RANDOM THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP
Servant Leadership
This kind of leadership is the difference between good and great organizations. Leading by example- leading by walking around- has always been the most important trait of a leader, but you must believe and live it. It can't be an act. The first person you must lead is yourself. Is that who you really are? Leading by example is sort of easy but being sincere and truly humble in your interactions is hard to do consistently. Be vigilant on how others perceive you, not how you perceive yourself. People that you don’t like or are not comfortable with will bring out your weaknesses. Seek out those interactions, because your friends won’t tell you things you need to hear sometimes, even though they see the same things. No one is as self-aware as we think we are! It's so easy to take for granted how hard people work to make your job easier. Don't just appreciate it, realize it. It's much more than thank you. Trust is showing you are ready to accept failure, give credit for everything that goes right, and take responsibility for everything that goes wrong. Take serious things seriously, but don’t take them personally.
Leadership Under Pressure
We all like to fancy ourselves that we are at our best when under pressure. Whether you succeed or fail is based on how well you planned and prepared for the event upfront. All decisions are really under pressure if you are a caring leader. We make decisions based on our past experience, the current situation, and what people tell us. Being successful in acting under pressure is a combination of your experience, knowledge base, and utilizing the experience base of those around you. Sometimes it’s discussion, but mostly it’s trust in those around you that has the best chance of success. It's managing risk. Not trusting others because you are afraid of personal risk is more common in less experienced leaders. Experienced leaders trust, even though the personal stakes are higher. Effective problem solving is quickly evaluating the situation based on your relevant experience and then utilizing the resources available, those around you, and their experience. If we are part of the plan, we will be successful- we won’t let ourselves fail.
Leader Communications
Leaders always overestimate what people above and below them know. It’s the leader’s responsibility to work to fix that versus being frustrated. Be realistic about how often you touch people and even more importantly the quality of that touch. Working hard at communication builds relationships like nothing else and is money in the bank to build trust. A handshake and taking five minutes to truly listen to what somebody does builds more for motivation than can be measured. Effective communications: 1) Listen first. 2) Put yourself in uncomfortable situations. 3) Be prepared. Know who you are talking to and their job. Find shared experiences and demonstrate that you care about theirs. 4) Have a deliberate purpose for the communication. 5) Be consistent and transparent. 6) Don’t promise what you cannot personally deliver. It’s more important to genuinely listen than to flippantly agree.