Category: On Leadership

Good leadership is important, but a True Entrepreneur may be of greater importance. Where would our world be without innovators and entrepreneurs that succeed at creating their vision? And where would any organizations be without leadership leading people to succeed at what they gather for?

The True Entrepreneur dreams a dream usually having to do with goals and how to achieve those goals. Rarely do they concern themselves with others beyond facilitating reaching their goal.  This may bring serious relationship problems between people that live and work together. Being driven by goals hardly lends itself to smooth and caring relationships. 

Whether the True entrepreneur is focused on building a business for profit or securing funds for a charity they are the same person in how they operate. Setting goals and working tenaciously towards those goals is what they do. If the entrepreneur’s goal is finding donors to fund an organization that’s their job; if to become wealthy, that’s their job. The challenge to achieve fires their creative juices not how people feel towards them.

Because of the True Entrepreneur’s drive their value to a group serving community needs may be huge due to their determination to fund the program and their methods winning over donors? They may well be the key to the success of gathering appropriate funding. If a volunteer group does not have an entrepreneur type amongst them the wise thing to do may be to find one and bring them on board.

 On the other hand, there is a reason for concern when adding a True entrepreneur to a board. Being goal directed does not lend itself to caring, supportive relationships and if they happen to be control driven conflict between members is assured.

Without question both True entrepreneurs and Good Leaders are essential to society and it is most unlikely that they are the same person. The task they have before them demand different and specific mind sets and behavior. Most Entrepreneurs treat people as chess pieces. People play or do not play parts in their drama. They are purpose not people driven. Good leaders, on the other hand, are all about relationships between people and how they function.

How to deal with this problem is significant because the value of each to the group (any gathering of people, whether for profit or charity) may make or break the group. The True Entrepreneur creates the need for a group and the good leader makes the group function properly and to grow.

Dealing with interpersonal problems that are sure to occur: A facilitator may be necessary and genuine dialogue between all at the table is absolute. The primary purpose of the facilitator is to teach and referee the rules of dialogue so that power, control and manipulation by anyone member fails to rear its ugly head.  In every case, Genuine Dialogue is the key to a successful organization.   Sy—

Haiku: Entrepreneur, yes!————So necessary to us————They make what is not.

Recently been working with a volunteer committee and have enjoyed the people and the process. But I’ve also discovered that having an entrepreneur mix in the group is essential. I need to be clear that the entrepreneur I refer to is entrepreneurial to the extreme. That is, their goals are far more important than their relationship with those they work with. Achieving their ends is what they are about not relationships with the people they work and live with.  

When compared to true leaders genuine entrepreneurs are totally different people. The outstanding leader is about nurturing and growing relationships between people. They are at their roots, role models and teachers. Where-as the true entrepreneur is goal driven even at the cost of relationships. Realizing goals is what they are about. Demanding that they be more humane in their relationships is akin to spitting in the wind.

Both good leadership and committed entrepreneurship are necessary whether a business for profit or a board of volunteers committed to community service. This is certainly true as long as the funding of programs to sustain and grow the volunteer organization exists in the first place. What better contributors than having true entrepreneurs in the mix to find and bring home the bacon?

The problem and a serious one is that true entrepreneurs and volunteers that commit for the good of the community are a terrible mix. Most volunteers invariably care for the people they contribute their time to. Feelings, words and behavior count a great deal. On the other hand, true entrepreneurs make things happen. They knock on doors, make the calls and write the letters. They know exactly why they volunteer and it’s not about “fuzzes.”   They are also lousy leaders and not because they don’t respect and work well with others, but because they are much more goal directed. They step on toes and mostly view people they work with as a hindrance to achieving the more important goals, and that’s filling the coffers.  Volunteers need to support the entrepreneurs amongst them, or they will fight them and resist. Any conflict is woefully misplaced. The question is how to avoid.

