s views on workplace diversity: “I’d don’t care if they’re purple with three heads, if they can sell copiers I want them on my team.” Kids need to be introduced to the real world. Leadership programs in schools can do that.

But like business teams, it can’t be half-baked. The culture of the school from the janitor to the principal has to support a team-based leadership culture. The message must be communicated over and over again: This place works as a team, and we’re building a great place to go to school!

Say it over and over again. Do it over and over again.

No time for leadership in the schools?

We better start making time for the sake of the children. The baby boomers took over college administration buildings to demand an end to the Vietnam War. Their children should take over administration buildings and principals’ offices demanding a start to the leadership war.

Systematic Leadership Training

In business organizations, the people czar would be involved in creating and running leadership centers dedicated to supporting and building leaders within the operation. This would provide an ideal mentoring environment and practice ground for young managers and those who need their skills polished. The “situation room” concept that I introduced in chapter 11 could be up and running to allow for quick “what-if” scenario training.

One of the problems with on-the-job leadership training is that the novice leader’s mistakes impact real people. I would have loved having had a couple of rounds in the “situation room” before one of my Xerox employees walked into my office and began talking about committing suicide. Tell me about on-the-job training! I sat there listening so intently, I thought I could feel my brain cells coming to a boil. I did my best to be sympathetic and to calm him down. When he left, I was on the phone immediately to human resources for help. Together, we got him into a counseling program.

It worked out fine, but things like that are so fraught with the potential for tragedy that “situation room” training or something similar should be available to every leader and manager. As it is, Xerox holds panel interviews to evaluate those who are hoping to be promoted to the first rung on the management ladder. Oddly enough, candidates are asked a whole battery of “what-if” questions, but there’s no standard operating procedure for them to prepare themselves before the interview takes place. It amounts to a psychological exam to see if you have the right instincts or have learned what you need by osmosis. I was rejected twice because my instincts and osmotic learning curve were at odds with Xerox policies.

My father finally had to explain to me that any company has the right to expect its managers to know and adhere to its standards. The end of instinct and osmosis. I had one of my peers “what-if” me until I could satisfy the promotion panel that I was ready to lead. My question then and now is, what’s wrong with actually helping those who seek leadership roles to get ready for their new responsibilities? Why instinct? Why osmosis?

With my own experience in mind, I set up a training program in Cleveland for aspiring managers. We’d go over “what-if” scenarios and other material one night—after the close of business—a couple of times each month for eight or nine months. Initially, the participants pushed me to hold the classes during the day, but my comeback was that as managers they were going have to learn how to juggle many, many conflicting demands and still take care of business.

The training allowed me not only to keep the leadership pipeline full, but to see close up who was really able to master the work and who was struggling, and do it without making the discovery the hard way when it was too late and mistakes were being made that hurt the customer. Group leadership training has the additional advantage of allowing individuals to see their peers in action, and perhaps realize that Dan or Sally really did merit the promotion (when it eventually comes their way) based on talent and hard work. Training can be an effective reality check.

Flight Lessons

I’m willing to be the poster boy for reformed underachievers because I know how aspiring to a leadership role and being allowed to live that dream changed my life. I went to my first Xerox recognition meeting in October 1976. I can fix the date because we were kicking off the fourth quarter. I think my responsibilities for the event were such make-or-break assignments as carrying in the boxes of plaques and checking the microphone. As my colleagues were called to the front to receive their awards for helping make the third quarter a success, I recall thinking that while getting one of those plaques was nice, what I really wanted was to be my boss, who was up there handing them out.

Something clicked at that moment. Frank Pacetta, the lone wolf and party animal, started paying attention to what it meant to be a leader. Until then, my attitude had been, “Well, I’m a top performer and you’re not.” Pretty snotty! Neil Lamey, my mentor in Columbus, warned me that I was going to have to lead a team composed of many different personalities, and if I tried to turn them into Frank Pacetta clones, I was bound to fall flat on my face as a leader.

I was determined to succeed. And the desire to be a leader was strong enough to make me realize that I would have to learn tolerance, to value diversity, to listen to criticism, and to enjoy the interplay of personalities as its sparks creativity, excitement, and fun. What a personal transformation it was! The opportunity to lead changed me for the better. The magic of leadership works both ways because you get back more than you give. Learning to fly is profound. Teaching others to take wing is sublime.

Evaluating Aspiring Leaders and Students

Sometimes to motivate, one has to irritate. I know there are readers whom I’ve irritated so much that they’ve tossed the book away. Good for them! Now I’m going to irritate others by telling you to stop reading this section unless you’re under the age of twenty-five. But there is an exception to this edict. If you’re planning on helping young leaders learn their craft, you can stay. If not, I’ll see you in a few pages.

Okay. If you want to lead, you’ve got to “mind the gap.” If you’ve ever been on the London Underground, you’ve probably heard the recorded announcement warning passengers to “mind the gap” between the platform and the subway car door.

