I like to read articles on leadership which have been written by others.I saw this article a few years ago in a newspaper called Suburban Business.
It is a publication from Westchester County, New York. It had several leaders from the community write about what they thought leadership meant to them.
I think you will find it interesting and in line with our beliefs. The following are excerpts from an article written by Julie Moran Alterio of The Journal News, and I think she is right on.
“Following the Leader”
You’ve made it. YOU are in your new leadership position . . . the one YOU have been waiting for, and now YOU are at your first staff meeting and basking in the glow of your new authority. YOU are greeted by a circle of expectant faces. They are waiting for something from YOU, and it is not just a flexible policy on vacation time. They are waiting to see if YOU will be a leader who will inspire them or a manager who simply prods them to fulfill their duties.
At the most basic level, leadership is about motivating others to do a job. But to get them to do so happily—whistling while they work, as it were—requires more than managing schedules. It requires LEADERSHIP. YOU cannot rely on your title; YOU cannot rely on what the rulebooks or the bylaws say is your authority. YOU have to be willing to understand that your authority is a dynamic thing that YOU get from the people YOU lead.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and IBM’s Thomas Watson Sr. are all classic examples of leaders who articulated the importance of putting the needs of the group over the needs of the individual. Despite their imperfections, they tried to do the right thing.
Transformational leaders are focused on changing their situations and that of their followers for the betterment of the group.
Leadership that shelves ego and puts followers first is sometimes called “servant leadership.”
The best leadership comes out of a deep and sincere desire to serve others. IBM, early on when it was founded, learned that the best and brightest leaders had much in common, including a drive to achieve, teamwork, decisiveness, personal dedication, and a passion for winning. Other attributes that IBM listed were breakthrough thinking and coaching ability. They found that leaders who scored well on these things not only had good business results, they were building organizations where people feel empowered. That about sums up the difference between managers and leaders.
Leadership is a concept with many meanings. According to Webster’s dictionary, it means “the ability to lead.” There are a number of ways to lead: either from behind the desk or by “leading the charge.”
There should be a close correlation between management skills and leadership, learning each task—not only from the intellectual approach but by actually performing it—is critical. Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.
Leadership also means having a vision. It means not only understanding where your organization is today . . . but where you expect it to be twelve months from now . . . and where YOU would like it to be five years from now.
Leadership is the ability to communicate and persuade. Visions and ideas remain only ideas unless you get others to embrace them. Leadership requires us to convert ideas into reality.
As Dwight D. Eisenhower said, “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something YOU want done because he wants to do it.”
Leaders must persuade, cajole, or sometimes even demand that those they lead accept such focus and direction.
Leadership is the ability to admit mistakes and change paths. It means putting ego aside to make appropriate course corrections. Good leadership means altering course as necessary, when new data demands it.
“Often, good leaders emulate other good leaders; however, it is not a prerequisite of leadership. I personally have not followed a specific role model. My leadership style has been acquired through the diversity of my life experiences. For more than twenty years, I have had the advantage of working for a number of organizations. As you would expect, each of these companies has had its own set of characteristics, styles, and cultures. I have sorted out what I believe works best and built a pattern of behavior that works for me.”
SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!
I picked this article for you to read and to think about. I agree with her completely. I hope this gives you food for thought for your own development as a great leader. . . . Lee