Don't read this if "Leadership" bores you

I'm 45 years old. There's no hiding it. And over the course of 45 years I have worked in at least a dozen businesses. A handful of them were full-time, long-term gigs; the remainder were temping jobs, some a day or week, others a month or months. And I learned something about leadership from every one of those opportunities. I've had a couple bosses that I had absolutely no respect for because of their lack of leadership ability (and overall kindness factor) and one that I emulate to this day (because she is the most gracious lady in the world - and smart and hardworking - all things good).

Excellent leadership is an interest of mine.I'm a graduate of Leadership Champlain (a Chamber-sponsored learning experience); different United Way trainings (I've chaired the Keyperson Training - to help them learn how to lead successful fundraising campaigns); lead an office of six employees; and most recently, my 11-day image and professional development training. So, really, I'm not obsessive about this, but it's part of who I am and how I roll. I was just leafing through a book I've been meaning to read: Kouzes & Posner's Leadership Challenge (pub. John Wiley & Sons, 2007). They espouse "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership":

Model the way
Inspire a shared vision
Challenge the process
Enable others to act
Encourage the heart

I'm not going to go into a diatribe on what works for guiding people and creating a successful business. Don't need to. I agree with Kouzes' and Posner's bullet points. Here are my two cents on each:

Model the way: No modeling? No respect from me.
Inspire a shared vision: Embrace your passion and bring me along for the ride.
Challenge the process: Some leaders are all challenge and no modeling, inspiring, enabling and encouraging. I'm thrilled to be challenged - just not when all the other good stuff isn't along for the ride.
Enable others to act: Of course, for those of you who know me, this is my favorite. Model, inspire, challenge, encourage and then let me do what I do best (um, whatever that is.).
Encourage the heart: Really, this one is probably asking too much. But I'll take it!

There's my Sunday morning sermon. Go forth and inspire.

Comments

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Have you read "Tribes" by Seth Godin? Seth observes a real lack of people willing to lead...and yet many willing "tribe" members within the working world. Fascinating book. I'm going to read your recommended choice...since I'm also quite interested in this topic.

Posted by: Bcrobin | 08/01/2010 at 07:44 AM