A Wish for Leaders

[mar]

[Frustrated with the quality of leadership at all levels I submit this little nugget in the hope that it sparks *at least* some thought on what it means to lead.]

A Wish for Leaders
--anonymous

I sincerely wish you will have the experience of thinking up a new idea, planning it, organizing it and following it to completion and having it be magnificently successful. I also hope you'll go through the same process and have something "bomb out."

I wish you could know how it feels "to run" with all your heart and lose--horribly.

I wish that you could achieve some great good for mankind, but have nobody know about it except you.

I wish you could find something so worthwhile that you deem it worthy of investing your life.

I hope you become frustrated and challenged enough to begin to puch back the very barriers of your own personal limitations.

I hope you make a stupid, unethical mistake and get caught red-handed and are big enough to say those magic words, "I was wrong."

I hope you give so much of yourself that some days you wonder if it's worth it all.

I wish for you a magnificent obsession that will give you reason for living and purpose and direction.

I wish for you the worst kind of criticism for everything you do, because that makes you fight to achieve beyond what you normally would.

I wish for you the experience of leadership.

 

[Publishers]

Leadership

Leadership is nothing without the wisdom to determine a path.

There are people that are leaders, ie. they can get a group organized and headed in a single direction. That is no guarantee that it is not off a cliff.

The missing ingredient is vision and direction. Only when they work in conjunction with leadership do great things get accomplished. Likewise, wisdom and vision are never going to achieve what there true potential is without some leadership to maximize that untapped aspiration.

In either case, a life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but also more useful than a life doing nothing at all.

 

[mar]

Hats off to Publishers

Publishers was probably the very last person I expected to respond to this thread. Imagine my surprise when I nodded in agreement.

I've often said (of various people in leadership positions) that they lack "vision".

As publishers mentioned, sure, they're decisive enough, but what does that prove?

Where's the motivation? What's the goal? The mission? Where's the vision and the creativity to think outside the box.

Every now and then you see it.

Mostly what I see is cowardly monkey-see-monkey-do.

 

[Vladimir Lenin]

leaders need to stop looking to divine powers for answers to earthly problems
that alone would save the world

 

[bart]

You want effective leaders?

Start by being one yourself. Leaders learn from the examples they see around them. What kind of example do you set?

It is much easier to live life pointing out where the leader fails.

And make heartfelt wishes on a message board that create the feeling of having made a difference.

It is a real test of character to stand and lead. It is also among the most rewarding experiences life has to offer.


My question is:

What have you done to lead today?

 

[mar]

Yeah. I want effective leaders.

Bart--Thanks for the response.

Without submitting my resume I'll just have to ask that you trust I've been in leadership positions--both formal and informal.

One minor adjustment to your characterization of my original post though:

Heartfelt? Sounds corny--but ok.
Made a difference? Not in and of itself.

I was only hoping to spark a little discussion--maybe a little thought--on what it means to lead.

You've seen it as often as I have, the person who defaulted into their position, and leads with the same rationale as the parent who reasons with the child, "I'm the mommy, that's why!"

That ain't good enough.

Or the captain who commands with: "'Cause I'm the captain, that's why."

And of course there are leaders of industry and government who share the same arrogance.

I think it's interesting that so far the only respondants have been Publishers, Bart and Lenin.

Lenin speaks for himself but I detect a similiar frustration in his posts.

Publishers and Bart are obviously business professionals and have, I'm sure, been called on the carpet for their decision making.

Where are the other leaders? The captains? The military officers? The chief pilots?

I'd like to know what philosophy, motto or creed they use to help navigate those ugly no-win situations.

Who was your role-model?

Just what makes you think you can stand back and ask people to believe in you?

 

[Publishers]

Vlad

Vlad -- your response reminded me of the expression

If God is your Copilot-- Switch Seats

The fact is that it is so much easier to tear something down than to build it. Then again, that is why it is so much more worthwhile.

I have been around a bunch of leaders and have been in leadership positions most of my life. To me there are but a few steps/ a few building blocks I have found helpful to remember.

1. Make sure that everyone following you knows the goal and what your approach is to achieve it.

2. Make sure they understand the value system and style which you insist be maintained on the journey.

3. Make sure they know you appreciate them and value their contribution.

4. Make sure they understand that their errors need to be one of commission and not ommission.

5. Make sure they know we will all celebrate in reaching the end.

 

[chawbein]

Read Band of Brothers. There are fantastic examples of great leadership and terrible leadership.

