There has been much written about leadership. That’s not surprising as most of us lead something – a family, a business, a classroom, a ministry, a government, etc., or a group within any of these. Thus, there’s likely as many leadership styles are there are numbers of us attempting to do the leading. How one leads is clearly an outgrowth of one’s worldview.
First, let me deal with two potential “elephants in the room”. What is one leading and why is one leading it? Clearly, most leaders are doing so for the greater good. However, as we have seen in an earlier post, good or evil is in the eye of the beholder. It is subject to both the standards and truth claims of the leader. It is very much a function of the leaders worldview. Thus, I will not discuss the merits of or the motivation for said leadership, herein.
The Basics
In general, the leader’s job is to cast the vision for the raison d’etre of the organization or entity. The leader determines the strategy for accomplishing that vision. He assigns the tasks for his charges to accomplish the goals for that task. I would make a distinction between a leader and a manager. The leader’s primary objective is one of inspiration. The manager’s duty is to keep the team on task, working together. Both are necessary – sometimes the leader and manager can be the same person. However, an entity directed by only managers, will likely stagnate. It’s workers will be missing that sense of both wanting to follow and being better off for having done so. One’s leadership style goes a long way in instilling this esprit de corps.
Leadership Style
Leadership styles cover the gamut from dictator to benevolent teacher. Some competing elements of style include the need to convince vs enlighten. The dictator expects results based on his position of authority. He does not neglect to remind his charges of this, in a variety of ways – fear, intimidation, etc. Dwight Eisenhower said, “You do not lead by hitting people over the head. That’s assault, not leadership.” Conversely, the educator uses examples, histories, facts and projections thereof. He appeals to both the rationality and righteousness of his “students”. Recall, righteousness is just a rational resultant of one’s worldview. Beware of the leadership style that purports, however well disguised, that the “ends (outcomes) justify the means.”
Some think Hitler’s “ends”, i.e., produce the ideal human society, justified his “means”. Nevertheless, everyone – well, perhaps not all worldviews – believes Hitler’s “means” were the most horrific in human history. He defined himself a god and irrationality followed, or vice versa. There may not be any “end” that can justify a strategy of whatever “means”, when carried out by a “fallen” humanity. The consequences of poor or no leadership are obvious. One need just look and listen to the nightly “news”. As a leader, one has to operate from behavioral standards, i.e., a worldview, that ensures the well being of those impacted by a specific means to a desired outcome.
An Example
Are leaders made or born? In my experience, there may be some “genetic” contraindications to born leaders. The good news is that leadership skills can be learned, by anyone with the desire to do so. However, I sadly found that nothing in either my college or graduate school education prepared me for leadership.
I inherited eight chemists and technicians in a research and development group at a major pharmaceutical company. It was “on the job” training and I was the one getting trained, by my subordinates. Fortunately, I had some selfless, veteran employees who understood the interpersonal shortcomings of shiny, new Ph.D.’s. One of my biggest mistakes was individualizing the way I rewarded each person. I didn’t realize they “compared notes”. What a nightmare. I quickly gained an appreciation for some of the corporate procedures I had mentally trivialized.
I subsequently moved on to lead other “groups” before both my leadership skills and worldview had evolved to a point where I could sincerely apologize to them for being my leadership training, “guinea pigs”. The process of becoming a better listener was just beginning – being more patient had yet to begin, as a boss, a husband and a parent. Years later, feedback from my adult children and Leadership Coach Training were “priceless” in my growth as a leader. My point here is that at the time, I didn’t realize I was being a poor leader, both at work and at home – my wife has always been a saint! Most of us need some ongoing assessment of our leadership capability … keep on reading !
Leadership Resources
In Dangerous Calling, Paul David Tharp builds his model for leadership around the desired attributes of a church pastor. However, with the possible exception of one chapter (the specific responsibilities of the congregants to their pastor), everywhere the word pastor is used, one could substitute spouse, parent, businessman, government employee or teacher. I see the same leadership attributes that Tharp finds necessary in pastors, to be needed in every type of leadership role.
Over the last two decades, I’ve found the annual, Global Leadership Summit (GLS), broadcast live at sites across the country, to be an invaluable aid in growing my leadership skills. This years GLS2017 was no exception. Marcus Buckingham, shared some new insights on leadership capacity. He found a simple metric for the upper limit to the number of people one can effectively lead. It is the number of people with whom you can spend time each week. Typically, about 30 min, talking about their goals for the week and how you can help them achieve those goals.
From within the Biblical worldview, the book of Nehemiah presents a classic approach, still viable for 21st century businesses. He details how to develop and implement a strategy to achieve one’s vision. In Visioneering and The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley casts Nehemiah’s strategy onto issues, from corporate to the individual, in today’s situations. That strategy, for anyone who finds himself in a leadership position, from the living room to the boardroom, will be an outgrowth of one’s worldview.
I hope you will look at the leadership successes and failures occurring all around you. Ask yourself whose leadership style can help your progression from poor to adequate to good to being a great leader, in your sphere of interaction. Then go do something about it !