To be clear, I’m referring to winning entrepreneurs not the many that express their desire to be entrepreneurs, but don’t or will not put in the effort to make things happen. True entrepreneurs leave no stone unturned. They do not do what they do for themselves, but because they know one way and that way is to find and get the gold. Help them or get out of their way.     Sy

Haiku’s

Working together————Takes effort, understanding————Do we give ourselves?

Some do or do not———-So be a giver and help—————-Make it happen now.

Do what is called for————–Take necessary action———–Maybe it will work?

Saturday’s Wall St Journal (3/23/19) has an article that clearly supports the message I’ve been trying to live and do my best to teach for seventy plus years. It is about quality Leadership as the key to success of the huge majority of people organizations. I am flabbergasted that this is the hot lesson of the day and forces me to ask “what will it take for those in positions of power and influence over others to learn and apply so obvious a truth?” It’s only been around since the idea of group living and the better chance of survival takes place. Without question quality leadership has been and is the key to human creativity, productivity and a better life for the majority. Nothing new under the sun; It’s only a matter of discovery and that through experience personally experienced as often as possible.

Look into any operation that depends on people and if it is a successful operation there is an excellent leaders right in the mix of what is taking place. These leaders are front and center or behind their people, but in most situations a part of the action. They are role models through behavior. Words may be part of their value to others, but it’s the actions they take that counts the most. But this is just a beginning. 

This quality leader is not sitting in an office far removed from the playing field, but is a participating member without always being in charge.  This point needs to be clearly understood. The leader I am writing of empowers those they work with to take leadership if and when the event calls out to them to take over. Situations count more than any fixed hierarchy or construct.

This is impossible to attain without trust, respect and dialogue being established between the leader and their key people. These are essential ingredients leaders bring to each of their meaningful relationships. And as challenging as it may be, none of this begins with subordinates, but is the leader being their authentic self.  How received by those that are led depends on each and their own personal history dealing with power issues. Whether growth (change) takes place between them has much to do with this. Nothing is assured.

The beauty of this is that most people seek better than their past. They want to be trusted, respected and to experience dialogue that confirms their existence as a self. Quality leadership may not guarantee this happening, but there is no better way to reach another. Truth, respect and openness have remarkable curative powers.

Haikus:

What is reported————It reads as if news today————–Who cares; let it be.

Leadership required——–Someone must, without which way?.——–A leader at helm

Trust and respect————–what brings and holds together————Not easy to do

I’ve written and lectured on Leadership for many years. Have read thousands of pages on the subject and studied the philosophers from different periods seeking possible answers to what attributes or life styles contributes to a person attaining high marks as a leader. What comes out of my search, which continues to this day, are the life experiences an individual has and what knowledge they extract from those experiences. In other words, they not only stand on the shoulders of great leaders that have come before them, but themselves have been muddied and bloodied in the process of becoming what they are. None are born leaders, in fact, there are no such people, but only through thought and action (the trials and tribulations they have faced) a few become great leaders. Also, none are self made, but shaped through relationships with others whether brief encounters, even accidental, or lifelong partners.

It is also true that quality leaders teach primarily through being who they are and in the process become students to those they teach. Keep in mind that this relationship and the cross influences are not necessarily formal, but an organic way of relating. This sharing and growing are natural processes we label “mutuality.” It is seen in the trust they demonstrate with knowledgeable people they bring into their Inner Circle. These special people are not ideologues, but people with considerable experience and success in their respective fields. None are puppets to be manipulated, but proven leaders themselves. 

The quality leader does not seek extensions of them self, or waste their time forcing agreement. This leader views each person as the unique being they are and as a consequence they participate with them in “genuine dialogue”. And they are not blind to history, but know that what was is yesterday and that “what is” and “to come” is considerably more important. They are an open book and apart from the pages of their own history what is to be written has few if any hidden expectations of themselves or others, but truth, honesty and fairness.

