Leaders DO
by Miki SaxonI keep saying that leadership is something one does and is recognized later. I was reading Leadership DNA: Myths, Your Brain, and a Real-Life Leader and loved the comment from the interviewee, “I realized early on that I didn’t learn anything about leading until I tried to lead something. Only after I examined what had just happened and my part in it did I learn anything. Books and workshops gave me a way to frame what I had learned as well as some language to go with it. But none of that had any meaning at all without being tied to an activity.” Definitely a guy after my own heart.
Interviewer Steve Roesler adds, “He was quite adamant about building people through experiences and letting them–and the organization–determine their capabilities as a result.”
Reminds me of the Nike tag line Just do it, that kind of says it all.
That’s what it’s all about, folks, doing it. I’m not belittling what you can learn from books and classes, but it’s still learning, not doing. And everyone who’s ever taken their learning into the field knows that it changes in the doing.
Further, what works for one person won’t work exactly the same for another—as the saying goes, different strokes for different folks.
Doing is a function of your MAP (mindset, attitude, philosophy)™, which doesn’t match anyone else’s, just as no two snowflakes match. So anything you learn needs to be tweaked to fit your MAP and the circumstances even though the language used to describe what you do will be the same as that used by someone totally different in a totally different situation.
So go do, remembering that while it’s you who does, it’s the people/organization involved who deem you a leader, so quit worrying about it—just do your best.
One more note, but be sure to check out the links to Robyn McMaster’s Brain Myths Shape Your Choices. (Thanks, Steve:)
Looking for a few good leaders!
I’d like to invite my readers to suggest leaders in the instance who might be interested in writing a guest post about their experience. Self-nominations are welcome.
Nominees must actually be in the trenches doing it. I’m looking for managers, executives, volunteers, supervisors, parents, team members, etc. who may not even see themselves as leaders, but others do.
The only caveat is that they don’t formally teach, write or give talks about leadership.
You may nominate them publicly using “comments,” send them to me, or call me at 866.265.7267
Your comments-priceless
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October 4th, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Miki,
“Just do it” isn’t enough. Thinking and reflection are critical steps needed to develop a strong, focused MAP. Leaders need to spend time-not doing–but rather thinking about their values, core beliefs, goals, and behaviors. It took years of introspection and quiet time for leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mendella, Ghandi and Jesus to identify their core beliefs/values and perfect their leadership message.
Paul B. Thornton
October 4th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I agree that leadership is something one does and is recognized later. We don’t have to be a leader to practice leadership. As long as we know how to lead a group, anyone can be a good leader.
October 6th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Paul, although the people you mention are consistently referred to when discussing leadership, I don’t believe that they typify the goals of 99.9% of the people who are focusing a portion of their energy on improving their leadership ability. I think that 98.9 will be “leaders in the instance” at various times in their lives and the remaining one percent will actually be in long-term leadership roles. Sure, now and then within a lifetime a person will surface with the passion, message and skill to lead a revolution, whether positive, as did your examples, or negative, as did Hitler. I also believe that we each owe it to ourselves to explore our own MAP, enhancing, tweaking and changing it, on an ongoing basis as we grow and change.
Charlie, I’m not trying to quibble, but I think that it’s more a case of as long as you can lead yourself you can lead others if the need arises.
October 6th, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Miki,
Thanks for the mention in the midst of a good leadership conversation.
Do it, tweak it, and see if people are following…
October 7th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I also experienced the same situation when I first started leading something.
Thanks for sharing this.
October 10th, 2007 at 10:27 am
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October 19th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
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