Merrill Dubrow on Leadership

Tara,

I found your post on Merrill’s marketing acronynms very interesting. I went through and quizzed myself on what adjectives I thought would encompass a successful marketing practitioner and agree with Merrill on about half of his choices. For instance, the ones that stick out to me most are listen, evalutate, decisions, enthusiasm, set goals and integrity. Personally, these are the most common adjectives and are found in almost all accronyms involving marketing, public relations, communications, etc. The five above appear everywhere because they are five fundamental principals that one needs in order to be successful.

Decisions, risk taker, hire well and perservere seem like they could be interchangeable with some of the other choices, but they too make a good choice for what a leader should strive to be. Without a proper decision maker, no company (let alone a leader) stands a chance of surviving. A good leader needs to make long-term decisions as well as spur-of-the-moment decisions and needs to make those without second guessing his or herself. A leader also needs to take risks that will benefit the company and the company’s employees. Hiring well goes hand in hand with decisions. Without excellent employees, a company does not stand a chance of survival. Perservere is a beneficial characteristic as a good leader continues to carry on and despite what might otherwise hold him or her back.

The one adjective, however, I would replace would be anticipate with attitude. Although a good leader needs to anticipate decisions and problems within his company and staff, attitude also is a huge part of what makes someone successful. Everyone knows how painful it can be to work with someone who is constantly down and negative. With a positive attitude anything is possible because people are much more apt to want to help one out.

This particular posting caught my eye and after reading it I was intrigued by Mr. Dubrow’s list. Many of the adjectives are those that I think a good leader should possess. I do have a catch on the tie between decisions and risk-taker though. Yes, a leader should be able to make good decisions and taking risks can cetainly be a part of that. But aren’t the two really interconnected? Taking a risk requires research, time and making a GOOD decision. I feel that one of the two could be replaced with a different adjective since taking the risk mirrors making good decisions.

As a student leader, I have sat through many conferences on leadership and several speeches on this topic, but I still cannot get enough information on the subject. It is fascinating to me how many differences in opinion are out there. This particular blog was rather attention-grabbing. As I went through the list of proposed words, I found that I agreed with Mr. Dubrow on all but three of the choices.

But first, to answer your question, Tara, I believe that “evaluate” is more important than “evolve.” At least it is in my list. I believe that each word could be interconnected with others on the list. I actually struggled with “evaluate” or “education.” But I decided that education could be included in making good decisions. My reasoning for choosing evaluate over evolve was a little different. Evolving is necessary to function, not only as a leader, but in everday life. Evaluating is unfortunately often left out, and thus more important to my list. I think that evaluation gets left out many times and projects fail. A good leader must constantly evaluate to see where he/she’s been and where he/she’s going if anything is to be accomplished.
Another word I struggled with was “Anticipate.” I believe that anticipating is also part of making good decisions, therefore, I would have chosen “Attitude” instead. Attitude is everything. You will never be able to anticipate every possible situation, but you can always choose your attitude. Your outlook can be contagious and really affect everyone in your realm of leadership. Attitude is crucial on my list.

Last, but not least, I would choose the letter ‘H’ to represent heart. I think that heart is one of the most important aspects of a leader because it enables the leader to work those long hours, encourage others, and do things otherwise unimagineable. If you are doing something for the right reasons, if your heart is truly in what you are doing, you’ll attract others like you and that would make you “Hire well.” I think if you heart is in the right place, everything else will be.

Thank you for your time and allowing me to share my opinions on this subject. I would love to hear more of Mr. Dubrow’s work. It sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing!

I have the privilege of being president of one of the university’s largest fraternities (140+ members). While some might see this as a trivial leadership position, I have found it to be a 24-hour job, with many unique challenges and opportunities to learn. This position, as well as others I have held have led me to develop my own views of a good leader.

LOYAL- be truly loyal to your company, employees, cause, etc., and the other “L’s” will naturally follow
EVOLVE- willingness to learn from mistakes, change tradition’s, break the status quo
ATTITUDE- it’s said that attitude reflects leadership. If a leader has a constant negative attitude, can it have a positive or productive impact?
DECISIONS- Mr. Dubrow couldn’t have said it better, a good leader must be willing to make the tough ones.
EXECUTE- I think this can also mean “follow through,” as in decisions, plans and goals
RISK TAKER- unfortunately for leaders, a clear and prescribed solution or path isn’t always available, and the burden to do what is best falls on them
SET GOALS- this gives a direction to a group and can provide a sense of accomplishment to those who meet the goals
HIRE WELL- a chain is only as strong as its weakest link…
INTEGRITY- when there is a decision to choose integrity or anything else–choose integrity
PERSEVERE- it is the leaders responsibility keep going even when it seems everyone else has given up. In other words, a leader must do what it takes to not only get the job done, but done well.

