Practice What You Preach

"Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.

When you become a leader, success is all about growing others!"

~ Jack Welch

Greetings Fellow Bloggers,

Today, I want to briefly touch on a few definitions about leadership and ethics, because I want to address two real life examples of leadership; one very good, and one very bad.  It's time for us to start putting the finishing touches on our theoretical leader and identifying the characteristics he/she would have.  I have spent the last several weeks addressing the qualities that make up a great leader, but this one characteristic is probably the most important building block, because without it, you don't have anything!  I am talking about Ethics and the concept of Ethical Leadership.

Ethics is the moral principles, as of an individual.  It is the branch of philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness and badness of the motives and ends of such actions and most importantly, how these impact others.

Ethical Leadership, therefore,  is leadership that is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values and for the dignity and rights of others.  Apple CEO Tim Cook explains further:

In ethical leadership, there are essentially three kinds of leaders who display egoism, utilitarianism, or altruism.  In its simplest explanation, egoism is self-centered and self-interested (ego).  Utilitarianism is somewhat self-centered, but also has concerns for others in that they create the greatest good for the greatest number of people.  Altruism is selfless and is putting the needs of others before your own.  These are important terms to understand as we look at two leaders who are complete opposites of one another in the scenarios I am about to present.

Pictured to the left is Coach James White (ret.) of McFarland High School (CA).  You may recall that he inspired the 2015 Disney film, McFarland, USA, based on his experiences as the  coach of the school's cross country running team from 1987 to 2003.  Now that may not seem like anything to "wow" about, but once you understand Coach White's story, you'd understand.  McFarland High School is located in a predominantly migrant community that was quite poor.  Cross country running, you could say, was not one of their primary concerns at the time.  Enter Jim White.  He created the school's running team by watching and identifying seven students that would become great athletes.  Coach White opened his heart and mind to these student athletes always putting their needs above his own.  This included understanding their needs of their families and understanding the needs of the community.  He built up the student's attitude about their own lives and got these young men to attend various colleges throughout the state; an idea that was unheard of in a migrant community.  Once Coach White treated his players with dignity and respect, earned their trust, and put their needs above his own, McFarland High School went on to win California's very first state cross country championship and then for a total of 9 times in 14 years!  McFarland High School is now the benchmark by which cross country schools train and measure their players.  Years after Coach White left the program, he is still revered by the athletes and community he helped build to be the juggernaut of cross country teams!  He demonstrated altruistic traits in leadership! 

_______________________________________________________________________

Pictured to the left is Assistant Coach Mack Breed of John Jay High School's football team.  You might know Coach Breed as he finds himself embroiled in a controversy surrounding his decision to have two of his players intentionally target an official on field as retribution for alleged racial slurs and questionable calls.  I am not going to delve into whether or not something happened on field, that's not the purpose of this blog.  I am delving into how the leader, Coach Breed, handled adversity.  One of the first qualities to being a leader is ethics, which as we stated earlier is how we conduct ourselves and determine right from wrong.  Another facet in leadership is understanding our followers.  Remember, Coach Breed leads young student athletes who want and need structure, and look to their parents, teachers, clergy, etc. for guidance.  Coach Breed fits that mold.  It is up to him to lead in a manner that embodies trust, respect, understanding, and managing distress when it arises.  Leaders are influential over their followers.  Currently, investigators want to know if and why Coach Breed ordered two of his players to intentionally target an official as "pay back" for  an on-field disagreement.  Now, Coach Breed and the two players find themselves facing possible criminal charges and Coach Breed has since resigned in lieu of the investigation.  Many believe that it was just a reaction to the alleged racial slurs.  In leadership, it DOES NOT MATTER!!!  Adversity comes in many forms, and your task as a leader is to accomplish the mission in an ethical manner while respecting the needs of your followers.  In this case, Coach Breed's response would have been better served by accomplishing the mission (i.e. winning the game), and then addressing the matter with appropriate athletic authorities.  That would have shown professionalism, restraint, and demonstrated the proper manner in resolving disputes.  Instead, he had his players tap into their anger, and he used them for his personal gain of revenge.  Not a good combination which ultimately cost him his job.  Coach Breed failed in his leadership position.  He demonstrated egoistic traits in leadership.  Let's here CBS Sports Doug Gottlieb's take on this:

So that's this week's leadership blog that I wanted to touch upon.  Ethics is key to success in leadership, and these two coaches show two different paths about how to be leaders.  Now ask yourself, what kind of leader are you?  That is all for this week.  We are in the home stretch and this blog will soon come to an end by which time, you will be a leadership expert!  Thank you for reading. Until next time.