Jose Gasset, (philosopher/professor, Spain 1920s) made the following observation to his students: “Many that live in these days believe the period we live in is more than all the rest that precedes us. And yet, at the same time feels that it is a beginning. Superior to other times, but inferior to itself; strong, indeed and confident and at the same time uncertain of its destiny; proud of its strength and creativity and at the same time fearing it.)   I quote Gasset because I strongly agree that the quality leader and “the student to be leader” accept this as truth. That today is full of almost unlimited possibilities and the leaders of this day and time are given the responsibility as none before have been given. We live in a time where leadership is becoming more important than ever before. Previously we believed we lived in separate lands divided by large rivers, mountains, deserts, jungles, oceans and that nations could stand alone. We know today that this is all history long gone. Now most of us accept that we live together on a small planet, limited resources, exploding population, degrading environment and science that has proven that we are all, black, white and others brothers and sisters. We are relatives one to each and all.  If True, why is hate so prevalent? We would think that most of us know or have learned that we either live and to live well together, or the alternative which must be unacceptable to all, but sadly is not. And that is the destruction of our home we call Planet Earth, but certainly civilization as we know it. Our time, as no other time, calls for Enlightened Leadership and the question: Where Art Thou? 

To know is a more concrete word than believe because it is what we actually experience. So, what I know is that a leader’s words and behavior are far more important to those under and close to them than generally accepted and understood. Too often leaders are unaware of their power to influence whether through a subtle look or actions they take. On the other hand, those who are close to their leader, because they experience directly the words and behavior of their leader, are definitely more aware of who and what the leader is than the leader can possibly know of their impact on them and why. The leader is not blind to the results of their influence, but usually to its cause. Hence, results that meet the leader’s expectations may be rewarded, but if negative, leaders tend to blame others for disappointing outcomes.

 The “why” is simple? Those dependent on the leader, and in particular those close to the leader, experience the experience of harmful and even destructive leadership, or, if lucky, the benefits of quality leadership. People know this first hand if they are close to the leader and not through hearsay. If the leader does not create the environment for dialogue to take place who does? How is mutuality possible without the safe space that needs to exist between the one and the other? And the feeling of true safety in relationship does not exist through words but consistent behavior that exudes respect. 

Inadequate, out of touch, destructive leaders are not cast in concrete. Their behavior is learned behavior beginning early in life. And it is what they have learned that is actually possible to unlearn meaning that any person who has difficulties in relationships whether between two or leading a class room of students, employees or a squad in battle has within them the capacity to change, to grow, to know a different way of being and I do not mean or imply acting. 

The very difficult challenge is not an exterior experience, but a commitment by the leader to know themselves through the eyes and words of those who know them best. This takes considerable courage on the part of both the other and the leader. The other (subordinate to the leader) takes great risk in being genuine and must know deeply in their gut they are safe to go where they have not gone before. They must feel secure and welcome. They must experience being listened to and confirmed by the leader. At the same time leaders must be seen as vulnerable (open) and accepting even if not agreeing with what is being communicated. (Agreement is not essential to Genuine Dialogue)Without the aid of an appropriate facilitator/mentor this may be possible, but not likely since overcoming previous experiences of misuse of power is a difficult barrier to set aside. People may forgive, but do not forget.

Learned behavior tends, over the years, to become inflexible and rigid, but not hardened to the point that only a sledge hammer can do the job. Clearly, destroying a leader is destroying a human and never the intention of change and growth. In any case, it is not the words coming from outside the person that brings a change in attitude, behavior, understanding, but the way the leader processes what they hear and feel. Nothing written here is meant to imply nuance or subtly. A leader that chooses to grow never does this easily and without considerable trepidation. Not many leaders or people are willing to be vulnerable with those who know them best. True growth means rarely going back to where you have come from. This is not an appearance change, but a change of perspective and understanding. Sy