 

[Typhoon1244]

Read Band of Brothers.

...and The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. Ought to be required reading for CRM classes. (P.S. Don't watch the movie and think you know the book. You won't.)

 

[bart]

My leadership role models are Jesus Christ and Chesty Puller. I pull from both of their styles or a combination thereof and can find a way to effectively handle most any situation. I have found the best leadership creed is:

"Make sure you fully understand the situation first"

when there is no time for that:

"Hit the deadliest target first, with special attention to crew served weapons"

and lastly:

"Don't die"

I can tell you I would certainly not want to be President of this country. It would probably be worse than being president of an airline.

 

[Typhoon1244]

My leadership role models are Jesus Christ and Chesty Puller.

Interesting combination. Sort of like Ghandi and Richard "Rogue Warrior" Marcinko.

 

[mar]

You fascinate me.

Publishers and Bart do have nuggets of their own, don't they?

When I give advice to co-pilots upgrading for the first time I tell them to pick a captain they admire and use him for a role model.

Is role modeling necessary? Only when first beginning to lead? Or throughout one's career?

What about the leader with no role model; no advisors?

Visionary? Or reckless daredevil?

 

[Publishers]

information

I do not know of any leaders who quit learning and who quit having people they looked to as mentors.

Most of my grandfathers came through books although he and Woody Hayes were an intersting combination of mutual admirors. Woody was a tremendous studier of history and my grandfather of great humorists like Wil Rogers.


Bart said-- hit the deadliest target first.

That acutually is one I use in corporate training. Not so much the target but to deal with the issues that can kill you first and the others later. If you can't solve that big one, the others will not matter.

A corporations first mission is to survive to play another day. That holds true with all those on a mission. Every good leader is always calculating the odds at any particular moment, and, sometimes it is better to step back and fight tomorrow.

A leader with no advisors is like an attorney that fires his attorney to represent himself, he now has a fool for a client.

 

[Astra Guy]

Mar,

I have read through the posts and there are a number of good statements made and questions asked there.

As little children we all quickly understood that we all led in some form or another if we had younger siblings. Those childhood leadership qualities can carry over into adult life, while being modified along the way. That is if we are smart and introspective.

I have had many role models along the way, coming from a military career. Some were great and some were lousy. I tried to focus on the positive traits of any who had them and then adopt those traits as my own.

A good leader to me is one who has some background in the area he attempts to lead in. Secondly, he defines the mission and then asks for his followers input on how to best accomplish this mission. Obviously that doesn't work in the military but it does result in lots of input before decisions have to be made in civilian life.

Once all of the input is in then the leader makes the ultimate decision, even if it might be unpopular. A leader has to be willing to realize that changes may have to be made as more input is received or there has been a failure in accomplishing the mission.

A leader has to be willing to say "I was wrong." He has to be capable of picking up the pieces, while keeping his group together and attempting new methods to accomplish the mission.

A leader should command respect not by his position but by his actions.

A leader must always be fair with each in his group.

A leader must be able to think out of the box and put his thoughts in front of the group.

A leader should never take the applause for what one of his group has suggested. He should always recognize and give credit to whom it is due, in front of not only his group but upstream.

In the cockpit world we live in the leader must strive to be the best of his flock, as it were. If he is not then he needs to hone his skills and knowledge until he is the best. This in itself helps him to command respect.

A leader must be understanding and compassionate when someone in his group is struggling. He is who they should come to if they need help and they won't if he has a holier than thou additude.

A leader must be willing to go to bat for those in his group and defend their actions or inactions as long as they were not immoral, illegal or unethical. Everyone in the group must know that making mistakes are normal but the most important part is to learn from them and hopefully not repeat them.

A leader must always be honest.

In my group they know that I seek their input on many things. They also know that we are not a total democracy. The buck has to stop somewhere and that is with me. I believe they all know that is as it should be.

 

[Timebuilder]

leaders need to stop looking to divine powers for answers to earthly problems

Actually, God is the ultimate leader: insightful (beyond our understanding), fair, just, compassionate, using examples to aid our understanding, setting a clear goal and describing the nature of what to expect when the goal is achieved, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to achieve the goal with fairness to all, in the ultimate win-win.

