Professional Blog #5
Leadership for All
I remember in the movie Jerry McGuire where Tom Cruise’s
character asks his co-workers repeatedly “who’s coming with me?” In the scene,
he is in a desperate situation and quickly attempts to come up with reasons why
people (and a goldfish) should leave their secure job and “take a leap of
faith” with him. He is in a no-win situation because he is fired but instead of
just walking out, he has his mission statement and he has no choice but to run
with it and take believers with him.
Being a leader is not always this dramatic and certainly
doesn’t always mean you must write a late-night treatise on your beliefs and the direction of your personal and professional life.
True leaders, however, can change the course of people’s
lives. In the Psychology Today article Leadership Management, Ravi Chandra says
that Great leaders are often credited with possessing high
social intelligence, a zest for change, and above all, the ability to set their sights on
the things that truly merit attention.
Good leaders set the tone for
what is possible. They have a vision and a strong belief in the direction they are
taking us. Moreover, they make decisions that may not always be popular but do
it for the greater good and want you to believe so you will come along for the
ride. There are a number of aspects of being a leader.
Here are
some that we may or may not think of when we consider leadership:
1) Leaders are not always born, sometimes they find themselves in a leadership position. Although it’s true that most leaders
are socially active and take on the vocal role of a team, sometimes a leader
doesn’t speak until he or she sees that it is needed. It reminds me of the
strong leader on a sports team that works hard and displays belief in a system
but only steps up to be vocal when it’s needed and no one else will do it. Team
members don’t want to be led by the loudest, they want to be led by the one
they respect the most.
2) Leaders have a vision. I have heard many times
since I was a child whether it be at church, school or business that in order
to grow there must be a vision. Leaders not only create the vision but also
show others a road map to getting there. In his Observer magazine article, Jon
Gordon writes that “some scoff when leaders share bold ideas,
imaginative goals, and seemingly impossible dreams, but ideas, imagination, and
dreams are the fabric positive leaders weave together to create the future and change the
world (2017).” Therefore, sharing the vision is not good enough. True
leaders find ways to make their vision real to others.
3) True leaders are humble and want to learn
everything they can about how to lead. These people learn by listening,
reading, and taking in any information they can apply to their vision. It seems
a cliché but many coaches read books about past generals, world and business leaders.
They want ideas of how to lead a group of men and women from those who have
done it and left a road map behind. There has been much written about the
roadmap to leadership and many so-called leadership gurus that have made a lot
of money on weekend leadership seminars. In reality, it all comes down to this, it
is hard work to fulfill one’s duties as a leader. It is a humble task of
learning what it takes and getting others to put in the work to make it happen.
4) Leaders are always willing to learn how things
work in order to be a proper leader. In fact, many future leaders take “grunt”
work while they are progressing with their education or just starting out with
a company. Walmart CEO, Doug McMillon began his stint by loading trucks at the
distribution center. Former Goldman-Sachs CEO, Sidney Weinberg began as a janitor’s
helper that worked hard and made an impression on those that saw him doing his
job and Margaret Keane, CEO of Synchrony Financial started as a debt collector.
Many times leaders are brought in to change a poor culture to a successful one.
One of the main ways for this to happen for them to learn how others do their
jobs.
5) Finally, leaders must always stick with the plan
and restate it constantly. In addition, every innovation diffused to other
employees must be done with the vision in mind. Doing this is the only way that
it is not forgotten and those late to come on board realize that it’s not going
to change. According to David Shedd in Business Insider, leaders must be
consistent in mood, behavior, and decision-making (2011).
As one that has worked for various large corporations that
have been swallowed up by larger corporations, I have seen many focused
directives and whole-sell changes come and go. Many of directives that were
going “change the way we do business,” went by the wayside without much
thought. They just disappeared. Some of this occurred because large companies
move so slowly that by the time procedures and long-term goals were changed it
was time for a new one. I do believe though that many times long term goals and
visions were not brought to fruition because there were many managers and
few leaders.
The visions turned into, make your budget, don’t lose a dime
this quarter and oh yeah, make these wholesale changes while doing it, and
don’t tell anyone why we are doing it.
I have to say the most impressive leader I have ever met was
an instructor for a night class in management that I took at Hillsborough
Community College in Tampa, Florida. I saw this man walk into my classroom for
the first time wearing a flight suit and carrying a briefcase. He turned out to
be a squadron leader at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and started teaching
management courses. I saw him and immediately thought the worst because I didn’t
want a military experience preached to me. I wanted to learn the course,
graduate then move on in my career.
What I soon learned was that I couldn’t wait to get to class
and learn from this man that made life and death decisions in the air every day
and then came to my campus to teach me what he knew about leading people. Not
only did I learn much from him, but he also taught in a manner that made learning easy.
He taught us how to take a leader's vision and then take the day to day tasks to
make the vision come true. He never talked about following a leader blindly but
only about following those that could change your life and make a difference. Aspiring leaders should be so lucky to learn from someone like this.
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