Page 75 - Develop your leadership skills- John Adair. -- 2nd ed

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66 ■ Develop your leadership skills

scholarship or what is commonly called being clever. ‘Too
much intellect is not necessary in war,’ Napoleon once wrote in
a letter to his brother Joseph. ‘Probably the most desirable
attribute of all is that a man’s judgement should be above the
common level. Success in war is based on prudence, good
conduct and experience.’

The Greeks, of course, had a word for it. The essential quality
they looked for in a strategic leader – essential for leading one’s
personal life too – was phronesis. Translated into Latin as
prudentia and thus into English as prudence, it really means
practical wisdom. You may like to reflect upon my suggestion
that practical wisdom is composed of three principal ingredi-
ents: intelligence, experience and goodness. That is why we call
Gandhi or Nelson Mandela wise, but not Hitler, Stalin or
Saddam Hussein.

A key point to remember about strategic leadership is that in all
but the smallest organisations the role is too big for one person
to do it all him- or herself. You have to be able to delegate
effectively, leaving yourself time to think and time for people.
You may even share the role (as a chairman and chief executive
do). Be that as it may, you will certainly need to build a
strategic leadership team around you – including the senior
operational heads – to ensure that you meet the challenges of
the three circles in these turbulent times of change.

Exercise

Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, believes that the essence of
his job is leadership. ‘There is a simple recipe for leadership,’ he told
me, ‘which is to find out the truth of the situation, paint a picture of
where you want to get to, make a plan and go and do it. It applies to