Leader 2.0!!!

"If your actions inspire others to dream more,

learn more, do more, and become more,

you are a leader!"

~ John Quincy Adams

Greetings and Salutations Fellow Bloggers,

For the past six weeks, we have been examining the good and the bad, the do's and the don'ts, and the positives and negatives associated with leadership.  This is in effort for us to assemble our "perfect" leader, if such a thing actually exists.  Alas, we are nearing the leadership style that I believe embodies that near perfect style.  This week, I want to introduce and expound upon the concept of the Adaptive Leader.

The adaptive leader is the unicorn of leaders.  It sits in that "goldie locks" zone of leadership styles that can truly be the style ALL leaders should strive for.  It's not too overbearing, not too under bearing.  Not too controlling, not too passive.  Very supportive, but not too nurturing.  Adaptive leaders are more follower centered, not to the extent of say a servant leader, but adaptive leaders certainly put the needs of the followers on a very high pedestal.  Adaptive leadership starts to take us in the direction of the team leader, which we will discuss in an upcoming blog.  The key to adaptive leadership is that it is follower sensitive, allows for growth, allows for change, and focuses on how the leader adapts to those changes when circumstances morph from one to another!

Like any other leader behavior, adaptive leaders have their "rules and regs" if you will.  They face challenges in which they must overcome.  Essentially, there are two.  A situation needs to be identified as a technical challenge which are ones that are clearly defined and have known solutions.  Unlike our friend here to the left, a technical challenge does not allow for the "hammer fixes everything" solution.  Adaptive leaders have to take the technical situation, assess it, and determine the best course of action based on organizational rules and procedures.  They must be level headed and very knowledgeable about organizational theory and process.

The second behavior centers on the adaptive challenge.  These are not so easy to identify because it requires leaders to encourage others to define challenging situations and implement solutions.  Moreover, they are difficult because it requires leaders to change people's assumptions, perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes.  Unlike our lawyers here to the right, this is not accomplished through coercive suggestion, as in a law suit, but rather through mutual encouragement and understanding.  In truth, there is a third behavior which is a hybrid of both of these.  that happens when the situation has a bit of both.  The best example of this I can think of is working in an office where new software is implemented to make your job "easier."  Of course, no one consulted you, but now it is up to you to learn the new software and it is up to the company leaders to convince you that what they have done is in the best interest of everyone.  In that situation, you have a technical and adaptive problem in which to overcome.

Okay, so you are saying to yourself, I got the adaptive leader is great and all, but why?  Well, there are six traits these leaders must exude, or they cannot reach the zen of leadership.  The six qualities are:

1) Get on the balcony….and look out to see the big picture.

2) Identify adaptive challenges….and determine if you have a technical problem, adaptive problem, or both.  Most of the time why organizations fail is they have no clue what the real problem is.

3) Regulate distress….by not freaking out when things don't go exactly as planned.  Things happen, but don't lose composure.

4) Maintain disciplined attention….by getting everyone, including yourself, to focus on the task that needs to be accomplished.

5) Give work back to the people….and live in the wise words of Frozen's Queen Elsa, "Let it go!"  You have to allow people to do their jobs and not be a control freak.  Put another way, if you need to do everything, then why have followers?

6) Protect leadership voices from below….by listening to minority input.  Sometimes the leader's way is not the only way (worse when surrounded by "yes" people).  Allow counter arguments to be heard or fringe ideas.  Sometimes the best ideas come from the voices below.  Plus, it shows you trust in your people which is always a good thing!

