Executive leadership coach and LifeSuccess consultant Susan Bagyura, was kind enough to take the time to answer a few questions about her inspirational and comprehensive guide to achieving excellence in leadership The Visionary Leader: How to Inspire Success from the Top Down.
The author shares her wisdom and practical advice for both experienced leaders, and those new to leadership, to become great leaders who inspire others to success.
Thanks to Susan Bagyura for her time and for her fascinating, informative, and very comprehensive responses to the questions. They are greatly appreciated.
What was the background to writing this book The Visionary Leader: How to Inspire Success from the Top Down?
Susan Bagyura: Shortly after I moved to London, I got my first coaching certification. While coaching many small and medium sized businesses, I found that most of the business problems were a result of their lack of awareness and leadership skills. These business people just jumped in and starting taking actions without determining the purpose for their leadership. When I moved over to Vienna, I was seeing the same thing. As I am passionate about transforming small business by through visionary leadership, it was then that I decided to write a how-to guide for developing the visionary leader mindset.
You describe leadership as starting with the individual. What do you mean by that?
Susan Bagyura: A person must be able to lead themselves before they can lead another individual, group or organization. It starts with being able to give yourself an order and then follow it. Many people say they want to do something or be something; but then excuse themselves from the work or effort that is required. When a person can demand something of themselves and consistently follow through on it, they have formed one of the pillars of leadership. This is as critical for leading an organization as it is for leading a family.
How critical is a person's mindset to achieving leadership?
Susan Bagyura: It’s everything! Our mindset determines what we draw into our lives. Success in every area of business and personal life is all about the mindset. The economy is all about mindset. While one person complains about how bad business is, someone else in the same industry and the same marketplace is experiencing their greatest growth. Within the same organization, you can see someone that is winning at what they are doing and another person that is grumbling and complaining. Whatever is happening in the business is a reflection of what is happening in the mind of the top person. Mindset comes first...behaviors and results follow.
Are there several different leadership styles and does their effectiveness depend on the individual and circumstances?
Susan Bagyura: When is comes to defining the different leadership styles, I defer to 3 experts: Daniel Goleman, Dr. Kurt Lewin, and Dr. Rensis Likert. Each has common and slightly differing views. Broadly speaking, there are 3 different styles which are authoritarian, democratic and laissez-fair. When we go into details, then we can get into very interesting mixes. I believe that the best leaders are the ones that can flex between the different styles depending on the situation or the people that are involved.
For example, the authoritarian type of leadership is all about command and control. If someone uses this style predominantly, they very quickly lose good people because the power is kept at the top and threats or fear are used as the primary motivators. However, when there is a short time frame and a need for quick decisions, this style can be particularly effective. In the book, I help people to understand their dominant styles and then to look at different situations to determine which style(s) would be more suitable. I find it is best to make these decisions when the thinking is clear rather than waiting until the pressure is on.
What skills are important for a leader to have and to develop?
Susan Bagyura: The most important skills for leadership today all start with self-awareness. The starting point is complete clarity on what the leader’s purpose for their leadership. I believe this has to be something bigger than profits. The best purposes are based on transforming lives, transforming the industry or being the best in the region for their type of business. Whatever it is, it has to be something bigger than profits. When a leader is focused on that, the profits just naturally follow.
Another important skill is coaching people to their success. The idea behind coaching is that all answers are within the person. So the skills that the leader should develop are questioning and listening. Instead of just telling the person what to do, it is far more powerful for everyone concerned, if questions are posed and answered as to the best way forward. A skillful leader using these techniques draws the best out of people; inspiring and motivating them to greater results. It’s a slower approach but the rewards are highly desirable because this approach builds deeper relationships which results in ownership, higher retention of top people and greater job satisfaction.
Susan Bagyura (photo left)
How important is vision for a leader, and how can vision be defined?
Susan Bagyura: The leader’s purpose is what I call their ‘why’. Having a big ‘why’ is extremely motivating. It’s what get a person up out of bed in the morning excited to start the day. This ‘why’ is what also motivates other people to want to join the leader and be a part of their creation. The ‘why’ or the purpose never changes. For example, the ‘why’ for Bill Gates was to transform the way people communicate. His vision, which he announced back in the mid-80s, was of a computer on every desktop and in every home. The goal or his ‘what’ was to create software products that enabled people to perform multiple functions on their PC and interact with other systems and people throughout the world. It is paramount that the leader is clear on their purpose – their why – and then communicate that out clearly and succinctly along with their vision of how they will achieve it.
In the book, I take people through the importance of visualization and gaining clarity on how they will express their purpose. At the same time, I am a firm believer that we don’t need to know exactly how we will achieve anything. We should visualize the results that we want to have or even better, the enjoyment from the achievement, get into action moving towards it and trust that the way will be shown.
How can a leader communicate vision and plans of action effectively to followers?
