6 What Must a Leader Know?

Rupert loved spending time with his unit leader. Rupert didn’t regard his leader as a particularly effective decision maker, director, or commander. Indeed, to Rupert, it seemed as if others in his unit, not the designated unit leader, were actually choosing and leading the actions the unit undertook. But the unit leader nonetheless had a peculiar gift of knowing things. To Rupert, it seemed as if the unit leader knew things in a different way. The unit leader could look at an object, situation, or event and see different possibilities in it, almost as if the object, situation, or event spoke to the unit leader or even entered into the unit leader in some sort of synchronous or symbiotic relationship. When Rupert spent time with his unit leader, Rupert somehow came away seeing the world in a different way, with both greater risk and greater possibility.

Knowledge

Knowledge is important in leadership, just as in life. To know many things can be to have a broad knowledge of what exists and goes on in the world, even how the world generally works. To know a particular subject well can mean to have a full, deep, and masterful command of the subject, to truly know one’s way around in that field. Conversely, not to know things broadly can mean to be naive about the world’s complexity, challenges, threats, and opportunities. And not to know one’s own particular field can mean both to be blind of the field’s risks and rewards, while also useless or even a hazard when trying to navigate it. Knowledge gives us a way in the world. To know is to see or discern, to be able to survive and perhaps even thrive in the world. Not to know is to be blind and thus to be at peril to the world’s dangers and to miss its riches and rewards. Knowledge is key to leadership. 

Nature

The question, though, is not just what a leader must know. The question is also how the leader views what knowledge is. Stronger leaders don’t just know more. Whether intuitively or explicitly, stronger leaders also have a broader and deeper view of what knowledge is. To know something is first to comprehend it, to be able to recognize and name it, assigning it to its category along with other similar things. A novice leader would at least be able to name things in the organization’s field. To know something, though, is also to recognize its purpose, to identify its use in relation to other things in the world. Things have names and identity arising primarily out of their purpose. To know a thing well is to see the full breadth of its potential for valuable purposes. Competent leaders see potential for valuable purposes. Yet to know a thing can also mean to listen to a subject, object, or event, as the thing draws purpose out of the listener. Things are not just discrete objects or events separated from the observer in a purely material universe. Things have an animated relationship with their observers. The word thing has its roots in an old English word for assembly, council, or discussion. Effective leaders allow objects and events to call potential out of the team they lead. To be an effective leader, take a broader, deeper, and richer view of knowledge.

Intelligence

Leaders don’t just benefit from knowing a lot. The value of knowledge to a leader isn’t simply the quantity of knowledge the leader has stored up. The value of knowledge to a leader is also in the capacity the leader exhibits to acquire knowledge. It isn’t so much what a leader knows as how a leader knows. And it isn’t so much how much a leader knows as how readily a leader can acquire knowledge. We call intelligence the innate or learned capacity to know. Intelligence doesn’t necessarily mean knowing a lot. Intelligence instead means having the ability to acquire knowledge quickly and accurately. Intelligence is more like a fine vision or mental acuity into the field of possibility, to discern its patterns and offerings in the form of useful knowledge and information. We even speak today of having multiple intelligences, not just the capacity to quickly acquire head knowledge but also having the emotional intelligence to perceive how others are feeling and the social intelligence to accurately interpret verbal and behavioral clues. To become an effective leader, sharpen your multiple intelligences.

Unknown

Leaders constantly confront the unknown. Indeed, organizations arrange their hierarchies and reporting and communication requirements to forward unknowns to the leader for confrontation, consideration, and analysis. Think of a leader less as the director of the body’s functions and more as the fully conscious and aware mind at the top or front of the organization. The leader’s role is to discern the unknown, to draw out of the unknown useful things that the organization can know and can thus influence and turn toward useful outcomes. The unknown is a great well of potential. The potential that the unknown holds includes both danger or risk and riches or rewards. The unknown is both a mine for rich resources and a barren wilderness in which to wander. The leader’s role is to see what the unknown is both threatening and offering. An effective leader has a vital relationship with the unknown, courting its favor while assuaging its fiercer side. 

Sources

Effective leaders also have a broad and deep view of the sources of knowledge. When considering how one acquires knowledge or knowledge’s source, we typically first think of vast libraries, online databases, or similar repositories. A leader does well to know the reliable repositories of knowledge within the organization’s field, including not just classic texts and leading collections in physical libraries, and the larger and better-curated digital databases, but also the leading journals and discussion boards. Fields continually generate new knowledge. Effective leaders stay abreast of the field by drawing on current sources. Yet leaders also learn and stay abreast of field knowledge from experts, masters, and consultants in the field, and from conferences, seminars, and institutes. Interacting with other leaders and experts in the field can be an efficient way to acquire new and current knowledge. Leaders who remain current remain effective. As already suggested above in this chapter, effective leaders also listen to the subjects themselves as a source of knowledge. A deeply effective leader may not be learning from traditional sources as much as discerning possibilities from subjects and situations themselves.

Role

Knowledge can play critical roles in enabling a leader to draw on the leader’s attributes and exercise the leader’s skills. A well-formed leader needs a sound balance of knowledge, skills, and ethics or attributes. Knowledge represents consciousness or awareness of the world. Skills represent effectiveness in navigating the world. Attributes or ethics represent sound alignment with the ideals lending the world its meaning and purpose. A leader may be skilled and ethical, but without a broad and deep awareness of the world, the leader will misapply those skills and lack a clear sense of the playing field onto which to project the leader’s positive attributes or ethics. For example, a leader may have deep discernment and substantial skill in decision making. But if the leader doesn’t adequately know the technical field in which the organization works, the leader has no chance of effectively using the ample discernment and refined decision-making skills. For another example, a leader may have great communication skills to promote the leader’s vision. But if the leader doesn’t know the foreign language the organization’s workforce speaks, the leader won’t be able to effectively communicate the vision. Knowledge plays a vital role in making skills useful and putting attributes in play.

