Thornton's 3-C Leadership Model
Intro
Numerous theories have been put forth about the many aspects of leadership such
as motivation, alignment, and empowerment. However, it is not obvious how these
pieces fit together into a coherent model, if they do at all. As such,
leadership has a reputation of being an art that is practiced by the lucky few
who possess certain talents.
In his 1999 book, Be The Leader, Make The Difference, consultant Paul B.
Thornton proposed an integrating framework that takes these various leadership
ideas and transforms them into a model that quickly can be studied, understood,
and implemented by managers in order to develop an effective leadership style
and better lead their organizations. The model is based on the premise that
leaders exist because individuals need guidance, without which they do not
always know what they can accomplish, what they should accomplish, or how to
accomplish it. To this end, leaders can provide challenge, confidence, and
coaching. Thornton calls this framework the 3-C Leadership Model and depicted it
as shown below.
The model
The 3 Cs
+ - Present a Challenge
+ - Intro
Of the 3 aspects of leadership, challenge is the one that is practiced most
widely by managers as they ask their employee's to set increasingly higher
goals. Human nature is such that most people do not want to leave their comfort
zone and therefore are inclined to suggest small, incremental improvements in
their objectives. In today's competitive environment, such small improvements
often are insufficient. Improvements of 30%, 50%, or even several hundred
percent sometimes are required. There are many ways in which leaders can
challenge their employees.
Once success is achieved, it is important continue raising the bar in order to
fight the temptation to rest on one's laurels.
Leaders can:Actions
* Share their vision, inspiring them to believe that more is possible.
* Set very high goals, forcing people to leave their comfort zones to find ways
to acheive them.
* Ask challenging questions that lead people to reconsider their assumptions
about what is possible.
* Use benchmarking to reveal the best practices of others and use these as a
challenge.
* Provide a wide variety of assignments. Many firms make it a policy to expose
their employees to a wide range of aspects of the firm. Each new position is a
new challenge that develops the employee further.+ - Build Confidence
+ - Intro
A challenge brings people out of their comfort zones, often resulting in a drop
in their confidence level. Without confidence, the challenging goals that caused
the drop in confidence in the first place become even more difficult to reach.
Therefore, a major responsibility of a leader is to build confidence in his or
her employees so that they will believe in their ability to reach their
objectives.
Many motivation experts make the case for positive thinking and self-affirmation
as a means of building confidence. Paul Thornton argues that simply thinking
something does not make it reality, and that a person achieves genuine
self-confidence not by repeating affirmations but by actually working and
achieving something. In the process of achievement we expand our abilities, and
these expanded abilities create a more genuine, lasting confidence.
With this philosophy in mind, leaders can instill real confidence in their
employees by:Actions
* Recognizing and rewarding positive accomplishments rather than focusing on
deficiencies.
* Providing professional development in order to build confidence through
competence.
* Empowering them by providing both responsibility and authority, thereby
expressing confidence in them.
* Verbally expressing confidence in them.
* Reminding them of past successes that may have faded from their consciousness
in the face of new challenges.+ - Provide Coaching
+ - Intro
Coaching is the process of advising people in a way that facilitates their
success. It may take various forms, from training to offering a broader
perspective. Coaching can help employees to better understand how their efforts
fit into the larger strategy, thereby allowing them to make better decisions.
Overcoaching should be avoided as it can create dependent employees, reduce
their initiative, and cause them to feel micro-managed.
Leaders may coach employees by:Actions
* Providing feedback immediately after the employee performs some important task
such as meeting with a client or delivering a presentation.
* Showing them the best practices of others as examples of how tasks can be
accomplished.
* Posing carefully formulated questions designed to improve their understanding
by leading them to think through the situation.
* Setting an example, especially one of continual self-improvement.+ -
Relationship Among the 3-Cs
The triangle diagram is particularly appropriate for depicting the 3-C
Leadership Model because there is no single "correct" order and because balance
among the three vertices is important.
The 3-Cs do not need to occur in any specific order. For example, the leader may
choose first to present a challenge, then to build the confidence needed to meet
the challenge, followed by coaching. Alternatively, the leader first may build
the team's confidence, then present the grand challenge.
A proper balance among the 3-Cs is important. Consider the balance between
confidence and challenge. A significant challenge without enough confidence
likely would result in failure. Conversely, high confidence with little
challenge would result in under-utilization of one's abilities and boredom. In
the case of insufficient confidence, coaching can be used to improve the
employee's skills and thus build confidence. In the case of insufficient
challenge, the employee may need to be offered an assignment that better
utilizes his or her capabilities.
When the right balance is acheived, employees will experience a higher degree of
effectiveness and satisfaction in their work.The Book
Thornton, Paul B. Be the Leader, Make the Difference
description
The book on which this article is based. A text for many leadership seminars,
Paul B. Thornton's book presents a practical explanation of the 3-C leadership
framework and is written for those who want to better understand and improve
their leadership style. Includes short case studies by executives who have
applied the 3-C model.
~>on amazon
Table of Contents
Part I Introduction
Chapter 1 The 3-C Leadership Model
Part II Challenging the Status Quo
Chapter 2 State a Challenging Vision
Chapter 3 Demand the Impossible
Chapter 4 Ask Challenging Questions
Chapter 5 Create a Culture of Continuous Improvement
Chapter 6 Benchmark the Best
Chapter 7 Argue with Success
Part III Building Confidence
Chapter 8 Expand People's Self-Image
Chapter 9 Keep Ownership Where It Belongs
Chapter 10 Empower Your People
Chapter 11 Recognize Good or Improved Performance
Chapter 12 Drive Out Fear
Part IV Coaching to Achieve Top Performance
Chapter 13 Find the Right Balance
Chapter 14 Make People Think for Themselves
Chapter 15 Show People What Good Performance Looks Like
Chapter 16 Be a Facilitator
Chapter 17 Give Feedback
Part V Setting the Example
Chapter 18 Lead Yourself and Others
Chapter 19 Case Studies - Applying the 3-C Leadership Model
Part VI Leadership Development
Appendix
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
About the Author
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