My next four articles present my understanding of leadership through four key aspects, drawn from my years of experience as a change management consultant. My first point is that leadership needs to be looked at from three standpoints: process, outcome, and intention. The former can be defined as every specific effort or action taken, from the start of a project to the end. The latter can be defined as the final state of being or culmination of those efforts. To me, the quality of the process to improve ultimately determines the quality of the outcomes. My initial belief that effective leadership should be judged solely by the results now seems incomplete: how we get there is equally important.
“Progress,” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, can mean “to move forward” and “to develop to a higher, better, or more advanced stage.” The first definition can be seen as a process and the second as an output. The first is indispensable for achieving the second. But even with these two components, something equally important element is still missing. In a definition of effective progress, I would add the phrase “with good intentions.” Good intentions, to me, are the heart of actions that we take for humanity: the urge to do good with the anticipation of seeing a situation become better. Without this willing heart, the effort to improve may not succeed, and any progress gained will probably be short-lived, swept away, or replaced with another agenda. I call your attention to the word “heart.” You need to feel this urge in your heart, the desire to do good or to advance it. Combine this urge with process and outcome: I think of this trio as the three key pillars of leadership.