The stuff that happens in Washington D.C. is absolute confirmation that “COMMUNICATION IS THE PROBLEM TO THE ANSWER.” It is so obvious that in the business world whenever decisions need to be made they are made.  They may not be good ones; they may be slow in coming, or even too hastily arrived at, but they are made. It’s the leader’s responsibility to get what needs to be done, done! In fact, all the work we did together over the years was aimed at facilitating communication and problem solving in an authentic way. That genuine dialogue was a stated goal so that the best and most honest opinions for the good of the whole could be brought to the table.  Our purpose was never to impede decision making, but to get the best suggestions on the table and to choose, and run with a consensus if possible, and without it, if necessary, but in a timely manner. On the other hand, businesses are not democracies, and the leader is not an elected politician whose primary purpose is to be a representative of his/her constituents.  So comparing political leadership with business leadership is as foolish as comparing the operation of a government with that of a business.  The political leader has many strings attached to what powers they appear to have, and these may be withdrawn if the constituents’ needs are not being met. The business leader “owns” both the power and the strings. They fear the loss of money and business, but not the voice and vote of their employees. And the point to this brief paper is that the politician does worry too much about the voice and vote of their constituents to the loss of the “greater good,” and the business leader does not understand how important the voices and votes of their employees are to their business success. The former is weakened by knowing they have too little power, and the other by believing they have all the power. Neither is true.

There are important similarities to leading as a politician and leading as a business leader. They both need the support of the people that for the one, voted them into office, and for the other that work for them. But if the politician is to move beyond the constraints of their limiting community to the larger and much more important view of the country they must also mentor their constituents to this “greater good.” This is never easy, but essential if democracy is to work. The alternative is bound to fracture any democratic country into hundreds of isolated and weakened camps. (Think Balkanization?)

The business leader needs their people, in a sense, to vote and support them also, but this is a challenge beyond what most understand, and are therefore incapable of achieving. Getting employees to a committed level of performance beyond that of earning a paycheck is probably every bit as difficult as teaching one’s constituents to understand and support the “greater good.” Neither is an impossible task, but does require courage to communicate genuinely, patiently, and clearly. “Being” is never easy. 

For every politician and every business leader “communication is the problem to the answer.” And what is communicated is experienced by each individual, and what people perceive (not necessarily what is actually said or done) turns out to be one’s own truth. So if a country’s “greater good” are the issues and a business’s “success and growth” are its issues, both type leaders need to be what they say and do. For the politician, this means knowledge of the subjects, ability to negotiate, to understand the other, to explain, to learn, to be willing to give a little in order to get a little, and to enlighten. For the business leader, are they really that different?                                                                                                                    Sy

What is the best kind of leadership? This is a tough question because what is best for one kind of follower is not going to work for another. There are those that believe they need to be left alone to do their job, or whatever needs to be done, and actually do better given the space and resources necessary to do the job. In other words, let them be, and all will be well. Or the good leader, soon enough, discovers that a person may want freedom, but handles it badly. In this case the good leader applies constraints like time, quality, quantity, etc., in order to either “grow or go” the follower.  A good leader does this quickly so that damage is minimized, or that growth is facilitated. Inadequate leaders are either too firm, too quickly, or too lax for too long. Timing has much to do with whether leadership is effective. Good leadership and teachable moments are as connected as are ears to the head. Hiding o-seek is not a game good leaders play.  They say what they mean to say, and do what they say. No confusion between words and action.  And the wiser employees know this to be true.

Also, the better leaders accept that differences are a good thing, is desirable, and that this needs to be nurtured both for the benefit to the individual, and to the group. And here is where quality leaders separate themselves from the not so capable leaders. Growing individuals to be more capable, creative, productive, means also to grow them as members of the group they work with. Competition between people within groups, and competition between groups, is eliminated as much as possible, and cooperation becomes the mantra that is spoken as well as felt between one and all. 

This is what a quality leader does: They are role models, they are students, they are teachers, they resource, they facilitate, they are accessible, they listen, they work hard to understand, and when they make decisions they are made in the best interest of all involved including the individual, the group, and the client/customer. Finally, they are consistent, firm, fair, and most of all are accountable and responsible.