Leadership

In this time of unbelievable decisions, I wonder about what ‘Leadership’ means. Leadership is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization.

Leadership is providing guidance, direction, control, management, superintendence, supervision, organization, directorship, governorship, governance, administration, captaincy, control, ascendancy, supremacy, rule, command, power, dominion, and influence.

Leadership is a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.  Leadership can derive from a combination of several factors.

Studies of leadership have produced theories involving traits, situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values, charisma, and intelligence, among others.

Leaders have many titles and wear many hats. They can be managers, coaches, bosses, directors, commissioners, and corporate executive officers all depending on their placement in the organizational chart. Leaders can have offices and oversee thousands or be floor supervisor to a few. Leaders can be expected to hire and fire, adjust salaries, follow decisions from above and maintain order. No matter the title, a leader always has someone else to be accountable to.

In a company group photo the only way to tell a leader is to see which old white guys have pretty girls surrounding them. In the armed services it is how much jewelry they wear

Our elected leaders are strangers. A name on a sign in the yard and a flyer in the mail that shows a smiling family and just enough sound bites to persuade you to check their name in a box in the polls. Letters, emails, phone calls can be sent to our elected officials with formulated replies for that is how the game works.

According to Forbes leadership contains:

1. Sincere enthusiasm

True enthusiasm for a business, its products, and its mission cannot be faked. Employees can recognize insincere cheerleading from a mile away. However, when leaders are sincerely enthusiastic and passionate, that’s contagious.

2. Integrity

Whether it’s giving proper credit for accomplishments, acknowledging mistakes, putting safety and quality first, great leaders exhibit integrity at all times. They do what’s right, even if that isn’t the best thing for the current project or even the bottom line.

3. Great communication skills

Leaders must motivate, instruct and discipline the people they are in charge of. It’s also important to remember that listening is an integral part of communication.

4. Loyalty

The best leaders understand that true loyalty is reciprocal. Because of this, they express that loyalty in tangible ways that benefit the member of their teams. True loyalty is ensuring that all team members have the training and resources to do their jobs.

5. Decisiveness

Leaders are willing to take on the risk of decision making. They make these decisions and take risks knowing that if things don’t work out, they’ll need to hold themselves accountable first and foremost.

6. Managerial competence

Too many organizations try to create leaders from people who are simply good at their jobs. To be clear, those who emerge as being very good workers often have important qualities. They are the ones who have a strong understanding of the company’s products and services. They understand company goals, processes, and procedures. 

On the other hand, being good at one’s job doesn’t prove that someone possesses the other competencies they need. For example, can they inspire, motivate, mentor and direct?

7. Empowerment

A good leader has faith in their ability to train and develop the employees under them. Because of this, they have the willingness to empower those they lead to act autonomously. When employees are empowered, they are more likely to make decisions that are in the best interest of the company and the customer as well.

8. Charisma

Simply put, people are more likely to follow the lead of those they like. The best leaders are well spoken, approachable and friendly.

Through 40 years of employment, the leadership I’ve seen were a mish-mash of confused individuals trying to make a profit unaware of the changes around them. From the ole school rich family members passing the title onto the next generation to the up-and-coming corporate climbers of the hierarchy with ideas and little experience, the company rolled along. At the end of the year an annual report with only accountant / lawyer speak was presented to the stockholders and as long as the graphs and charts went up, everyone was content in the leadership.

Each ‘leader’ wanted to be renowned for making the decision that advanced them up the corporate ladder without research and development. Like the TEDx motivational speakers, the latest flavor of management would be tried. Some changes did shake up the company and all the leaders had to adapt. Some did and some were moved or removed.

The CEO of my employment was a southern gentleman with a job passed down from his father and passed onto his son. The movers and shakers that controlled the corporate decisions surrounded him and by the time it broke the ancestry it was too late to stop the downward drift. Finally the corporation was broken up and closed. In all fairness maybe there were few choices or missed opportunities because I was not in all the meetings.

My immediate ‘boss’; the one who hired me was a friend of a vice-president (so the story goes). He had some past association with an advertising agency that failed but never saw any imagination, innovation or graphic talent. Under him was a freelancer with some local connections but little mentoring or direction. Below him was a former sign painter who had the most talent with signs and signs were necessary before Power Point.

Other leaders I had dealings with were managers for an ever-growing sales team, a production manager who was supervised from beneath by unions, news art directors who feared each other and editorial illustrators under the watchful eyes of the publisher. Each had their goals and objectives and as long as they met or exceeded them, they stayed safe.

The first big challenge I noticed was the equal employment regulations ordered by the government. Employees were hired or moved around to conform to diversity mandates all the while looking the other way from blatant sexual harassment and substance abuse.

One-by-one the old guard fell and everyone took a step up. Secret meetings were the method operand and memos handed out to disillusioned faces.

There were leaders with good intentions and there were conferences and classes but at the end of the day, everything went back to normal. Different ‘leaders’ were brought in and different assignments and titles were handed out like candy but no one could put the Humpty Dumpty back together again.  

Companies come and go and some grow and expand only to fail for that is how the economy works. Competition, employment, finances, and regulations all must be considered in how leaders handle the day-to-day crisis and opportunities. That is my impression on leadership.

Today your children are begging for leadership. The voices of our future leader want incompetent adults to act and act now to stop the killing. What will we learn from our past mistakes to lead the next generation?