Here is a 21:00 minute Ted Talks video by Harvard Adjunct Lecturer Marty Linsky for your viewing pleasure about adaptive challenges for leaders:

So there you have it!  Adaptive leadership in a nutshell.  I want to stress an important point, you as the blog reader still needs to go out and find your leadership you.  My blog is just a broad overview and brief exposure to a very complex topic.  But I hope the exposure is at least enough to get you interested.  I know I am!  Thank you for reading, and until next week, take care of yourselves.

Lead Me, Follow Me, or Get Out of the Way!

"Remember the difference between a boss and a leader;

a boss says, "Go!"

a leader says, "Let's go!"

~ E.M. Kelly

There are many kinds of leaders, and many kinds of leaders who exhibit different traits.  Sometimes those traits can bring out the best in people.  Sometimes those traits can bring out the worst.  Over the past few weeks, we have looked at several traits and qualities that make great leaders.  As I have said before, there is no one-size fits all approach to leadership, nor is there a universal style that everyone will respond to.  What I have tried to do is give small samples of the different kinds of leadership along with their pros and cons and let you, the blogger, decide for yourself. Well today, we are going to look at three specific examples which are transformational leaders, authentic leaders, and servant leaders.

A transformational leader is one who can identify a need, create the vision to implement the needed change, and then carryout the change with the input from the followers in the group.  

Transformational leaders promote cooperation and harmony, possess high moral compass, emphasizes positive development of followers, appeal to the ideals of followers, and allow freedom of choice in followers (empowerment).  One such leader, Nelson Mandela, possessed many of these qualities and many more.    Before his death in 2013, Mandela was known for activism in South Africa in his quest to end apartheid.  After spending 27 years in prison, Mandela went onto to be one of the most influential community leaders in South Africa before becoming the nation's first black president in 1994.  As an elected leader, Mandela was keenly aware of the need to bridge the gap between the Black South Africans, who were the oppressed, and the White South African majority.  By exhibiting transformational leadership qualities, President Mandela was able to build a strong nation, earn the trust of the people, and bridge the racial divide that had consumed the nation for decades.

Now, I'm not trying to suggest that all great leaders have died, it's just coincidence, but Steve Jobs is the perfect example of an authentic leader. Okay, so what is an authentic leader?  Authentic leaders build their persona on interpersonal relationships in which honesty and ethics are the bedrock foundation on the interaction with the followers.  Wow, that's a mouthful!  In simpler terms, authentic leaders are truthful and open with their followers which legitimizes their position as the leader.  Got it, great!  So why Steve Jobs?  He is one person who went from phenomenal cosmic power to complete failure to regaining his phenomenal cosmic power, but only after being able to talk to people about how he got there.  When Jobs first appeared on the scene with Apple Computer in the 1970's-80's, the young Jobs had still much to learn and perhaps ego may have played a part in his first demise.  But when Jobs 2.0 :-) reappeared at Apple Computer in 1997, his leadership took Apple from the verge of collapse to the one of the leaders in technology worldwide.  What changed was Jobs was able to draw on his failures and speak openly about them, and then convince his followers to be their best and to not be afraid of failures themselves.  Jobs passed away in 2011 still revered as one of the greatest minds to have impacted the computer and technology world.

And then there is the servant leader!  Again, I apologize for the fact that my examples have all passed, but I think that truly great leaders are not easily identified until they are gone and we have something to measure their contributions to world by.  A servant leader, very simply, is one who puts the needs and goals of the followers above himself so that the followers can achieve greatness.  A servant leader is therefore kind of an oxymoronic thought because the leader is one who leads by following.  Not leading from behind, per say, but allowing the followers to flourish with the leader providing them the tools they need to succeed.  They lead by serving.  Gandhi was one such leader.  He displayed empathy, for others, he could foresee the consequences of actions, he had the power of persuasion, he was a steward of his community, and he had commitment to growth and emancipation.  In this respect, Gandhi was able to achieve the very things he sought during his many years as an activist against British rule in India during the early part of the 20th century.

