Leadership is a potent combination of
strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. ~ Norman Schwarzkopf
Norman Schwarzkopf’s quote above exemplifies the heart of a
servant leader. Servant leaders “…build strong relationships with others, are
empathetic, ethical, and lead in ways that serve the greater good of followers,
the organization, the community, and society at large “(Northouse, 2013, 248).
It is through their astringent value system and beliefs that they demonstrate
their character. Deep and supporting relationships with their subordinates, allow
them to achieve superior results.
While I agree with Schwarzkopf’s premise that character is the
more important factor for a leader, I do not believe that sustainable
leadership can be accomplished without some measure of technical or strategic
skill. The skills approach to leadership
from Katz supports that while human and conceptual skills are of greater
importance for top management, there is still a minimal level of technical
skill which is required (Northouse, 2013).
When looking at the three components of the skills model, strategy would
appear to be synonymous with competency.
Specifically, this skill encompasses problem solving, social judgment,
and knowledge. “When leaders move into
middle management, it becomes important that they have all three skills:
technical, human, and conceptual” (Northouse, 2013, 57).
Finally, even the servant leadership model seems to conflict
Schwarzkopf’s bold assertion that leaders can be without strategy if they have
sufficient character. Conceptualizing is
listed as required behavior for servant leaders. A leader’s ability to conceptualize allows
them “…to think through multifaceted problems, to know if something is going
wrong, and to address problems creatively…” (Northouse, 2013, 227). While his statements are well intentioned, I
believe it is clear that leaders cannot be effective without both strategy and
character. Perhaps, his intention was to
highlight that strategy without character can have grossly negative impacts on
individuals, corporations, and society. It is thus critical to have leaders
with impeccable character and perhaps only average strategic skill.
