New Perspective...

An interpreted comment to an earlier post...



Regardless of your commitment to the organization or your drive to inspire others--even with great leadership--you still need the employees themselves to be active participants.



This perspective suggests that the leader is more effective when others are involved in the leading--in other words, walking in either lock-step with the leader or, better yet, in front of the leader. This conflicts with the idea that leaders must lead and others must follow--but I like the tone of it. Moving along with or in front of the leader is much more palatable than having to "follow the leader" as though it isn't a choice.

Leadership Lessons

Thinking back about the leaders that I have encountered in my life, I realized that there are many people that have impacted my views about leadership. Apparently I was pretty observant even early in my career and noticed the good, the bad and the ugly from the leaders that I passed along the way to where I am now. Starting back in the early years, Eugene Street taught me that when you hire teenagers to run the concession stand in a movie theater, they must participate in inventory control. Mr. Street made us count the cups (popcorn and drink) every night to make sure that we were honest and not wasteful. However, as a consolation, he allowed us to eat as much popcorn as we could hold. The lesson--accountability is essential. My first office job was in a workers' compensation claim center--typing workers' compensation claim checks. The office was set up like a "news room," no cubical walls--just a large open area of workers. Dorsey Walker--the supervisor--practiced management by walking around. She would stop and peer closely at the task you were completing to ensure that you were doing your job. Dorsey's lesson was a combination of "young workers cannot be trusted to do their work" and "the best way to keep the workforce honest is to intimidate them by being present." Fortunately, I moved on from there and met Clay Hicks. The lesson from Mr. Hicks was that supervisors can be kind. I worked very hard for Mr. Hicks. The next job took me to places that represent the ugliest days of my working career. The lesson learned from that supervisor is workplace boundaries must be enforced. The picture turned brighter in the next job. Mr. Pearson was terribly disorganized, but working for him was pleasant--albeit challenging. The lesson from him was to look for every opportunity to make a difference--even the less obvious ways. The next leader was also very kind--like Mr. Hicks and Mr. Pearson. He showed confidence in my abilities and I felt confident. That job was the launching pad for my current job, which I nearly didn't apply for.

These experiences helped me form good work habits, self-confidence, flexibility, and ambition.

Although some experiences were better than others--I am deeply grateful for the impression that each leader left in my life.

Warren Buffett

I've just finished research and writing about Warren Buffett--everything from his childhood to his legacy. At age 78, Buffett may or may not be thinking about his legacy, but he's accomplished so much in his life that his legacy is set--regardless of what happens next.

Notwithstanding his renowned success in the investment world, the characteristics that are most admired about Warren Buffett are his honesty, candor and unwillingness to deviate from his principals inspite of criticism from his peers. He knows exactly what he is good at and has complete confidence in his abilities. However, he has managed to go through life without arrogance. He is often characterized as "grandfatherly," which is so true and evident if you listen to him speak during interviews or presentations. There is strip of interviews on the Blog that are worth listening to.

My favorite Buffet story is told by Alice Schroeder (his authorized biographer) in her book, "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life." Buffett says, "The snowball just happens if you're in the right kind of snow; and that's what happened with me. I don't just mean compounding money either. It's in terms of understanding the world and what kind of friends you accummulate. You get to select over time, and you've got to be the kind of person that the snow wants to attach itself to. You've got to be your own wet snow, in effect. You'd better be picking up snow as you go aong, because you're not going to be getting back up to the top of the hill again. That's the way life works."

What is my leadership brand?

Perhaps the easiest way to begin is to list the brand qualities that I value most and see as necessary for effective leadership:

· Steward of the organization’s most valuable resources—its staff
· Cheerleader for those who are setting goals and achieving milestones
· Coach for those who need encouragement
· Promoter of initiatives that make the organization a better place to work
· Fully engaged and full of energy to tackle the day’s challenges
· Outwardly-focused and ready to serve the needs of others

Since it matters more to know how others view my leadership brand, I looked at two 360 degree evaluations that had recently been done and found the following feedback:

· Excited about career
· Dedicated, energetic
· Subject matter expert
· Calm under pressure
· Good listener, trusted, honest
· Accessible and open-minded
· Sets personal goals and achieves them
· Focused on the task at hand
· Confident
· One of the good guys

Based on the feedback, the qualities that I so admire and desire seem to be all but missing from my dossier. Does this list indicated that they see me as a good steward? Am I helping or inspiring others to set goals? Do they consider me to be a source of encouragement? I’ll take being one of the good guys to mean that they see me as someone that wants to make the organization a better place to work. My level of engagement must be evident.

While overall the list is generous and kind, my brand from the view of others is very different than I expected. The most significant omission is being seen as outwardly-focused and ready to serve others. What an enlightening exercise! I have much work to do.