Leading, deciding, governing... Many managers want to exercise their leadership successfully in a company or group. But is being a good manager enough to be an exceptional leader?

To achieve this, the method counts as much as the behavior, the journey as much as the adaptability.

The transition to excellence

Why do some companies with average performances suddenly take off to reach the highest level?

In the book “From Performance to Excellence” [1] that Jim Collins devotes to large companies that have become famous and to the conditions for their lasting success, the author and his team of researchers selected eleven companies and sought to find out the reasons for their success.

Their findings indicate that the transition to excellence in these companies took place under the impetus of leaders with apparently modest profiles, guided by a simple concept but driven by unwavering determination applied at the top of the hierarchy.

Exceptional men with unquestionable leadership, surrounded by the best collaborators, have led their company to excellence!

This objective should not make leaders forget that to achieve it, they will have to learn, invest and work over the long term without waiting for immediate results. Because leadership is not innate; it can be learned, developed and perfected.

While some leaders have natural qualities that facilitate decision-making or postures, they must nevertheless work tirelessly to perfect their talents to achieve the level of excellence they aspire to.

As for a pianist or an athlete whose performance is linked to the constant demands of work.

It is therefore important to distinguish management, whose learning is more a matter of mastering techniques, from leadership whose characteristics call for charisma, interpersonal skills and a visionary side.

While the leader is generally a good manager, the opposite is not always true. These two terms are regularly used interchangeably, which sometimes explains the mistakes of corporate leadership education programs.

VISCONTI, the alchemists of leadership

“Our conviction is that the manager is the first architect of the company's success. From experience, we know that he still has untapped talents within him to unleash his full potential.”

How do you exercise effective and accomplished leadership?

Several elements are essential for a manager who wants to exercise effective and accomplished leadership.

- The first consists in the congruence between his being and his postures. Leadership works when the person is fair and caring in the way they manage.

His personality and his power of influence lead to trust, adherence and a sense of belonging, which is why a leader will be followed by his collaborators. Any loss of trust inevitably decreases team performance.

- The second is linked to its ability to make good use of the various forms of intelligence. While leadership is based on rational qualities, it also relies on “soft skills” such as behavioral intelligence and emotional intelligence, which are more innate.

Because, for a manager, knowing his feelings and emotions is essential to anticipate and control his reactions to different situations and to understand their impact on the people around him.

But are we really aware of the resources we have? How can we make best use of them? The real challenge is to analyze the different forms of intelligence and to determine how their practice can impact business performance.

- The last element is the realization that his leadership is shaped by history, by his personal life, by his career and his professional experience. It is the principle of individuation that places the manager at the center of a reflection on his role and his action.

Of course, there is no standardized model, as each manager is unique.

He develops his own leadership, based on his forms of intelligence, his convictions, his convictions, his career, his postures by integrating as a priority, knowledge, self-acceptance and the understanding of his potentials.

This is the aim of VISCONTI Partners' approach, which proposes to identify its points of excellence and preferences in order to improve the expression of its leadership.

Striving for excellence

Wanting to become a leader or having to become one, the leadership position reveals to the manager a new situation that requires both awareness and discipline.

To achieve excellence, self-knowledge must be accompanied by a mastery of characteristic dimensions such as knowing how to lead, federate, enjoy risk, etc.

To explore strategic performance levers that can support this approach, consult our detailed article.

The VISCONTI Partners method consists in unlocking the potential of managers to contribute to the serene expression of their leadership.

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[1] From performance to excellence, Jim Collins, Pearson, 2006.