 Greetings!
Welcome back to our newsletter!
Below is an article which answers some basic questions about what is leadership. If you should require more information and/or if we can help in your own personal leadership growth and/or improve the leadership potential of managers in your organization, please feel free to contact us at info@magnifyleadership.com As part of our community, Magnify Leadership and Development will periodically send you informational articles that may benefit you and your organization. We thank you for your association with Magnify Leadership and Development and look forward to the opportunity to work with you to improve the performance of your team or organization.
Regards,
James Gehrke
|
| July's Article |
Who is a Leader?
by James Gehrke |
 In my roles in sales management and learning and development in the corporate world I have had the privilege of associating with and working for managers who were top notch leaders; as well as the horror of witnessing both the business and personal fall-out that can occur because of managers who were not effective. Throughout my career I have been fascinated in observing and studying the qualities of what makes leaders effective.
There are many definitions of leadership. I have always felt that definitions and models of leadership must be simple enough for managers to understand and apply them on the job. Reading the literature one realizes that there are many varied explanations of what makes an individual a leader. Some authors separate management and the leadership functions; explaining that managers "bring a degree of order and consistency" to the organization, while leaders deal and cope with change in the marketplace and the organization itself (Gallos, 2008, p. 6). Others define leaders by their relationship with followers. One definition states that "leadership involves willing collaboration as a part of the relationship between leaders and followers (Clark and Clark, 2005, p. 26). Other definitions describe how leaders lead. For example, the leader "earns trust by evidence of integrity, commitment, courage, and a demonstrated willingness to take personal risks for the group" (p. 26). However, by defining leadership by the ideal behaviors a leader should have, authors leave out many individuals who are in roles of authority, but either act more as managers or lack the ideal behaviors that define a leader. I would ask, whether or not these definitions miss something. Furthermore, while the descriptions of leadership are admirable and very desirable in a leaders, does this mean that managers who don't posess them are not leaders? For example, was Hitler wasn't a leader? Was Jeff Skilling of Enron a leader? Are politicians who say anything to get elected leaders?
A more simplified understanding of what defines a leader is needed. I would argue that anyone in a position of authority is certainly a leader, even if they lack some of the traits described in many definitions. These behaviors however, are still useful, for they describe what good and effective leaders do. The common denominator in defining who is a leader and who is not is whether the individual has influence over another individual or group. Those who influence others, lead. This definition includes anyone in a position of authority, however; it also includes those who have no official position power and also includes both those who were effective or ineffective in their roles. Under this definition, Hitler certainly was a leader, as was Mother Teressa; both Abraham Lincoln and Richard Nixon were leaders; Jeff Skilling and Sam Walton were leaders; a teacher is a leader; as is any first line manager in any organization anywhere; a youth advisor, counselor, good neighbor, etc., are all leaders. A good example comes from the movie "Rudy", the true story of a pint size walk-on to the Notre Dame football team. The hero finds a confidant in the persona of a one time football star and current grounds keeper. This unrecognized and forgotten individual had great influence on Rudy. He inspired him to expand his vision and work toward achieving his education. He had no authority. What made him a leader was his great ability to influence and inspire Rudy. All of us have the potential to influence others and to be a leader. The important questions worthwhile for each of us to explore is what type of leader we will be?
One common way of evaluating leaders is whether they are effective or not. However, leadership must go beyond meeting organizational goals. Once again, Hitler was effective in meeting his goals, but was he an effective leader? Jeff Skilling, of Enron fame, was reported to have argued in Harvard Business School classes that the role of the business leaders was "to take advantage of loopholes and regulations and push beyond the laws wherever he could to make money" (Gallos, 2008, p. 94). Skilling made a lot of money for himself and those who followed him through the years, however; few would call him an effective leader.
To evaluate leadership, we must look beyond effectiveness and examine whether the leader is good or bad. I know that in today's world it is often not considered politically correct to make such value judgements, so let me explain. The Bible tells us to judge the goodness of a tree by whether it bears good or bad fruit and that "a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil." (The Holy Bible, Luke 6: 44 - 45). We can use this evaluation to examine the positive and/or negative results and influence that they have on others? By observing good men and women of the past and present, who had positive influence on those around them, we can identify certain basic qualities can be identified of great leaders including:
- A solid base in ethical values: A leader must also have a vision of their purpose and the purpose of the organization they lead.