Minding the gap as a would-be leader is to realize that there is perception and there is reality. When I first set out to be a leader at Xerox, I knew how good I was going to be at convincing my team to sell copiers by the freight-car load. But I was essentially told by my bosses, “Yeah, Frank, we know how you’ll convince them—’do it or you’re fired.’” For some reason, they didn’t think that was a desirable leadership quality. And they were right.

There was a gap between my perception of Frank Pacetta’s leadership skills and their perception. Since they controlled promotions, their perception was reality. What I had to do was change their perception (and my attitude), and in the process, change reality. Ever since, I have been acutely aware of the gap.

I like you to take use the Gap Evaluator. How strongly do you exemplify the following characteristics?

It’s a truly staggering list. Honestly assessing yourself on each characteristic will give you a personal checklist of what your strengths and weaknesses are as a leader. If I were twenty-five again, I would probably have given myself a long string of ones and a few twos for the sake of modesty. More than likely, I would also have awarded myself a one in “Willingness to give and take explicit feedback.” I’ll bet you did too.

Now I’m going to see if you are who you say you are. Go to a copier—make it a Xerox, please (even though I knock them, I am still extremely proud of being a Xerox guy)—make twenty copies of this same list, and give them out to your friends, relatives, colleagues, professors, and boss. Yes, the boss. Don’t forget him or her. Ask the group to evaluate you.

You are not going to like this experience. But it will make you str…never mind. It will make you a better leader because you will be able to see the gap. If you can see it, you can mind it, and close it.

At Xerox, managers were rated by their employees (using a different set of questions). I would get high ratings even when I was pushing my teams hard. The reason for that was the negative comments from those who resented the pressure tended to be more than counterbalanced by the positive ratings from those who loved the challenge. The feedback coming up from below made me feel great, but then I asked my boss for her opinion of how I was regarded from above. It was crushing. The gap was enormous. She and I worked well together. There was no problem there. But she gave me an honest reading of how more senior management regarded me: too emotional, a troublemaker, not a team player, and those sorts of things.

At first, I was furious. Then I realized that it was valuable information. Why? Perception is reality, even if the perception is not accurate. I set out to change that perception. I probably wasn’t completely successful, but I worked on it. And by the way, there were areas I didn’t work on because I knew that if I did I would weaken characteristics that made me an effective leader. The ratings I was getting from teams demonstrated that I was skilled at leading and managing down. Managing up is fine, just don’t let it interfere with the real job of leading and managing your teams.

The advantage you have with this Gap Evaluator is that those who are doing the evaluation actually know you. The feedback I got was mostly based on hearsay because many of the people my boss quoted had had very little personal contact with me. That’s probably not enough consolation, though, when the evaluation is negative in areas that you consider to be your strength. But all I can say is, grow leather skin and work to improve.

From time to time, hand out the evaluation sheets again and see how much ground you’ve gained. But save the first one as a reminder of how far you’ve come.

Now the fun part. Use the same sheet to evaluate your boss or professors. You’re the judge, but if you assign more than ten or so fives and I think it’s time to transfer or look for a new job. Pay careful attention to this next suggestion: If you didn’t ask for your boss’s evaluation the first time around—or if you did and also gave yourself a one for courage—send the evaluation you did of the boss to him or her. If you’d like to preserve your anonymity, wipe the fingerprints off the envelope.

Congratulations. Both of you now possess valuable—actionable—information.

An Anthem far Leaders

All readers are welcome to come back. Actually, I hope those over twenty-five eavesdropped anyway. The Gap Evaluator is a great tool for self-assessment, no matter where you stand in your career. When I use it to test myself I never get a perfect score—not from myself or from the others I ask for an assessment.

When I’ve received a particularly troubling rating, I’ve taught myself to ask why they feel that way and what they believe I can do to improve. But don’t try this if you are in a bad mood or looking for a fight. The point is not to persuade someone that their assessment is wrong or unfair. If you try, they’ll probably never be straight with you again.

The Gap Evaluator is an effective tool for leaders to use to assess team managers who report to them. First, record your impressions of the manager, then ask his or her team to do the same thing anonymously. Don’t expect people to put their names on the sheet. But you can ask for more information by following up on a personal basis. If Greg or Carol got a string of fours for honesty, energy, or some other important area, select a few team members and probe them for background and more information. The Gap Evaluator is exposing a problem you can’t ignore.

I started the chapter with leadership in a disco mode—“Sweaty people in expensive clothes, dancing.” So I’ll close by giving a recent hit tune a small twist. When I fill out one of these evaluations with numbers that look good, and there’s progress being made, I sign my name and then add a postscript in invisible ink: “P.S.—I believe you can fly.”

This belief is what makes the true leader different from the manager and what gives the leadership difference such potency. It’s not that the product or the process will fly. If we do our jobs as caring, committed leaders by practicing the art of how—how we set goals, how will achieve them, how we make this a great place to work and a great place to live—the people will soar and take the product, process, and profits with them.