The Leadership Challenge
1
Adapted from: The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner
Challenging the Processing
Leaders are pioneers—people who are willing to step out into the unknown. They're willing to
take risks, to innovate and experiment in order to find new and better ways of doing things.
But leaders need not always be the creator or originators of new products, services, or
processes. In fact, it's just as likely that they are not. Product and service innovations tend to
come from people on the front lines, while process innovations tend to come from the people
doing the work.
The leader's primary contribution is in the recognition of good ideas, the support of those
ideas, and the willingness to challenge the system in order to improve the organization.
Leaders know well that experimentation, innovation, and change all involve risk and failure,
but they proceed anyway.
1. Search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate and improve.
2. Experiment, take risks and learn from the accompanying mistakes.
Sigma Chi Takeaways:
o being open to new ideas makes you open your eyes to strategic opportunities—be an
active listener and really consider other brothers' view points and opinions (fight the “it
can't be done for this list of reasons” voice in your head)
o SEEK OUT and LISTEN to ideas from brothers in the chapter... i.e. who better to ask
about improvements in the pledge program than the brothers that just completed it?
Inspiring a Shared Vision
Leaders inspire a shared vision. They gaze across the horizon of time, imaging the attractive
opportunities that are in store when they and their constituents arrive at a distant destination.
They imagine an exciting, highly attractive future for their organization and have dreams of
what could be. Their vision of the future pulls them forward.
It is also important that leaders cannot command commitment, only inspire it. You must
understand your constituents, knowing their dreams, their hopes, their aspirations, their
visions, their needs and have their interests at heart. Only then will you be able to enlist their
support. You can't ignite the flame of passion in other if you don't express enthusiasm for the
compelling vision of their group. Leaders communicate their passion through vivid language
and an expressive style. People are inspired by the passion they see in others.
o Envision an uplifting and ennobling future.
o Enlist other in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes and
dreams
Sigma Chi Takeaways:
o You were elected to be Consul because your brothers saw your passion for the
fraternity, their interests and the potential of your chapter, act accordingly. Focus on
that shared vision and strategically build your chapter's path to success.