I believe that there are many qualities a true leader should entail. Some were menchioned in the post and some were not. I did not totally agree with the list that Mr. Dubrow posted. For the A anticipate was chosen. I think that Attitdue was a stronger adjective for leadership. If the attitude is bad everything can be thrown off. Insteasd of Decisions I would have chosen dedication or determination because you need both of those to be a successful leader.

Although I liked all the other choices, I think inspiration should at least be menchioned because that is also something a leader should entail.

After choosing the answers that qualify characteristics of a leader to me, I found that Merrill and I don’t see eye to eye. It sounds like Merrill is off to a good start with his list, but chooses the most basic characteristics.

Take the letter “d” for example. Merrill chose decisions, acknowledging the fact that leaders must make tough decisions. But everyone has to make decisions every day…how does that quality make ‘leaders’ in particular stand out?

I would have chosen dedication or determination, being that as a leader you should be dedicated and determined for yourself and others to succeed.

There are so many possibilities of characteristics that are essential to leadership, why narrow them down to ten?

Tara,

Thanks for posting your comments. I enjoyed reading everyone’s point of view. Since Tara had a chance to see the presentation live you weren’t aware that I incorporated some other words into the words in the definition of leadership.

I am passionate about this subject and try to learn more each and everyday.

Merrill

I have to agree with most of those choices. Anticipate for the A is something I find very relevant. In the role of a leader, you have to anticipate the needs of the people or group you are the leader of, anticipate problems that could potentially happen.
I’d have to say that I agree with all of his choices except for evaluate. I have to agree with you that I think evolve would be a better suited word to describe an aspect of the leadership role. A leader evolves as a person and as a leader throughout any experience.
But whether or not I agree with his choice of words, they are interesting and make you think.

Merrill Dubrow’s assessment of what makes a leader was very interesting. I enjoyed trying to pick out which words went with the letters. I was surprised in some cases at Dubrow’s choice, but after considering all the words together, I saw that a complete image of a leader was formed. Some of the words were easier than others to pick out of the bunch. For example, I felt that dedication would surely be the correct word for the “D” letter, but Dubrow picked decisions for that letter.

Leadership is such an important trait to possess. In the PR/marketing field, one must possess this trait in order to succeed. I have been involved in many leadership training exercises and I am familiar with the qualities one must have in order to be an effective leader. However, not all students receive an education in leadership before leaving college. I think that leadership should be worked into the curriculum of all majors so that when we leave college and pursue our careers, all students will be equipped with the characteristics that Dubrow identified in his leadership presentation.

That seems like a fun game. I guess I somewhat agree with Merrill on most of his choices for a good leader. The only one I have a problem with is “Anticipate”.

What should I anticipate? I ‘m sure he gave tons of great ideas and reasons for the choice, but I have not heard his reasoning yet, so I’m not real sure what I should be anticipating as a leader.

I can make a few guesses to see if I’m correct. Maybe I should anticipate bad things. Like, my workers not being good employees. But if I hired well, then I won’t have to worry about that. So should I anticipate bad and good?

Very confusing.

It all begins with listening, doesn’t it? When you listen, you are able to hear the needs, the positives, and the negatives from the views of your client, target audience, or even your own employees. This allows you to do all of the others well.

One cannot evaluate without listening to opinion. One cannot anticipate what is next without first listening to the market. One cannot make good decisions without first listening to customers and his or her own business sense.

Leaders can make or break companies. Their philosophies and decisions pave the path for the company. Without all of these characteristics, a leader cannot help a company realize its full potential.

These are so much more than buzz words. They must be part of a company’s everyday life.

The choices of my classmates do not surprise me. Dedication, heart, determination are the words I am hearing from them. We are attaching emotions to the working world. I think there should be more of that. Passion for what you do will help in creating a project and a business that truly means something.

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