But here is one important point about the three leadership styles we just examined.  All three leaders, Mandela, Jobs, and Gandhi all have similar qualities and leadership styles.  Mandela was a transformational leader, servant leader, and an authentic leader.  So was Jobs and so was Gandhi.  Therefore, I think it is important to realize that truly great leaders are not one style.  They are many of them put together in one.  The video below I think best supports that because it explains leadership but kind of intertwines each one together:

Well that's all for this week.  I hope for those of you who have read this blog have the opportunity to examine your own leadership style.  Always seek to be a better leader and don't be afraid to ask questions of your followers.  Just be the best leader you can be!  Take care of yourselves and we will continue our journey next week.

Follow Me! I Know the Way!

"Leaders become great, not because of their power,

but because of their ability to empower others"

~ John Maxwell

In all of this talk about leadership and the countless theories to becoming a "master leader," I think it is important to examine the impact on followers.  In the picture above, there lie a path headed in two different directions.  One is full of sunshine, probably with unicorns, rainbows, and tweeting birds.  The other is dark, probably with death eaters, evil little trolls, and spiders.  If you were a follower, and your leader picked either of the paths, would you follow them?  Would you feel empowered to make a decision about the path on your own?  The answer might be, it depends.  Depends on what, you ask?  Perhaps if the leader inspires, motivates, and empowers you, only then will you trust on which path to go.

Greetings fellow bloggers, this week, we are going to look at how leaders can motivate and inspire followers to achieve their maximum potential.  Empowering your followers increases your influence as a leader.  I like to look at it in this manner.  The leader is the tip of the spear!  If the tip of the spear is dull, the ENTIRE spear is a useless tool.  However, if that tip is sharp and refined, that spear becomes a lethal weapon.  

Back in the 1970's, sociologists and researchers understood that theories about leadership were lacking a true understanding of the impact on the followers.  We could talk about influence, power, and motivation all we want, but if the followers aren't "drinking that Kool-Aid," the research did no good.  The result was Path-Goal Theory which   is about how leaders motivate followers to accomplish designated goals.  

The biggest difference between Path-Goal Theory and situational leadership is Path-Goal Theory emphasizes the relationship between the leader's style and the followers characteristics and that leader uses a style that best meets the followers needs.  Basically, Path-Goal tries to explain how leaders help followers attain their goals where the behavior is individually tailored to each follower.  You see, in the past few weeks, we looked at the one-size fits all approach that addresses the influence of the leader.  So if, for example, the leader uses an authority-compliant approach which may work well in a military type setting, Path-Goal Theory says that not every single person in that setting will respond well to that style.  I am not suggesting that the military adopt a style for each recruit.  That would not work.  I am just illustrating that not every recruit will respond well to that style, even though overall it is effective for the needs of the military.  So, it appears that Path-Goal Theory is saying, hey, if you lead a group of five people, maybe two respond well to directive leadership, one responds well to supportive leadership, and the other likes a participative leadership style even though the leader generally shows an achievement-oriented style.  So let's take a quick look at the leadership styles described in the Path-Goal Theory:

Directive Leadership - leader gives instructions about the task

Supportive Leadership - friendly and approachable leader who makes things pleasant for the followers

Participative Leadership - sharing the decision making with followers

Achievement-Oriented Leadership - challenges followers to be their best and work at the highest level  

What about those followers?  Surely they have characteristics too?  Yep, they do!

Followers have a need for affiliation, and those who possess a strong need for this, prefer a supportive leader.  Those with less, prefer a directive leader.

Followers have preferences for structure.  The stronger the preference, the more towards directive leadership they will fall, and those who prefer less, may want a supportive leader.

Followers have desires for control.  You guessed it.  The more control, the more towards directive leadership, and the less control, the more toward supportive.  But overall, as the perceptions of a follower's ability to perform a task increases, their desire for direction and control goes down!  You see, you're getting it!  :-)

One thing I personally believe is very important is for the leaders to always examine their leadership qualities and to always want to improve.  Don't just say, "I'm a leader," and then rest on your laurels.  After a situation presents itself, take the opportunity to ask if there was another way to do it, or think about how you might do it differently next time.   The video below perfectly describes the idea behind empowerment.  Take a look:

That's all for this week as we near the middle of our nine week journey!  Take care of yourselves until then and I look forward to our blog next Sunday!