Posted by dragonblaze on Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 2:25:41 PM
what is it and how it accomplished??
I believe that leaders are not just born but are CREATED through self taught skills, life experiences, and natural abilities, as well as some being taught the basic skills on how to "act" like a leader. Now "acting" is easy to come by most of us. Do most of you spend your time at work "thinking" I do not want to be here or if I just knew what I was thinking as you smile back at them?????
Good leaders are "SERVANTS/FOLLOWERS 1ST then take action depending on situations, but are always WILLING (SUBMIT) to be on TOP or BELOW depending on current events.
Re: LEADERSHIP Comment by wordmiester on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 11:30:44 PM
Okay I know sports is secondary compared to the real world, but one thing I can say as a frame of reference. A leader does not have to be chosen he/she manifests themselves. For example in the '80's Wayne Gretzky dominated his team and the league as a player but Mark Messier had his team follow him through a brick wall.Same as my experience in music. The band always has the one person who just raises the level of the others.
Re: LEADERSHIP Comment by dragonblaze on Friday, April 27, 2007 at 5:17:10 PM
an EXAMPLE of LEADERSHIP:
I used to work at a restaurant.... I will not give its name........ and the managers were rude and ignorant. They would cuss you out and treat you bad in front of customers....
I also worked at another one but this was different.
The owner manager of this chain had 2 stores and a nite club. ppl would work all three stores sometimes. They would a husband/wife team would help me clean in the morning 2hrs before customers would come in and have a team meeting with the cooks, hosts, waitstaff, and busiers!!
She would help me cashier and host as well as help me bartend and take orders over the phone.
They both would clean tables and help the waitstaff bring out food and make food sometimes as well!
I have seen this at only 2 stores in my life so far.
Most jobs I have do not show the managers ever coming out of there offices to meet with staff or even help at a level below them!
I believe this people are truly what leaders are all about!
Not just talk but really show that they used to be at that level once in their life and are willing to help out in the greater cause of what is going on around their work!
Re: LEADERSHIP Comment by Ped on Saturday, May 5, 2007 at 6:57:12 AM
This is another great thread on a topic that I've spent so much time, mainly in the past, investing in for both myself and all those people I had working for me back then. I knew this was something I could probably talk about all day so I started typing my reply in a Word Document because my intention originally was to comment and also add some of my own experiences to it. Well, one and a half pages of A4 later and all I'd covered was Humility and Communication - lol - once I start I just can't stop.
Because of that I'm not going to post what I originally intended because it's just too long and it's not even anywhere near finished - lol. Maybe I'll post it as an aside to this thread but I don't want to appear to be trying to take over, so to speak. Here's a list of some of the things I think are vital to good leadership.
Humility, Communication, Perception, Honesty, Vision, Common Sense, Intelligence, Appreciation and Acknowledgement, Responsibility, Enthusiasm, Self Appraisal, Knowledge and Learning and finally and most importantly, Respect.
That's about all I can rattle off from the top of my head. Thing is, while it may seem like quite a long list I don't want to mislead people into thinking I believe a good leader must have all of these attributes in abundance because that's not true. For example you don't need the IQ of Stephen hawkings. You may not be all that intelligent but quite simply, if you can use what intelligence you have well, then that mixed with all the other things can go to make a great leader. After all, a great team is made up of all sorts; big, small, short, tall, fast, slow etc. if you get my meaning!!
Anyway thank you for starting this thread Dragonblaze.
Re: LEADERSHIP Comment by Ped on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at 9:30:17 AM
Thank you Dragonblaze. I'll post what I wrote without expanding any further. After all there's only so much people can take - lol!!
Leadership means different things to different people. Most have their own ideas of what a leader should be; how they look, how they act etc. The list is endless. I know one thing for certain from my own experience and it's that the people who work in most any big organisation at floor level have a very different idea as to what a good leader is compared to those people who own/manage the place. Please feel free to disagree with me on that point should you wish.
Personally I learned that management wanted the driven, focussed, relentless workhorse who would do anything to achieve above and beyond what they were expected by just about any means necessary. As far as all my staff were concerned, if I was to put it into words it would read something like this: "Never mind what they (the management) say, you look after us and we'll make sure we look after you".
These are some of my thoughts on a couple of the qualities I listed in my previous reply with regards to what makes a good leader.
Leadership is about humility. It is realising that you are a simple cog in that metaphorical wheel, each of which is of equal importance because one simply cannot work without the other. Too many people become full of their own importance and end up looking down their noses at other people or tasks as if 'they' are too good to be even entertaining either. I'll let you formulate your own ideas as to why I said the following to various line managers as and when certain situations arose:
"Never ask anyone to do something that you wouldn't do yourself."
"if the job title of 'operator' doesn't have a capital letter then 'line manager' shouldn't have them either."
"You're never too important to have a brush in your hand."
If anyone wants an explanation then please ask and I'll reveal all lol. The thing is, these were good people who were excellent at their jobs and a pleasure to work with. Thankfully they all got the point. When those situations occurred I could see the very first signs of their self-confidence turning to arrogance; so I acted as I hope other people would too, especially if it was me straying over to he dark side - lol!! As I see it, what greater fool can there be than he who has the world at his feet but then lets it go to his head.
Leadership is about communication. It is being approachable, being attentive to people, getting to know the name behind the face, taking an interest in them and listening to what they have to say. It is talking 'to' people instead of 'at' them and alternatively allowing them to talk to you in a way that shows them you are actually listening instead of just staring at your shoes, over their shoulder or out of a window.
Things like body language, eye contact and my favourite, a smile, have far more impact than people realise. Basic common courtesy is something that I feel very strongly about in all aspects of life. I came to realise at work that we as a management team had a major problem that needed to be addressed. The staff were being told to do things abruptly, dismissively, without any explanation or chance to respond and it was affecting them, making them unhappy and demoralised. You have to understand that it was just the culture within the organisation to be that way because many of the higher and senior management were old school, 'beat them over the head till they do as they're told' types. Anyway, tensions were rising, conflicts were brewing and the whole scenario was making me very unhappy. I knew trouble was around the corner and I wasn't willing to let the situation continue.
You see, to me you can act that way as the person in charge. You can make people do what you want and they will do it; but they will do it begrudgingly and in a manner that befits the fact that they basically have to, no questions asked. However, if you approach somebody and ask them to do something, explain the reasons why and say please and thank you I guarantee they will respond in a different way completely. By giving people a sense of value and making their efforts feel appreciated they are far more likely to feel motivated to not only want to do the task for you, but also to do the task well.
On that basis, I instigated what was essentially as I saw it, a 'Supervisors Finishing School', passing on the simple message I've just related in the paragraphs above to everyone. It took a while but the results after a time were fantastic. Morale all round visibly lifted. Tensions eased and everyone, including the management team (myself too) were clearly a lot happier. I cannot recommend enough, the investment of time to try and improve communication for the benefit of any team as a whole.
So there you go. It's like being back at College lol there's so much stuff just busting to get out of my head and onto the page I could easily be here till tomorrow. I hope this gives people a little insight as to my way of thinking.
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