I do not presume to preach to business leaders (CEOs and other senior managers). However, having helped a number of organizations and their leaders with knowledge management (KM), I’ve observed certain leaders who are able to achieve greater and more sustainable results from KM than others, despite having similar KM experts and technology at their disposal. Following is a list of the qualities that seem to set these leaders apart from others.

1. Expecting significant business results from KM. Leaders get the results they expect from KM. It’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the leader’s expectations are low, naturally, their involvement in KM will be low, leading to low results. The reverse is equally true. Leaders with high expectations know that it’s worth spending their time on KM, and this gives them results. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, either way you are right.”

2. Treating KM as a strategy and not a task. Knowledge management is a strategy to achieve sustained success in business, not a task to be left to junior staff or consultants.

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