There have been numerous books written about the topic of 'Leadership' in the last few years and many good definitions offered. Perhaps 'Leadership' is such a popular topic these days because we as a society sense that there are many significant challenges before us, and the bigger the challenge, the better the leader needs to be. Our manufacturing sector is certainly facing some significant challenges, and for some companies, it is near 'do or die' conditions. Our companies need leaders that are up to the challenge.

A few years ago, I was fortunate to be on the board of a young church that was on the brink of financial collapse. I didn't feel so fortunate then, but having seen the church survive the experience, I came away with an extremely valuable lesson learned on the topic of leadership. The board considered all the factors that caused the deficit and then developed a budget that the church would have to achieve in order to survive. The only thing left was for the Senior Pastor to deliver the best sermon of his career in order to encourage, force, scare, or motivate the congregation into giving more money to meet the budget. This would be no easy task since this was a very young church with many attendees still just "checking church out" - many would be very sensitive to the perception that the church just wants them for their money. I asked the Senior Pastor what approach he would take. His answer was simple - he said his message would "inform and inspire".

People need the right information to be able to make the right decisions, and then they need the desire and will to actually make them. In times of challenge or difficulty, this is what leadership comes down to - information and inspiration. Presenting accurate and relevant information, and then providing the inspiration to gain the commitment.  

Take a football team for instance. The coaching staff spends the week before the game preparing the strategy, devising plays that might work, and then informing every player of the team goals, their roles, and their responsibilities. Then comes the inspiration part. There will be pain and sacrifice involved - knowing what you have to do is one thing, deciding to do it and giving it everything you got - even though it is going to hurt - requires inspiration. If either of these 2 things is missing, the team will likely lose. If the inspiration is great but the information inaccurate, the team will "play its heart out", but lose. (They had the will, but not the way). If the information is accurate, but the inspiration lacking, the team will lose because "the other team wanted it more". (They had the way, but lacked the will).

Probably the best example of an "inform and inspire" type of leader in the last 100 years was Winston Churchill. On paper, the English forces were no match for the Nazis. They were entering a war that few really believed they could win. The information was not necessarily good - it contained a lot of bad news - but it was accurate. On top of a solid base of accurate information, Churchill applied layers and layers of inspiration.

The English were told the truth of their situation, and were told what it would require to stem the tide and eventually prevail. Churchill's radio broadcasts are legendary, the likes of which the world had never heard before. At the same time, the "other guy" was giving his own speeches with equal passion and emotion evoking skill. But there was a difference; Churchill's speeches were founded on clear and undeniable facts, and as such, every speech added to his leadership credibility. Credibility is an important ingredient for any leader that seeks to inspire his charges, and consistently delivering accurate information is the way for a leader to build that credibility.

This is also the challenge that faces many of today's manufacturing company leaders; they have to build credibility over the long term before they can really hope to inspire their charges in the short term. A single well-timed "rah rah" speech can have a short duration benefit, but each successive "rah rah" speech will have a diminished effect to the point that they eventually become counter-productive. The same is true for "scare messages"; they may have a terrific one-time effect, but the effectiveness fades quickly when this tactic is used repeatedly.

A number of decades ago, one popular but flawed leadership style could be described as the "sugar and salt" approach; sometimes you feed them sugar, sometimes you feed them salt. The key was to keep your charges guessing; they never knew if they were "coming or going". This approach really only serves the leader as none of his or her subordinates would ever grow strong enough to threaten his or her position.

The "inform and inspire" approach is not new, and it is certainly not the easiest one to adopt. It requires intentionality, consistency, and time. But history has proven time and again that it is the best long term leadership approach. The English did stem the tide and did eventually prevail over the Nazis, and many small companies today have found ways to not only survive in challenging times, but to thrive.  

No one said leadership was easy, but we all know it is a critical component required for success - for our countries, and our companies too. Now you have been informed - and hopefully you have been inspired too!

 Paul Hogendoorn is president and co-founder of OES, Inc. of London ON, and OES-A, Inc. of El Paso TX. He is a regularly contributing columnist for "Manufacturing Automation" and past chair of the London Region Manufacturing Council. He can reached at phogendoorn@oes-inc.com