LEADERSHIP

Leadership Taps Into The Beauty Of Leverage

Ronan Dunne, the CEO of O2 quotes the moment when he realized the
power of leadership:

We can achieve a lot more with the impact we have on those

around us than we could ever achieve on our own. I remember
when I worked in the city, I joined a team and wanted to impress
everybody - so I worked Saturdays and Sundays, just so that I
could help the team get ahead.
Then I worked out that, unless I could invent an eight day [my
back and output was limited to my individual input]. So, I worked
out that it would be much more effective if I focused on impacting
on those around me, so they could be more effective. Surprise,
surprise, it was a real transformation for me; to have the most
impact, it’s not what you can do, it’s what you can influence others
to do. Indeed as Daniel Goleman told me so succinctly, ‘Leaders
gets results through people.’ Even if you work every hour that
God sends you, your output will be limited. Yet, if you can inspire a
team of people, and if they also lead a team of people, then all of
a sudden, your output becomes exponential.
It’s all about the leverage and scale the leadership brings.
Think, for example, of the impact Sir Terry Leahy had when he
improved output of more than 300,000 staff at Tesco. It’s because
he influenced so many that he became an icon of British business.