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MWorld Spring 2009 By NEIL DUCOFF

Leading a business or organization is like figuring out the pieces to an intricate jigsaw puzzle. If you tenaciously work at it, keep testing which pieces fit together, identify those subtle clues, and you'll solve that puzzle.

Once you're familiar with the inner workings of the puzzle, you can assemble it faster every time you play. The economy has taken your familiar business puzzle, carved it into smaller and even more intricate pieces?then flipped it all upside down. You can't even see the clues in the picture. The economic downturn has changed an already complex puzzle game into something that can be truly unsettling for many. But there is a solution: No-compromise leadership.

NO-COMPROMISE LEADERSHIP: IF IT NEEDS TO BE DONE, GET IT DONE

In economic times like these, your leadership grit will be put to the test. The question is, will the no-compromise leader in you rise to the challenge? No compromise is an either/or mode of leadership thinking and behavior. Compromise or no compromise. Get it done or procrastinate. Address the problem or allow it to fester and grow. Take control and lead or be held "hostage." Be tenacious and courageous or live in fear. Experience the thrill of accomplishment or the anxiety of allowing time and opportunities to slip away. To better understand what no-compromise leadership is, here is a list of 10 requirements. Each requirement raises the bar higher to make you stretch. Collectively, they provide the thinking and behavioral foundation to lead your company through these challenging times.

1.Clarity: Have absolute clarity on where you're taking your company

Having absolute clarity on where you're taking your company is what distinguishes the nocompromise leader from other leaders. Having absolute clarity of your objectives and action plans brings the vision and mission of the company into the highest level of alignment. Absolute clarity is like business GPS. It sets the where and the how. Absolute clarity ensures that the company doesn't wander off course or make decisions that are not in alignment with its vision, such as expanding too fast or entering unknown markets. Decisions or course changes remain true to the vision and mission.

2. Values: If you want them, live them.

When you admire a business for its uncompromising quality, relentless customer service, and delivering what was promised when it was promised, what you're actually admiring is the culture created and governed by its values. That level of refined values-based behavior doesn't just happen; it's designed and meticulously cared for. Most important, it begins at the top. Tampering with the values of a business is much like tampering with the forces of nature. Compromise values anywhere in your company and minute changes, often called the butterfly effect, can cause a tidal wave of otherwise avoidable issues, problems, and drama.

Here are some common examples of compromising behavior that will degrade the values of your company:
-->Stealing or embezzling from your own company
-->Making up the rules as you go
-->Not keeping your word or outright lying
-->Overriding the authority of others without their knowledge
-->"Do as I say, not as I do" mixed messages

3. Accountability: If it needs to be done, get it done.

Failure to be accountable and do what needs to be done is the ultimate compromise for a business leader. It contaminates the very fabric of the business culture, because the leader's propensity to compromise sets the behavior standard for the entire company. Procrastination, or simply avoiding difficult decisions or actions, is behavior that breeds compromise. Living by requirement number three is nonnegotiable for the no-compromise leader. A leader is defined by his or her resolve, tenacity, and courage to get things done.

4. Transparent: No excuses when you compromise. Own it.

Excuses are an easy way to justify and explain away compromising behavior. The true no-compromise leader rises above the masses to openly acknowledge and take responsibility for his or her compromises. He or she owns it. "I screwed up. It was a bad decision. I was wrong." Owning compromises creates a level of transparency that reveals a leader's human side, that the individual is not infallible?that he or she has no hidden agenda. Owning it ends the drama and related stress, much like hitting a huge pressure release valve. More than anything, it builds trust.

5. Culture: Don't destroy from within.

Leaders who refuse to confront the reality of what's happening in their own companies enable negative behaviors to contaminate their cultures. Even worse is when leaders see the problem and fail to act. It doesn't matter how successful your business is or how wonderful you believe your culture to be, it is vulnerable. As a leader, it's your responsibility to protect its culture and to do so at all cost.

6. Change: Don't be dictatorial and inflexible.

Becoming a no-compromise leader doesn't mean that you must become an imposing messenger of darkness who demands unquestioned, unrelenting, and absolute obedience. If your first reaction to no compromise is hesitation from fear of shifting to a leadership style that is too dictatorial and inflexible, ponder this: When integrity, trust, compassion, ethics, tenacity, and courage merge, they form the framework for no-compromise leadership. That framework would be torn apart by the dynamics and warp-speed pace of change in business if it was incapable of flexing. Everything changes. One set of behaviors might work fine today but not tomorrow. The no-compromise leader must be open to and ready to embrace change, no matter how fast it comes.

7. Focus: Avoid office-itis.

Office-itis is what happens to leaders who lose their focus. It's when they get bogged down in day-to-day minutia and the like that disconnects them from the current reality and performance of the business. Think you're immune to office-itis because you don't work in an office? Think again. Whenever your daily work routine disconnects you from the action and dynamics of the business?you've got a case of office-itis. The best prevention for office-itis is to consistently maintain the sense of urgency of the business. Communication, information flow, and accountability must never be compromised.

8. Strategic: Manage what's on your plate.

If you had to pick one word to describe your leadership work style, would it be superhero? Do you just love to pile on the work and the projects? Is so much crammed into your daily schedule that it's a challenge to give your focused attention to conversations and tasks? In reality, superheroes resemble an overloaded speedboat. Rather than gaining speed until it planes over the water, an overburdened speedboat leaves nothing but an impressive wake in its path, as it struggles to push through the water. That impressive wake then becomes an obstacle that others are forced to deal with every time their superhero passes by.

9. Resolute: Be tenacious and courageous.

If you're feeling the effects of the economy, you can do something about it?but only if you shift into no-compromise mode and lead your company with confidence and some out-ofthe- box thinking. This is no time to hunker down. It's time to innovate, adapt, and grow.

10. Inspiring: Lead with passion.

Passion fuels a higher calling and a natural enthusiasm to all that you do. So much so that others can sense and capture that same passion. The no-compromise leader's passion attracts and engages others in the most positive way. That shared passion then lifts the performance of the entire company. Consider any great company in history, and you will find an innate passion as the driving force behind the organization's and its leader's accomplishments. As you can see by the 10 requirements, there is a higher level of thinking and behavior woven into the DNA of no-compromise leadership. Rather than rigid, no-compromise leaders are compassionate and flexible with an unwavering sense of purpose to be the best, inspire the best, and to win the game. They earn respect through consistency, integrity, and trust. They create unflappable and dynamic cultures. They are certainly tenacious and courageous. They get things done because they expect nothing less than the best from themselves and those they lead. More important, no-compromise leaders will be the ones leading healthy companies through these tough economic times.

Neil Ducoff, author of the No-Compromise Leadership (DC Press, 2008), is CEO of Strategies, a Connecticut-based training and coaching company that teaches leaders and organizations how to live the no-compromise mantra. For more information, e-mail neil@nocompromiseleadership.com or visit www.nocompromiseleadership.com