Susan Bagyura: The best way is through one-on-one sessions. I realize in a larger organization a leader can’t do that with everyone, but if it is done with the management team and then that team communicates it down in the same fashion, everyone will be in alignment. In those sessions, it is important that the leader also understand the ‘why’ for each employee in the key areas of their life. If the leader helps the employee achieve their ‘why’, the employee will help them. These relationships are even stronger if the leader is open, honest and transparent.
A tagline that everyone uses which simply states the purpose further reinforces the vision. Whenever any communication announced, it should tie back to the purpose and vision. The link from the purpose, the vision and the goal should always be clearly stated.
How can leaders gain the essential skills to become more effective leaders?
Susan Bagyura: The critical leadership skills necessary today are all learnable. It is most important that the leader goes through a phase of self-discovery and then links it all together. People will be inspired by what the leader has figured out and how they want to then move the company forward. Through that understanding, people are inspired and motivated to help the leader achieve his purpose.
These skills are laid out in my book, but I also believe that people will benefit from having coaching and/or training to help them through this process. Most likely the leader will require learning new skills, a deeper understanding, support and accountability through the change. Changing behaviors can be challenging and professional support through that time is crucial as our conditioning is to convince ourselves that the change isn’t necessary and revert back to old habits.
In the book, you describe the leader's mission and image. What do you mean by that?
Susan Bagyura: That chapter discusses how the mission which is the leader’s purpose is inseparable from the self-image. It is essential that the leader believes that they can achieve their purpose because as we are in action moving towards our goal; our belief and expectation will magnetize it to us. Let’s just say that someone had as their purpose to be the best football play in the league. If they believe that they are too scrawny or too fumbly to do it, then they won’t unless they identify those self-image problems and then put together a plan to overcome them. I always think of Map Quest. If you want to go somewhere and need directions, you have to put in where you are and where you want to go. Mission and image are utilizing the same principle.
How can a leader develop a better decision making process?
Susan Bagyura: Making decisions is one of the most important skills a person must learn in order to advance. I remember when I was weak with this and would run around taking polls from people as to what I should do. I would ask if it was right or wrong to do something. When someone said do this, I would say okay and then run off to do it. Then I would speak to the next person and they might say, no don’t do that, do this. And again, I would run off and not doing anything. I had everyone else responsible for my actions.
Napoleon Hill had written in his book Think And Grow Rich that the world’s richest men had developed the skill of making decisions quickly and changing them slowly if they ever changed them at all. I wondered how they could do that. It was when I developed a better understanding of the Universal Laws; in this case the Law of Polar Opposites, I realized I was asking the wrong question. With this Law, everything is contained within something. So if there is something bad about a thing, there also has to be something good about it. This is what led to my confusion.
My ability to make decisions skyrocketed when I applied this understanding. Instead of asking if doing something was right or wrong; I learned to ask myself one question. “If I do this, will it move this in the direction of my purpose or goal?” Then the decision is clear and simple.
How can improved leadership help companies, organizations, and society as a whole?
Susan Bagyura: Everything works from a higher to a lower power and this is equally true of leadership. The organization is a reflection of the leader. Some leaders may think that the problems are in other areas or other people. However if they look to see where they are doing the same thing that they are complaining about and fix it; it will be fixed outwards. Not only do the people emulate the leader, the leader actually attracts the people that mirror them. This is an ongoing opportunity for growth.
My recommendation when the leader is defining their purpose is to choose the values that they will use to guide their leadership. It should be obvious to the employees and the customers; anyone watching. I normally suggest 5 to 8 core values. Just imagine this. See a company that has honesty as a core value. Conscious, value and purpose driven leadership will have a tremendously positive impact in our businesses and society. That’s the image that I’m holding.
What is next for Susan Bagyura?
Susan Bagyura: I just completed The Visionary Leader Home Study Program which consists of a 125 page workbook and 8 MP3s. In this program, I have gone into much more depth than I could in the book and it’s essentially the same as being in a workshop with me.
Being so committed to helping business flourish through better leadership, I am collaborating with a colleague whom I highly respect to develop a membership site to train, support and develop leaders of all levels. We will have a mix of tools and strategies to help today’s and tomorrow’s leaders grow in awareness, create effective teams or organizations and increase their revenues.
In January 2011, I am chairing the 1st Annual LEADer Conference in Vienna, Austria. The leadership rules have drastically changed and events both in business and politics in the recent years have really brought this to a focal point. This conference is aimed at small business owners, executives, entrepreneurs and public administrators to help them adapt, change and thrive in this new economy. Leadership today is about the soft skills – the people skills – not just the annual report. What I really like about this conference is every speaker will be giving the attendees a tool that they can immediately implement in their business the next day.
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My book review of The Visionary Leader: How to Inspire Success from the Top Down by Susan Bagyura.
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