When I share what I do with
other people, inevitably I get the “let me tell you about my horrible boss”
stories. They go on to tell me not only is their supervisor a bad boss, but they
are not a very good person with absolutely NO redeeming characteristics. Since
I usually hear about other aspects of an individual’s personal or professional
life when their boss is great at best or tolerable at least, it gets me
thinking out loud that the ONLY thing poor leadership gets you is talked
about!
According to workplace studies
completed by the Ken Blanchard company, 70% of reported stress in the environment
is attributed to someone’s supervisor. That is just amazing to me. Of all the
things that can cause us stress on the job – deadlines, insufficient resources,
co-workers, etc. – all of that pales in comparison to the stress an individual in
authority can place on another.
That is why a big part of my
purpose and mission in life is to teach valuable leadership lessons now
that produce leaders for life – both in duration and quality! It amazes
me that we have access to more leadership resources, speakers, books, podcasts,
videos, assessments, systems, curriculums, and trainings are we are still not moving
the needle fast enough or far enough to make our workplaces more humane and
productive. You see when you take care of the first, the second quickly
follows.
If you are a leader and the only
indication of your impact is how badly someone complains about you to others,
then you have some work to do. I can speak from personal experience on this
since there was a time in my career when I made many leadership mistakes in this
arena. Don’t get me wrong, I still make plenty of mistakes, but I at least have
tried very hard to not repeat the ones that address how I treat and value
others.
Let’s assume you have some
kind of indication that your leadership is not what is should be. Your people
are complaining, they have stopped coming to you for guidance, and they are
just going through the motions albeit in a very grumpy bear fashion. If that is
the case, you may want to ask some dichotomous questions.
Do you lead out of fear or respect?
I know there have been many decisions
that I have made that my team did not agree with, but they usually respected my
decision because they were not fearful of expressing their opinion. They knew
that often I would go with their decisions and ideas but sometimes as a leader
we have to make the tough call. If you have built up “leadership credits” with
team members because they know you
respect them, they will respect you. They know you have set up a “safe” environment
where ideas are heard without censure, respectful disagreements are tolerated,
and there is mutual respect all around. Only insecure people lead from fear,
only the most underserving of the title of leader enjoy it.
Do you desire compliance or commitment?
In today’s work environment
where situations occur quickly, and departures happen all to frequently, I will
take commitment over compliance any day of the week. Further, I would much rather
have a team member who is not as technically competent, yet, but is “all in”
when it comes to the values, mission, and vision of your enterprise. As a
leader, you have to decide what you are willing to train someone to do as opposed
to what you want them to bring “factory equipped.” Someone who is merely in
compliance mode is just giving you compliance quality work. They are not innovating,
stretching, or adding value. Instead, they are just waiting around for you to
tell them what to do and then merely complying with your wishes. Just think of
how bigger, better, or more profitable your enterprise could be if you unleash
the talent of those around you versus trying to just control it.
Do you lead on codes or covenants?
I once had the opportunity
work with an incredible leader who was acting as a temporary chief academic
officer of a college where I was working. One day he shared a quick comparative
analysis of Earnest Hemmingway and William Faulkner (the real author!). He
provided an insight that if you look at Hemmingway’s novels, they are very masculine
filled with male characters who live by a code, die by a code, fight by
a code, and love by a code. These “man codes” are so self-ingrained in the
characters that they cannot imagine living any other way and have little
tolerance for those that do.
In Faulkner’s novels, however,
the characters lead their lives by strong covenants. Commitments and agreements,
they make with others even after they have passed away These covenants capture strong
moral “magnetic norths” that inform their lives but allow for flexibility
versus unyielding “road maps” that do not allow for any deviation to see if a
better route or a better world is just over the next hill.
I understand in today’s litigious environment, as leaders we are
often encouraged to lead by strict codes. Codes that dictate a strict legalism
in our work where deviation is frowned upon and what is fair or right is dictated
by a manual. When we lead by covenants, however, it is not that we ignore the rules,
rather we supersede them because whereas it is easy to break a rule or a code, it
is much harder to break a promise or a covenant! When leaders and team members
make a promise or covenant to treat each other with respect, that we would never
bully or harass someone, or that we will value individual and group
differences, we do not need rules to dictate our behaviors because we do more
than the minimum, we live by maximizing others!
Robert Greenleaf, the father of Servant Leadership, shares that
the best indicator of whether or not you are a leader worth of being followed
is when the people around you are happier, wiser, stronger, and more fulfilled.
It is all a matter a focus. As writher and pastor Andy Stanley shares, when your
leadership is just about you, it will last long enough to be someone’s bad example.
When your leadership is all about others, it will last forever.
That kind of leadership gets you talked about, but in a very, very
good way for a very long time!
As always if I can
help you and the people you associate with Get Better, Be
Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I invite you to visit my website below and see if any
of the training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact.
If you want to know more
about leading with intention, I would direct you to Leading Out Loud:
Strategies for Raising Your Leadership Voice! available on
Amazon.com. I would also be happy to share the full NEXT LEVEL LEADERS training
resources with you or your organization or personally coach you through the
process. Please feel free to contact me for a no obligation inquiry.
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
Visit our website at: www.outloudinc.com
For more information on the
John Maxwell Team, please visit
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