My leadership experience comes from my time at the academy as a memeber of the regimental staff. Of course civilian leadership can be far more challenging, as there is a greater chance that not everyone is on the same page in terms of motivation, culture, or intellect.

The best leadership advice is to continue to grow in the role.

 

[mar]

More thanks

Astra Guy--thanks for the excellent response.

Timebuilder--I agree civilians can pose certain problems to those with a military background--and vice versa.

It reminds me of the advice given by a management professor of mine: "Surround yourself with excellent people."

In other words, unless you can handpick the people working for you then you're gonna face some serious 'are we all marching to the same tune' problem....to coin a phrase....

To this point I gather anyone can lead, but few have the introspection; self-awareness; and VISION to know exactly just where in the hell they're going. Just what in the hell are they trying to accomplish.

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Astra, some good points. It has been my experience with what you wrote is that it is the exception rather than the rule. I have learned more from bad leaders than good - that is what not to do. Between observing our political/government actions and business actions over the past 20 years, I've been very discouraged. The main issues - which are foundational - are lack of character, self serving (me first), and dishonesty (via lack of character and me first).
I admit you find these "qualities" in all walks of life. So it is just not exclusive to leaders. It becomes an issue with leaders because they typically impact a lot more people than the person in the trenches.
Another thing to consider is that I think some business leaders are there not for "the cause" but they were either looking for a position that pays well and/or they like telling other people what to do. For example, a person in a leadership role at a door knob company in reality could probably care less about door knobs so they seek job satisfaction in other ways like making more money or having as many people report to them as possible. Not excusing it but just trying to put it in perspective.
In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away in my world.

 

[Publishers]

politics

The comments about disappointment with political leaders and government in general.

You must remember that they usually reflect those that elected them. Self Serving, me first, dishonesty, and lack of moral fibre may well be reflections of what the world direction has been.

How many times has anyone lately stood up and said, "I screwed up" versus this mistake happened because of :

bad manufacturing-- product faults--my educational background, my race, my, my , everthing but "I screwed up".

The differences between a Jim Jones leading people to the Kool Aid and Swartzkopf leading troops in Iraq was one of perspective. Jones made everyone in his flock afraid of living without him, Swartz, he made them afraid of dying. The troops would have continued under the Swartz forward upon his death, the Jones people had no where to go under Jones.


An interesting study in contrasts.

 

[mar]

Empowerment

Publishers--Your syntax is a little confusing near the end. Are you saying that Swartz was an effective leader because he empowered his troops to the point where they could've done their job *without* him?

Jones on the other hand, the "followers" were helpless without him?

Do I understand you correctly?

SDF2BUF2MCO--This lack of character; lack of accountability: What do you think about the role of lawyers in our free society?

I mean, a good lawyer will defend his client to the best of his ability. That's his job. And the defendant is not only entitled to a defense BUT it's his RIGHT.

Now.

OJ.
Clinton.
Iran Contra.
Michael Jackson.

Maybe they're not all leaders but they are all role models. What precedent is set when a person of prominence can obviously cross ethical lines and then rest in impunity?

All you need is a good lawyer? And then you can have your cake and eat it too?

 

[SDF2BUF2MCO]

Pub, to a certain degree you are correct we choose our leaders politically. However, with the current system in place you basically have two choices (Dem or Rep). This wouldn't be such a bad thing but again without honorable people running for office (generally speaking) we are "stuck". Sometimes the politicians dupe us, sometimes we already know their history but vote for them anyway (Clinton, Kennedy, some would say GWB, et.al.).

Mar, I "respect" the law profession almost as I do the political profession (speculate 95% of the national political offices are held by lawyers). We have a "justice" system that entertains fradulent and criminal behavior by those who are supposed to be upholding the law. Guess this helps keep the law brethren off the street. Because of the lack of honor with the system and laws, we have OJ, the aviation lawsuits, Enron, et.al. Personally, if I knew my client was guilty all I would do is plead for mercy. Guess I'll never be a trial lawyer! Justice is not seeing what a guilty person can get away with. I'm sure the trial lawyers would disagree.
Guess when it comes down to it we're all leaders in some capacity. Whether it is being a father to a child, a Cappy to a FO, or Prez of the USA.