I was asked the other day if I agreed with the following statement, "Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence." I must say that I completely agree with this statement. If a leader would command excellence, then the pool of talent would be a revolving door. A leader who builds excellence expects the talent to be as effective as possible and then guides them to achieve excellence. Excellence can take on many forms and the organizations meaning of excellence will vary depending on the organizations perception of excellence. Dhalgaard & Dhalgaard-Park (2007) mention that in the "4P's" for building organizational excellence, a leader's behavior will largely determine if core values will be diffused and will become a part of the organizational culture. The leader sets the tone that will determine how that leader will build excellence.
When Xerox opened it's doors with the new invention of the copier machine they were the sweethearts on Wall Street. However they fell asleep at the wheel and when their world patents expired, Xerox could not compete with the Japanese manufacturer's. The company was nearly bankrupt and the then General Manager David Kearns made a statement that they were determined to change significantly the way they were doing business through benchmarking (Dhalgaard & Dhalgaard-Park, 2007). The company was turned around and Xerox related business excellence to certification as they defined excellence as being certified with a high score on six criteria and the top category in the criteria was management leadership (Dhalgaard & Dhalgaard-Park (2007). If the leader commanded excellence, then the entire Xerox workforce would have been fired and it would have been a massive undertaking to find talent with excellence that Xerox deemed appropriate. By building excellence through benchmarks, Kearns established clear goals and assessments which guided the Xerox workforce to achieve excellence and become a successful organization.
The workforce will achieve success if the message and goals are clear. If the leader is effective, he/she will nurture a company culture that will build excellence to achieve the common goal. We can go as far as saying that a leader who commands excellence is a reactive leader and a leader that builds excellence is a proactive leader. I believe the proactive leader who builds excellence has a better chance of reaching their goal. Do agree or disagree with the statement?
Reference
Dhalgaard J. & Dhalgaard-Park S. (2007). Excellence - 25 Years Evolution. Journal of Management, 13.4, 371-393
When Xerox opened it's doors with the new invention of the copier machine they were the sweethearts on Wall Street. However they fell asleep at the wheel and when their world patents expired, Xerox could not compete with the Japanese manufacturer's. The company was nearly bankrupt and the then General Manager David Kearns made a statement that they were determined to change significantly the way they were doing business through benchmarking (Dhalgaard & Dhalgaard-Park, 2007). The company was turned around and Xerox related business excellence to certification as they defined excellence as being certified with a high score on six criteria and the top category in the criteria was management leadership (Dhalgaard & Dhalgaard-Park (2007). If the leader commanded excellence, then the entire Xerox workforce would have been fired and it would have been a massive undertaking to find talent with excellence that Xerox deemed appropriate. By building excellence through benchmarks, Kearns established clear goals and assessments which guided the Xerox workforce to achieve excellence and become a successful organization.
The workforce will achieve success if the message and goals are clear. If the leader is effective, he/she will nurture a company culture that will build excellence to achieve the common goal. We can go as far as saying that a leader who commands excellence is a reactive leader and a leader that builds excellence is a proactive leader. I believe the proactive leader who builds excellence has a better chance of reaching their goal. Do agree or disagree with the statement?
Reference
Dhalgaard J. & Dhalgaard-Park S. (2007). Excellence - 25 Years Evolution. Journal of Management, 13.4, 371-393