Results or People?

Which Makes A Great Leader?

Hard driving leaders believe that they get the big results. People-centric leaders are sure their way is the path to performance. Recent research cited in Forbes shows they are both dead wrong.

A survey of over 60,000 people shows that leaders who “primarily focus on results were seen as great just 14% of the time, and leaders who primarily focused on people were seen as great only 12% of the time.”

Results focused leaders win bragging rights, but both types lose. Why?

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Results Driven Leaders

Our research with over 25,000 leaders shows that results driven leaders struggle to engage people. In fact, they often disengage them. That low engagement shows up as resistance to change, passivity and external commitment. This leads managers to rely on micro/over managing people to try to get results.

People-Centric Leaders

Our research also shows that these leaders, while very well liked, don’t engage people in the work of facing and responding to the real issues. Instead, they avoid them in order preserve team spirit, harmony, or cohesion. The focus is on easy wins, routine problems, and incremental performance gains.

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WHAT BOTH TYPES MISS

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Human beings are natural born problem solvers and opportunity driven. When leaders bypass the work of bringing people together to face the real challenges and opportunities they don’t tap into this human drive.

Results Driven Leaders value speed and move directly to plans, goals, and accountabilities banking on the notion that followers will naturally follow. People-Centric Leaders bank on good vibes translating into big results so they avoid the real issues to dodge discomfort or conflict.

Neither taps into the human potential sitting right in front of them.

WHAT NEXT?

A different leadership approach that values 2 things simultaneously. Engaging people and engaging the real issues. While intuitively obvious, it’s rare. David Rock’s research indicates that less than 1% of all leaders possess this capability. Our work and research in leadership and adult development supports that and clearly indicates that this kind of leadership must be learned.

For over two decades, Cambridge has shown companies how to build the leadership capabilities to do both.

Engage People. Engage the Real Issues.