Leadership Is Doing: Axioms That Prompt “Doing” As A Leadership Style and Edge

Leadership Is Doing is the title of Pamela Newman’s entertaining and useful new tome that presents a series of axioms that characterize – or should – the approaches leaders take personally.

I enjoyed it, especially as it comes from a former “Top Gun” at AON, responsible for a major book of their business.

Her CV is shared modestly, but as a friend of long standing, I can state that I have come to know both Pamela as a thought leader, business leader, and as a dedicated philanthropist.

Pamela has received the highest awards given by the John Cabot University of Rome and by the College of Mount St Vincent, noting her charitable and social responsibility advocacies i.e that she demonstrates a sense of profound love of fellow man and a serious commitment to putting that into action. Pamela’s CV bespeaks an adroit intelligence and remarkable achievement as head of a major enterprise within a major enterprise (AON). It fails to express her innate grace and joie de vivre, so highly prized among her many, many friends across the insurance business and the nation. Although she has travelled among the top protagonists in our country and has numbered among her professional clientele at least one US President and scores of top CEO’s and leaders, Pamela remains exceedingly well grounded in the latest literature, art events and charitable opportunities. Always a force in a field that was once called insurance, but now prefers “risk transfer,” Pamela has arranged for the underwriting of some of the most challenging risks on the planet and some of the most difficult exposures imaginable. Her acute, surgical approach to the analysis of causalities and options has made her a leader in the field, to the point where the oldest insurance magazine in the country, the Insurance Advocate, presented her on its cover as The Insurance Professional of the Year, 2016. In selecting friends and colleagues with whom to share our lives, pleasures and challenges, one always hopes for personal characteristics such as kindness, reserve and fidelity and to the unwritten rules of behavior that distinguish great people. In this context her advice is well understood.

 A typical Chapter reads quickly and sets out bite sized observations that may appear obvious but bear repeating and reflection.

Here is one Chapter:

“LEADERSHIP IS DOING” AXIOM #7: THE VALUE OF THE MENTOR/PROTÉGÉ RELATIONSHIP

“A great way to measure where you are on the scale of being a true leader is to ask and answer for yourself this question: “How many protégés am I mentoring?” Implicit in leadership talent is the ability to persuade other people to follow you. I have had, over the last couple of years, the opportunity to be a protégé to an outstanding leader. When I became a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, I truly had very little concept of how to perform this important function. Wonderful William (Bill) Murdy (former CASA – Connecticut) reached out to me and asked me if he could guide and educate me on the responsibilities of being a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army. Bill is a West Point graduate and has had an incredibly successful career as a leader in business. I have taken pleasure in watching how well Bill navigates me and improves my skill sets. What I specifically noticed was that he did three things:

1. Bill took the time to evolve me. Leaders recognize that if you are going to get people to follow your thinking, it’s a significant time investment. Bill took the time out of his own schedule to meet with me and introduce me to various aspects of the Army. In our first visit, he helped me understand what the Army Corps of Engineers does. In the next visit, what the Head of Public Relations for the Army is about. After each meeting, with various units of the Army, Bill debriefed me about what we had learned from that branch of the Army.

2. Bill Murdy displays the incredible focus it takes to be a leader. A leader captures people, captures the room, and captures the entire environment he or she is occupying. He or she listens intently and nods as he or she absorbs what I am saying. As he or she learns the information I am sharing, he or she registers comprehension with frequent commentary and acknowledgement. Leaders practice their capacity to focus. When they make an introduction, they hold their eye contact just slightly longer than customary. In conversations they keep their eyes glued to the eyes of the other person. Leaders lean into other people. Leaders reflect in facial cues that they hear the other person. One of the highest compliments I ever received was from a woman name Dinny Monroe who said to me “You listen like what you are hearing is the missing link to the final equation”. Leaders focus on listening.

3. Bill Murdy has an open way. He doesn’t see a reason to build walls in a relationship. Transparency is critical. Not only do leaders talk about their families and their children, they also talk about their vacation plans, their retirement plans and their plans for the weekend. Leaders are not afraid for their protégés to see their foibles and their failings. By being vulnerable, they remarkably gain leadership respect.”

Book available from Outskirts Press.

Selected Chapter headings from Leadership is Doing

  • Visualize the Outcome
  • Refuse to Tolerate Prejudice
  • Put Your Own Needs Aside
  • Plan What You Need To Do
  • Leaders Comprehend
  • The Value of the Mentor/Protégé Relationship
  • Leaders Inspire Others
  • Leadership Moments are Derived
  • From a Collection of Short Events.
  • Leadership is About Change of Behavior
  • The U.S. Army Teaches People
  • How to Be Leaders
  • Leaders Understand the Power of Purpose
  • Leaders React to Social Change
  • Leaders Do More Than Listen
  • Leadership Means Getting Up
  • Again After Falling Down
  • Respect Is an Art Form
  • People Never Forget Leaders
  • Leaders Have Excellent
  • Communication Skills
  • Leaders Know Small Acts are
  • as Important as Large Ones
  • Show Up When You Are Needed
  • Leaders See the Opportunity No One Else Sees
  • Leaders Improve the World
  • One Foot in Front of the Other
  • Leaders Teach
  • Leaders “Break Glass”
  • Restructure the Paradigm
  • Leaders are Visionaries
  • Listen Hard