Lately I have been on this leadership kick...I mean any article, blog, tweet etc mentioning leadership I devour its content. I am not sure if my craving for this knowledge is saying something about what is in my future and/or just my spirit craving what it needs (leadership knowledge). I do know that I have struggled to find good mentors (formal and informal) that exhibit what I think of when I think of a good leader. It feels as many are focused more on the IQ way to lead (decision making, logic and looking good on paper) as opposed to the EQ (relationship building, understanding, communication). Not that I am saying one is better than the other but a good balance of both is necessary for good leadership in my opinion. We all have short comings, but the mark of a good leader is to recognize their shortcomings and look to their team to fill in the gaps. However, it appears as though leaders and others see this as a sign of weakness. Thus the norm is to act as though they know it all at the expense of the loyalty, trust and morale of others. It also appears that people being lead only want to hear what makes them feel good instead what is authentic and true. They gravitate toward the "spin and blow" leaders (spinning stories and blowing smoke). When present with the truth, they'd rather condemn the presenter of the truth, than to consider it and move within that authenticity.
I wrote the above part of this post in April 2012 and it is still a clear, relavent perspective. I have gained a bit more knowledge since last year, serving in a leadership role, and acquired a few good mentors that exhibit balance. I have seen more often than not that those under a "leader" rely on that person to handle the "difficult stuff" even though they are fully capable (goes to the EQ). The default of the "You have the title" mentality has stifled some awesome individuals to showcase their leadership abilities. The previous thought along with those in leadership positions not being allowed to learn and make mistakes nor do they allow those they lead to do so. I think much of the above thinking stems from the lack of transparency snd authenticity (and the ability to be transparent and authentic) that is prevalent in our organizations. This manifest in a variety of ways...lack of commiunication, motivation, delegation, integration from all levels. I believe the best organizations breed and require transparency and authenticity in their people (as any good relationship should). This openness and safe trust will inevidable breed innovation and growth.
I will probably reference this book in future post because it is having a profound affect on me, but I digress. In Brené Brown's book Daring Greatly, she references Peter Sheahan, an author, speaker, and CEO of ChangeLabs. What she shared from Peter was:
“The secret killer of innovation is shame. You can’t measure it, but it is there. Every time someone holds back on a new idea, fails to give their manager much needed feedback, and is afraid to speak up in front of a client you can be sure shame played a part. That deep fear we all have of being wrong, of being belittled and of feeling less than, is what stops us taking the very risks required to move our companies forward.
If you want a culture of creativity and innovation, where sensible risks are embraced on both a market and individual level, start by developing the ability of managers to cultivate an openness to vulnerability in their teams. And this, paradoxically perhaps, requires first that they are vulnerable themselves. This notion that the leader needs to be “in charge” and to “know all the answers” is both dated and destructive. Its impact on others is the sense that they know less, and that they are less than. A recipe for risk aversion if ever I have heard it. Shame becomes fear. Fear leads to risk aversion. Risk aversion kills innovation.”
Excerpt From: Brown, Brené. “Daring Greatly.” Gotham Books, 2012-09-11. iBooks
Although, Brené's book had not been published when I started this post in April of last year, it has put a pin in (a need to pause and reflect as well as a potential context) the many issues with the concept of leadership, fear. There are those who are leading from a fear perspective and those who are not showcasing their thoughts, feelings, innovation or creativity because of fear. And we must remember fear manifest in many ways, not just quiet, retreat or hiding from...but also negative criticism of situations or others, not making self dispensable, not mentoring or allowing self to be mentor (along with not providing information and tools to make another successful or refusing constructive feedback). Much of this stems from fear.
As I continue on this journey of and gather knowledge around leadership and what it means, I hope to be someone who can be (vulerable) authentic as well as foster others around me to feel safe enough to do the same. At the end of the day, we must decide not to lead with or be lead by fear.