Reality

A leader’s knowledge also keeps the leader and organization in touch with reality. Knowledge is, in its essence, consciousness of reality. Knowledge represents the actual condition of things in the world. To know much is to be more aware of the real world. We seek to learn what is true and real, not what is false and imaginary. Knowledgeable individuals have a solid foundation in the world. They have a strong connection with the world from which to operate effectively in the world. The leader without knowledge, on the other hand, lives in an imaginary world. A fantasy world is not a good place for a leader to live. One of the bigger hazards for leaders is to have a false conception of conditions. When the leader doesn’t see the true conditions on the ground and makes judgments on bad information, the organization stumbles. The more a leader remains in touch with reality, the better the organization can navigate to the actual conditions on the ground and in the field. Knowledge is reconnaissance. Value knowledge as necessary to distinguish the real from the unreal.

Essential

So what knowledge is essential for a leader to possess? A leader should know the field in which the organization exists. The field may or may not be technical. If the organization operates in a technical field, the leader should generally have the specialized knowledge of that field. The leader may not need cutting-edge knowledge. The leader may not necessarily be the greatest thinker in the field. The organization might rather employ those individuals in design and development functions. But the leader should know enough to perceive the organization’s technical opportunities and challenges. Beyond field knowledge, the leader should know the legal and regulatory landscape in which the organization operates, establishing the safeguards and boundaries for the field. The leader should also know the field’s functional systems, from budgeting and financing to programs or operations, personnel, facilities, technology, and marketing and communications. And the leader should know the field’s benchmarks and standards against which the organization measures its performance. To improve your leadership, immerse yourself in your field’s standards, systems, safeguards, and technical knowledge. 

Helpful

Other knowledge beyond the above essentials can definitely help a leader, depending on the organization, circumstances, and field. If the leader leads an organization in a particularly competitive field, knowing the strengths, weaknesses, and activities of competitors can be helpful or important. Some leaders must keep a keen eye on the inventions and actions of competitors to keep the leader’s own organization competitive in the field. Leaders can also benefit from knowing their own organization’s history, traditions, values, and commitments. Organizations may need at times to preserve, draw upon, amplify, adapt, or abandon their customs and commitments. The leader who knows what history and conventions are helping the organization survive and thrive, or what is holding the organization down or back, can help the organization persist or adapt. Leaders can also benefit from knowing related fields, especially those fields on which the organization depends for its own systems and operations. A leader who knows finance or technology, for instance, may be able to bring new financial or technological means, methods, or resources to the organization. 

Attitude

A leader’s attitude toward acquiring knowledge can also affect how effective the leader is. Organizations can benefit from leaders who have an insatiable appetite for knowledge and who exhibit a curiosity and inquisitiveness about all things. A leader’s evident eagerness to learn new things, showing an interest in fields and developments, encourages the leader’s team to bring new things to the leader. A leader’s curiosity also encourages the team’s members to exhibit curiosity, giving them permission and cause to inquire and investigate. Organizations acquire the character of their leader. An inquisitive leader makes for an inquisitive organization, one that is constantly learning and adapting. Conversely, organizations can suffer when their leader shows a know-it-all attitude or otherwise reflects no interest in learning new things. Intellectual arrogance forecloses inquiry and adaptation. The leader who presumes and pretends to know everything discourages team members from bringing new opportunities or challenges forward for consideration. A leader who won’t learn stifles the workforce and stultifies the organization. 

Representation

A knowledgeable leader also represents the organization well. The organization and its members depend on the leader’s knowledge. A leader must have an operational awareness of real conditions in the field, to make sound decisions in line with those conditions. Yet an organization also needs others to believe and trust that the organization knows what is real. A leader who outwardly reflects intelligence, while exhibiting deep knowledge of the organization’s conditions and field, gives outsiders confidence to respect, trust, and engage the organization. Organizations benefit not only from knowing things but also from projecting knowledge and intelligence. A leader, more than any other member of the organization, has the opportunity to project a trustworthy, deep, and impressive knowledge of the field.

Reflection

How, on a scale from one to ten, would you rate your knowledge of your organization’s technical field? How, on the same scale, would you rate your knowledge of your organization’s systems? How would you rate your knowledge of your organization’s competitors? What sources do you use to stay current in your organization’s field? How can you expand or refine your sources to do better developing, sharpening, or updating your knowledge of your organization’s field? How do you conceive of knowledge? Would you benefit from a broader or deeper definition of knowing things? How would you rate your intelligence relative to others in your organization? Do you have social and emotional intelligence, in addition to intelligence for knowing technical things? Are you effective in encountering the unknown? Do you perceive the unknown as offering opportunities for your organization or simply as a source of danger, risk, or threat? Do you know your organization’s history, values, customs, and commitments? 

Key Points

• A leader’s broad, deep, sound, and current knowledge can be essential.

• Knowledge is not only information but also a relationship to things.

• Leaders use intelligence to acquire knowledge and perceive conditions.

• Leaders also need to grapple effectively with the unknown.

• Leaders can draw on several sources for new and current knowledge.

• Knowledge enables a leader to apply skills and draw on attributes.

• Knowledge keeps a leader in touch with reality over fantasy.

• Leaders must generally know the organization’s field and systems.

• Leaders may benefit from knowing history, customs, and competitors.

• The leader’s attitude toward learning influences the organization. 

• The leader’s intelligence positively represents the organization.

Read Chapter 7.