In this discussion on leaders please consider an alternative position.
A leader is anyone that people follow. It has little to do with virtue,
values, position or being a nice guy. It has to do with are people
following.
As much as I would like to have all leaders be virtuous they are most
often ordinary and right for the follower at the time.
When a new employee come to work who does he/she follow? Most likely
several co workers who appear to have the answers need. The answer
questions like: How do I stay out of trouble? How does a person get a
raise? How do I get a promotion? Where is the lunch room? There are a
myriad of trivial and pertinent questions that new employees seek to
answer and they most often follow someone from the peer group. They do not
look to HR, or the company manual or even the supervisor, they look for
the real truth about the company and follow peers.
That makes all of us or anyone a leader some of the time. As situations
vary the choice of a leader varies. Often a meek engineer will find
themselves leading because they have the right knowledge at the time.Other
times a powerful personality may lead because no one is there to fill the
void as we seek a direction.
Who we chose to follow is as much a part of leading as what a leader does.
Gandhi saw a unifying purpose for the people of India. Hitler saw a
unifying purpose for the people of Germany. They used different methods to
rally the people to follow. Hitler was brutal Gandhi inspiring but both
aligned the people around a purpose that fit the times.
People in organizations choose to follow different people at different
times to fit their own needs.
Consider asking these questions with in our organizations. Who is leading?
What methods are they using. Are these the right people? Are they using
the right methods? Are they coercing (gentle choice of words) or inspiring
(optimistic choice)? Are they leading because they are well suited or
because there is a void? (Hitler may have filled a void)
Just $.02
et
--Eugene Taurman interLinx Consulting 414-242-3345 e-mail ilx@execpc.com fax 781-459-825 http://www.execpc.com/~ilx
IF YOUR EMPLOYEES ARE NOT PULLING TOGETHER FOR GOD'S SAKE DON'T MOTIVATE THEM.
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>