Our Approach to Leadership
Leadership is helping make others better. Anyone can be a leader. In their book, Becoming a Principle Driven Leader, Charles and Chase Koch credit their definition of leadership to rugby coach Jack Clark.
Leadership isn't limited to supervisors, but at Koch, it is especially important for supervisors because their primary responsibility is helping others grow and succeed through Principle Based Management.
[True leadership is] the ability to make those around you better and more productive.
Jack Clark
Rugby Coach, University of California at Berkeley
Attributes of Principle-Based Leadership
To understand our approach, it helps to let go of the traditional “leader” stereotypes. Leadership isn’t about titles, authority, or personality type — it’s about using PBM principles consistently and creating a space where everyone is empowered to grow and contribute to the organization's goals. Below are some common questions about our approach to leadership.
Good leaders do not share a universal set of skills, personality type, or pathway to leadership. Anyone can lead by applying PBM principles to help make others better. Because being a leader is different from being a figurehead, leadership does not require charisma, exceptional public speaking skills or years of climbing the career ladder.
Yes, but only when necessary. Principle-based leaders may give direct instructions, but they always explain the reasoning and focus on developing others’ capabilities for the future. For example, a leader might make a specific edit to a document and explain why the change is needed. That makes the team more effective now, and it also teaches them how to do better next time.
Principle-based leaders use judgment to know when someone else is better suited to make a decision. They also recognize that decision rights can move up, down, or across the organization, depending on the situation. They do this well by applying principles such as knowledge, comparative advantage, and alignment of incentives.
Examples:
- A customer service rep makes most customer remedy decisions on his own, but an unusual circumstance leads him to ask his supervisor for approval.
- A senior manager asks an operator who uses a piece of equipment daily to take the lead on making a maintenance recommendation.
Everyone is expected to live Our Values and be contribution motivated; however, those in supervisory or senior positions have an additional responsibility to develop and mentor others. Learn more about Supervisor Responsibilities and Expectations.
Servant leadership is often seen as leaders sacrificing themselves for the sake of the team or business. Principle-based leadership, guided by mutual benefit, aims for outcomes that are good for everyone. While both approaches value humility and helping others grow, PBM emphasizes win-win situations over self-sacrifice.
Becoming a Principle Driven Leader
SHARE: