The Petraeus 4
In General David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts incredibly well researched book, ‘Conflict – The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine’, the authors state that successful strategic leadership can transform even the most seriously disadvantageous situations for the better; however, when it fails, it can turn likely victory into certain defeat. They contest, and who am I to disagree, that this is true of all aspects of life, not just the military.
General Patreus and his team at the Belfer Centre at the Harvard Kennedy School have identified four major factors that successful leaders must master, (and they suggest that leadership failures can be traced to an absence of one or more of them).
- Get the big ideas right.
- Communicate them effectively throughout the breadth and depth of the organisation.
- Implement them effectively by relentless and determined execution.
- Refine, adapt and augment continuously, so that the first three are repeated over, and over.
Having worked with some of the best business leaders in the world, (and also been witness to far too many poor ones), I’ve seen how this leadership model stacks up, and how it helps to explain the fundamental differences between the best and the rest.
Of the four factors, I see failure with number 3. more often than the others.
There have been many leaders with a big idea who could effectively communicate it, but failed in the execution – more often than not because the results weren’t immediate and required more effort and resources than originally identified. Of course, when that happens, there’s no opportunity to master number 4.
At Property Academy, we work with business leaders to help them master these four factors – get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how we can help you to fulfil your potential.
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