- However, having a vision is not enough; a leader must be able to communicate that vision to those he hopes to lead. As Bill George explains, they must "engage the hearts of their employees through a sense of purpose (p. 95).
- Key to each of these is a real sense that as a leader they are called to serve others; not themselves. They must be "servant leaders" (p. 93)
An attitude of service and solid core values becomes the leader's anchor; ensuring that he or she and their organizations or teams are not lost in the storm when trials or difficulties are pounding all around them. Their ability to communicate their purpose and vision becomes their compass that ensures they remain solidly on track in order to achieve the positive outcomes they have created with the individuals, teams, organizations, nations and societies they serve. Without these key qualities it is difficult for a leader to be effective in positively influencing their organizations or in gaining and maintaining lasting effectiveness and results.
References:
Clark, K.E., and Clark, M.B. (2005). Choosing to lead (Second edition) Greensboro, North Carolina: Center for Creative Leadership
Gallos, J., (2008). Business leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
|
| Magnify Leadership and Development Training Solutions: |
| Magnify Personal Leadership |
As pointed out in this month's article, there are many definitions of leadership in today's literature. While the theorys are all interesting, they often are not helpful in improving leaders ability to become better leaders.
This session provides several facilitator lead activities that help individuals explore their personal approach to leadership. Any manager, facilitator, teacher, coach, or anyone else in a position of influence is a leader. The more appropriate question is whether or not they are effective leaders. The common denominator in defining who is and who is not a leader is whether the individual has influence over another individual or group. When we consider this, all of us have the potential to influence and lead.
The Bible tells us to judge the goodness of a tree by whether it bears good or bad fruit and that "a good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil." The same evaluation works for leaders. Do they have positive or negative influence on others? By observing great leaders of the past and present, certain basic qualities can be identified of great leaders.
Participants in this 2 to 3 day workshop will:
1. Discover the traits of leaders in order to identify their key core values they will use as a base for their leadership platform.
2. Determine what mark they want to leave on those the lead and influence.
3. Create and practice delivery of a succinct message that explains their core values and where they want to lead their teams.
4. Investigate and practice key qualities of servant leadership
Other Magnify Leadership and Development Programs Include:
Full one to three day workshops:
- Magnify Personal Leadership
- Magnify Coaching Skills: Ten Hallmarkes of Coaching Greatness
- Magnify Change Leadership
- Magnify Communications Skills: Becoming and Effective Communicator
- Magnify Interviewing Skills
- Magnify Team Effectiveness: Creating a Team Environment
Half to one First Line Management Development Skills workshops:
- Leading By Example
- New Employee Development
- Employee Recognition
- Delegation
- Mentoring
- Teamwork
- Time Management
- Interviewing Skills
- Coaching
- Disciplining and Terminating
- Sexual Harassment Avoidance and Diversity Training
- Conflict Resolution
- Disciplining
|
| About James Gehrke and Magnify Leadership and Development |
|
is a training consulting company with global experience in management/leadership and communication skills and sales force effectiveness training. We provide our clients with customized service and the individual attention in ways that larger training firms cannot provide. We design and deliver customized workshops for clients and back up that training experience with individualized feedback and coaching so that participants can apply the concepts learned more effectively to their jobs; improving performance, productivity and bottom-line results.
Our vision is that our efforts will help to 'magnify' the natural ability that exists in individuals, helping them to maximize their full potential, increasing their value as leaders and professionals in the organizations were they work and serve. We will not be the largest training company, but by offering customized training solutions and by developing a global network of proven subject matter experts, trainers and coaches, our clients all over the world, will value us as the best. We will provide a stellar training experience that has been tailored to our client's needs, providing lasting value to their organizations and improving their bottom line.
Click here to visit our website James has over 25 years of experience working for some for the world's leading Corporations. He headed Pfizer's Learning and Development for all of Europe, Canada, Africa and the Middle East where he was instrumental in the development of a global management curriculum and other training initiatives to enhance organizational effectiveness for over 30,00 employees. He has worked on high level cross functional teams addressing issues such as Field Force Effectiveness, Change Leadership, Leader Behavior Development, Executive Coaching and many others. James also has extensive experience in Sales, Sales Management and Training.
Since founding Magnify Leadership and Development, James has developed, facilitated and coached dozens of leadership and management development training programs for dozens of organizations worldwide. James is bilingual and can facilitate and coach in both English and Spanish. Click here to see customer testimonials |
|
