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approaches top companies have adopted to improve their efficiency andcompetitive positioning are diversifying their workforces and moving away from hierarchical—top-down—leadership, the study reports. 13
Economic Challenges
    Keeping a company and its staff afloat in tough economic times requires special leadership. To maintain the forward momentum is an even greater challenge, even for real leaders.
    Harold S. Edwards, president and CEO of California-based Limoneira Company, a major global producer of citrus, is one of those leaders focused on maintaining his company’s strategic and community edge despite today’s bumpy economy, and he’s quick to admit it is not easy:
    Strategically plotting Limoneira’s course through an extremely treacherous economic downturn has tested me. Keeping the board focused on strategic and governance issues and the management team focused on managerial issues during the recent unprecedented downturn in the U.S. economy has been the most challenging situation for me since assuming the helm at Limoneira. Plotting our strategic course while managing significant real estate exposure has been a true test for me.
    Being able to display the courage and confidence in specific ventures while making the difficult decisions to exit others (sometimes at a loss) while moving the hearts and minds of Limoneira’s board, its managers, and its shareholders forward toward greater shareholder value has been the challenge. Diversification has allowed us to weather the storm. Limoneira is in position to create significant value as the local and regional economies heal. Keeping everyone on the board and within management rowing in the same directionand focused on solving problems (as opposed to only identifying them) has allowed us to sail through this difficult phase intact. Keeping Limoneira’s hearts and minds together has been a true challenge for me and one of my greatest professional tests to date. 14
    Through all of these challenges, Edwards has remained a leader who demonstrates a tremendous confidence, positive image, and a real gift for building consensus among different groups involved in his operation. These, as well as the other qualities he mentioned, have helped his company weather the storm.
    All types of leaders are tested by the economic realities of today. Some survive—and even thrive—while others do not. As Edwards’s words attest, it can be rough even for companies with strong leadership. It is easy to succeed—or at least wear the trappings of success in terms of profits—when everyone is buying and marketplaces are thriving. It is far more difficult when markets are stagnant, but that is when real leaders rise to the occasion, rally their troops and their communities, and make a difference.
Understanding Real Leadership
    Perhaps one of the simplest ways to better understand the power of real leadership is to consider what you like and what you don’t like in a leader. Consider some of the following questions as they relate to those in leadership roles. There are no right or wrong answers to these questions. Instead, your answers should help you put together a list of favorable and unfavorable traits in a leader:
    What do you admire about your leader or leaders in general?
    How do you react to particular approaches this leader takes?
    Does your leader foster effective relationships with you and others?
    Does your leader encourage you to stretch, and does she or he empower you to further develop your skill set?
    What makes you want to do just the opposite of what a person in a leadership role says?
    How do you react when someone orders you to do something rather than suggest an approach that might work, or help you come up with the answer?
    Now ask yourself, “What is it I truly dislike about the trait and why?” Is it because of the attitude it conveys, the approach that the leader takes, or simply the content of the message?