University of Michigan Ross School of Business - What is Leadership?

We’ve been on a journey for the last fifteen years to resolve leadership concept clutter by approaching leadership from a unique perspective.

Most leadership authors of the last fifty years draw on the discipline of psychology- the leader must understand what is inside oneself. From fish to cheese, from habits to conversations,
from self-empowerment to servitude, most leadership thinkers have struggled to distill the essence of what makes an effective leader.

We appreciate this psychological tradition but believe that other disciplines like marketing and finance may inform and synthesize how we think about leaders. In a simplistic way, these
perspectives are more outside/in than inside/out because they are based on business logic.

We want to build leadership on a foundation so that business value is created. In this chapter, we share on our answer to the question, “what is leadership,” by reporting our
leadership journey. To date, we have identified four key principles and questions that derive from an outside/in, business-values driven leadership approach:

1. Clarify why leadership matters: What are the outcomes of good leadership?
2. Nail the basics: What must every leader know, do, and be?
3. Create leadership brand: How do we develop leadership (not just leaders) from the outside/in?
4. Ensure leadership sustainability: How do leaders make long term change really happen?

Mastering these principles and answering these questions about leadership will help general managers and HR professionals work together to build leadership capability with their organizations.

General managers are the owners of their company’s leadership, and HR professionals are the architects. When they work together, they can ensure that quality of leadership delivers sustainable value.