“If you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.”
The terms leader, leadership, step up, etc. are all the buzz of today’s wish list in building a team. Yet when we ask people what leadership means to them we sadly find the meaning having an underlining theme of:
working with people that don’t “bother” me, just do their job, makes sure the rest of the team is doing what they need to and someone I can “delegate to and they get it”.
All the variations we hear of this equal relieving themselves from any form of relationship, instead wanting team to put their head down, do their work and they will get a paycheck. We’ve even heard “They should be thankful they have a job in this economy.” We can assure you this is in no way, shape or form leadership!
In our experience leadership is charting or changing the course to take a stand for power for the people. It is simply put as Mindfulness with Hope and Compassion.
Mindfulness is Self Awareness + Social Awareness + Self Management. Self Awareness is showing up on time with empowering energy, general concern for everyone’s time and experience while with you. Social Awareness is holding people up, refraining from gossip, showing up focused, honoring your meetings, keeping your word and taking full responsibility for how you show up in the world. Self Management is showing up prepared without an unstable tone combination with tension that demands an onward motion. Even though most leaders are “active” you don’t want to show up harsh with a self serving need to “delegate”. The minute you become disengaged and start “pointing” at them you resign from being a leader.
Leadership is not strength or force. It is not based on “old school” thinking that smart is good enough and that great leaders are tough and can always hang while leading. No one can sustain continuous strain. It is not survival of the fittest. A leader does not manage from a place of controlling and forcing people to just go along to get along and stay in the box built.
Every great leader touches your head to make you think, touches your heart to make you feel and always gives you something to carry with you later – a walk away message.
The way we see a leader:
- Never dehumanizes but instead fills up, guides, includes and creates
- Tend and befriend vs. command and control
- Willing to live an examined life, a spiritual seeker
- How we do what we do is just as important as what we do
- Has emotional intelligence
- Power is used to bring wisdom and clarity for others
- Not forced, but is common practice
- In order to empower, you have to give up your power
- Of the people, for the people while honoring them for their conviction
There is a new way of leadership that we are so excited to see glimmers of in small businesses across the country. The mental, physical and psychological toll extracted by the “old school” pressures have lead to escalating personal sacrifice and ultimately, the well-know phenomenon known as “burnout”. Through recognizing the cycle of Sacrifice and Renewal, entrepreneurs are renewing themselves using Mindfulness, Hope and Compassion. Through renewal, leaders can counteract the effects of work-related pressures, perform at their best over the long-term, and lead their companies to sustain long-term financial success.
5 Key Attributes to Unlock the Leader within you
1. Have a vision – be with a company that has one
2. Be authentic (know thy self)
3. Be competent, while projecting warmth in your presence and delivery
4. Have Confidence to make decisions
5. Be a communicator
What we find so amazing about the true abilities leaders is that they have an ability to get people behind one another and bring the best in them out. They identify their weaknesses and provide them solutions to increase their efficiency and productivity. They have the ability to be the manager (traffic control cop) and make sure that tasks are getting completed, with an empowering leadership element within that. It usually is very difficult to be the manager and leader at the same time, but a true leader can accomplish this at all times because they empower others. They can verbalize the “hard” things to say even when it hurts, because it is accurate and necessary for the success of the company and the individuals in the company to personally succeed. A leader is loyal and committed with a calming way that permits people to let go of panic and trust in themselves to accomplish their goals. A leader has the ability to help individuals sort thru a tremendous amount of information and put them on a path of clarity and direction, with specific short term steps that lead to long term success.
You know you have a great leadership when you have engaged employees that are innovative and empowered to get the job done!
If you want to start your team on the path to becoming empowered and stepping into leadership roles, Don’t Be a Yes Chick is a step by step guide to move them from “employee” to “leader”. www.yeschick.com
