Leadership exists for results. The two are inseparable. Like the two sides of the same coin. You can’t be a leader without delivering results. Nor can you post results without being a leader. One can’t exist without the other. Never create a semantic dichotomy between leadership and results!

You have been placed in a position of leadership because, bosses, peers, subordinates and all other stakeholders are convinced that you bring to the table a formidable array of capabilities.

Your repertoire of knowledge, skills, attitudes and talents are expected to synergize with your character and personality. And that creative combustion will hopefully propel the organization onto a higher trajectory.

A higher trajectory can only be attained by the booster rocket of consistent results. That translates into specific, measurable, binary, time-defined and challenging outcomes achieved by ethical means. So, all the disciplines of execution and operations are interwoven into the definition of leadership.

Responsibility for quarterly results as well as strategic direction rests entirely on the leader. Short and long term results are the yin and yang of leadership. Unfortunately, very few people in leadership positions are able to nuance their style to deliver an effective balance between these two sometimes conflicting requirements. But those who do cross over into the pantheon of great leaders. What good is strategic direction if the quarterly cash flows run out and start cannibalizing reserves? Similarly, what is the benefit of bulging cash reserves if the long term survivability of the organization is neither visualized nor invested in?

Leadership is therefore all about creating results while at the same time creating the capacity to continuously deliver results!