Page 235 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

224 HBR Leader’s Handbook

get done. Without the push and drive of Seraina Macia, XL’s North Ameri-
can P&C business would never have started growing again. It took Stanley
McChrystal to transform a military organization into an effective network
to fight the terrorism of Al Qaeda in Iraq. Jim Smith had the vision, expe-
rience, and sense of purpose to guide Thomson Reuters toward a greater
focus on growth and innovation.
We are not saying that no one else might have achieved similar results,
nor that success for any of these leaders was guaranteed. Instead, we want
you to understand, as our case examples and discussions of practices have
shown, that large and complicated challenges require lots of people work-
ing together on solutions. Leadership is needed to motivate and align that
kind of effort. Such challenges are your opportunity to make the funda-
mental difference that defines a leader. Don’t wait to be anointed by some-
one else. Seize the moment to make yourself a leader.

Think big and bold and look around the corners

Seizing the leadership opportunity and making the leadership difference
in fact requires courage and also an ability to look beyond the everyday
and near-term tasks of basic management. Remember Dominic Barton,
the global managing partner of McKinsey whom we’ve met throughout the
book? In our conversation, he said that managers take care of the railroad
tracks, but leaders shift the tracks, change the boundaries, and redefine
directions. In other words, the leader’s thought process is bigger and bolder
and much more forward thinking. To be a leader, you need to anticipate
like a great chess player who looks ten moves ahead and also quickly ad-
justs to the opponent’s play.
This doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore the current chal-
lenges of your organization and focus only on the future. On the contrary,
your customers, clients, employees, investors, and partners are all count-
ing on you to keep your eye on the present and ensure that you’re doing
what’s needed to get results. As you do this, however, you can move into
leadership by looking at what’s next, and what’s next after that.