“He who thinketh he leadeth and have no one following him is only taking a walk”
I am back to the subject a leadership, it is a topic that is always on my mind, both as a business owner and as a parent. When I first became aware of this thing, “leadership”, I was not really clear on what it was, or how it was different than being an owner or a manager. I just knew that there were people in my life that were natural born leaders, and that I did not see myself as one. I may be behind the times, but it is a relatively new concept for me, this idea that you can create leaders. As I began delving into learning about this leadership thing, there was one simple definition that helped me see what it really means. Leadership is influence. If you have no influence over people, it is impossible to lead. If you don’t have the ability to touch lives, to create change, you are not a leader. Can a leader be destructive? Absolutely, as we have seen and continue to see in world we live in right now, with the tragedies and injustice we see happening on the world stage. So influence makes a leader, but to be a truly great leader there is more to it than that.
Integrity is the variable that determines the type of leader you are. Who you are is who you attract, and if you are working to create leaders as I am, it is important to be the model and live what you believe in.
The biggest lesson I have learned as a parent is that everyone is different. You cannot treat everyone the same, because everyone is not the same, even with the same upbringing and the same gene pool. As a leader it’s like you have to be a practical psychologist. You have to learn to read between the lines and to become aware of what works with each person you are in contact with. Sometimes it means being very strict and matter of fact, other people require a softer touch. Ultimately it means connecting with people and paying attention to your intuition when listening to what they say, through their words, but more importantly, through their actions.
Most of our communication is non-verbal, and that is why “do as I say, not as I do” is so ineffective. People do what people see, your actions and your intentions speak louder than words.
“Above all else, good leaders are open. They go up, down, and around their organizations to reach people. They don’t stick to established channels. They’re informal. They’re straight with people. They make a religion out of being accessible.” —Jack Welch