Everything is about Leadership
While traveling between meetings last week, I had an inspirational thought: What would it be like to live in a country replete with leaders? The opening quote by Thomas Paine sets the tone for those who aspire to leadership. Lead when you have the vision, resources and followers. Commit to follow when you can align with those who are qualified to guide, and get out of the way if or when you are impeding progress. In all three cases, the common thread is recognizing how to drive or support effective leadership – whether it’s you or someone else at the helm.
Leading
“A leader develops a vision, enrolls others to buy into the vision, consistently communicates the vision, executes according to the vision and holds himself or herself, and everyone else, accountable for achieving the results envisioned." – John J. Trakselis
First, let’s define vision: A vision is a picture of some desired state. The more concrete the vision, the easier it is for leaders to articulate the journey, describe the benefits of day-to-day life once arrived at the new destination and sustain the confidence and buy-in of supporters. In other words, a good vision is both conceptual and practical. It is both a state of mind and a state of being.
Typically, in addition to vision, leaders have followers. Leaders endeavor to capture the hearts and minds of supporters as a way to achieve objectives. When this occurs, a leader’s staff and teams will go the extra mile in getting results and supporting the vision over time. Coercion, threats, sarcasm and demeaning comments don’t take the leader very far. Why? People who follow you will feel unsafe. Their buy-in, their belief in you and your vision, will be disrupted or wane, preventing them from doing their best work. It is hard to develop a relationship with a snake. You never know when the snake is going to take that bite. Employees or others once bitten are twice removed – from a mental and emotional standpoint to be sure, but also from a physical point of view, as they will tend to create distance to stay safe.
A 2012 Study by MSW Research and Dale Carnegie Training (WHAT DRIVES EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND WHY IT MATTERS) explored key drivers of employee engagement and reached the following overall conclusion: “The attitude and actions of the immediate supervisor can enhance employee engagement or can create an atmosphere where an employee becomes disengaged.” The study went on to further state: “A manager’s ability to build strong relationships with employees, build strong team interaction and lead in a ‘person-centered’ way creates an engaging environment in which employees can perform at the highest possible level.”
“If you lead properly, people will follow, and together you will change the world” – Mahatma Gandhi
If you wish to lead, think about establishing a participative, collaborative and collegial environment where people and their points of view are valued. This requires the aspiring leader to listen well, evaluate opinions and suggestions, and take actions that are fair and thoughtful. Playing with ideas can be a fun-filled process and does not have to be highlighted by pain and boredom. Allowing your followers to verbalize their ideas can be an effective way to create a sense of mutuality and a two-way communications flow that helps everyone grow. To use a sports analogy, it is hard for athletes to give maximum performance if they are uptight and constrained. They need freedom to express themselves through motion which works best if their skills are finely tuned in both their musculature and muscle memory. The same is true for your employee athletes to perform at their best. They need the ability to relax and tighten (focus) at will – their will, not yours.
When you are dealing with an individual who is open to suggestion, fully qualified and bringing their “A” game to the party, you get buy-in for your ideas which, in turn, results in commitment. When realized, commitment manifests as a kind of integrity defined by Warren Bennis as: “doing what you say you will.” (Note: Special thanks to my friend John G. Blumberg for pointing this out to me in his book, GOOD TO THE CORE: BUILDING VALUE WITH VALUES.
Finally, when commitment is realized, accountability is an easy exercise. No one is too afraid to speak or contribute, and work is a shared occasion, a playful experience to celebrate. Everyone holds a vested interest and understands the vision which takes inspiration from all of its owners.
"Leadership consists not in degrees of technique but in traits of character; it requires moral rather than athletic or intellectual effort, and it imposes on both leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint." – Lewis H. Lapham
Following
It is easy to be cynical in today’s environment, but it doesn’t really get you anything. I think it is more important to be conscious about not feeding or breeding negativity. So I suggest you always move your inner dialogue and interpersonal communication to a more nourishing level. In these “Desktop” letters I continue to stress the importance of learning from others. To the extent you have a closed mind when someone else is in a leadership position, you prevent learning. You also prevent growing. Believing you are smarter than everyone else is a prescription for being alone and sitting on the sidelines. You get your real experience by being in the game, and operating under game time conditions.
When you recognize needs or gaps in the management or execution of efforts, and you call them out in a constructive way and include your ideas for resolution to issues, you become more valuable. In fact, you begin to qualify for MVP status. Practice supporting the leaders in your environment so that when you are in a leadership situation you can mentor and coach the people who support you. You can even write the book on what support looks like. Additionally, you can always observe and learn from the mistakes of those in leadership roles, and this is valuable content for your book as well.
Getting Out of the Way
It’s important to know when you are adding value and when you are taking up space or being disruptive. Often a strategic withdrawal is the best leadership move but you have to learn to trust both your instincts and others. Not everyone will do things the way you do them. Not everything needs to be done the way you do them. Being a good cheerleader is a lot better than being a critic. As a cheerleader, you are encouraging others. An arm chair quarterback never gets off the chair. He sits there and merely criticizes others. There is really nothing to be gained from being a critic or an obstructionist. Better that you should jump in the game and fail yourself than to be disruptive in thought, word or deed.
It’s all about Leadership
If we lived in a country where everyone was working on their leadership skills, we could get a lot more done with a lot less confusion, victimhood and complaining. We could live lives with more uniqueness and integrity while also valuing the views and actions of others. And we would uncover more ways to be inclusive, and integrate the views of others into our own thinking. Our learning would be exceptional, infinite in proportion. We would be excellent problem solvers, and lead lives of extraordinary productiveness. What’s holding us back?
And, there is more, there always is.
Be genuine.
Copyright 2014 © John J. Trakselis, Chicago CEO Coaching
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