Appreciating “Thankless” Leadership Roles.

Recently I had the incredible opportunity to explore a decommissioned Cold War missile silo that a friend of ours had purchased. Eventually they plan to convert it to a wine cellar but right now it is in pretty rough condition! We crawled through passage ways, walked in knee high water, and scaled ladders over 40 foot drops with only our small flashlights to show the way in total darkness. Standing in the old control rooms and crew quarters, I started to understand better the necessary and often thankless leadership role the professionals who staffed these complexes provided during a very dangerous time in U.S. history. This got me thinking out loud about how we as leaders must often thrive in other (albeit less intense) “thankless” leadership roles.

(View from Control Room facing the tunnel that leads to the Missile Silo)

Granted, everyone wants to be recognized and I have often written about how important appreciation is to a leader’s “toolbox”. The issue becomes when the pursuit of RECOGNITION becomes the motivation versus the IMPACT. I often ask my Master’s students early in the term this one important question:

Could you do your job if no one said “Thank you”?

You see, it’s a gut check question. It is a question that is intended to determine what the true motivations are in leading others. Is it for perks or responsibilities? A means to meet your own needs or to be the one who meets needs? I can guarantee you the airmen who staffed these silos, as many others who had or are now serving, received no public recognition. In fact, I am sure they were discouraged from even talking about what they did!

I think there is value in leading in “thankless” roles. It frees us to focus on the role versus on who is watching us do it. It exercises what sports consultant Jim Loehr calls the “character muscle” of humility. Finally, it really gets to the purest intention of leadership, to do so for its own sake and that of others versus any expectation of return or gain.

I am not saying this is easy by any means, so here are a few tips to help you thrive in a “thankless” leadership role.

• Remember your “WHY”! – why you chose this role to begin with. I doubt it had to do with YOU!
• Determine what is of HIGHER VALUE – what is most important, your impact or your recognition?
• Realize this is Just a PART of Your Life and does not DEFINE Your Life – a leader should not use those they lead as their source of support.

So the bottom line is leadership is not always glamorous or high profile. Millions of great leaders do so every day just because there is a job to be done and they have elected to do it. So what it’s worth coming from me . . . THANK YOU!

As always if I can help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! Also, as a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to your organization!

Yours in Leadership,

Bill Faulkner

Principal Consultant – Out Loud Strategies

Independent Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team ^TM

Email = bill@outloudinc.com

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