Lesson #2 Fundamental Leadership
The juice is worth the squeeze.
The first question to ask yourself is “what manner of leader do you want to be?” I find that there are two types of leaders. There are Officers and there are Pirates. Offices are committed to a cause, live by principle and serve others. Pirates are in it for themselves. I like the show Pirates of the Caribbean. The pirates refer often to a code. One of the lines of the code is: “Take what you can, give nothing back!” That about sums it up for the purpose of a pirate.
If you commit to being an officer what code will you live by? I came up with this.
Officers keep to the Code, the “Officers Code.” Hidden in the word Officers Code one will find what it means to be an Officer.
O rientation
F idelity
F iduciay
I ntegrity
C haracter
E thics
R esponsibility
S ervice
C oach
O bedience
D uty
E xcellence
Slogan, Officer, “A Leader of leaders”
The Art of Leadership “To lead without compulsory means”
You most likely are a member of a professional organizations. These groups have a code of professional conduct. The case law of the United States requires leaders of organizations to act as an agent to the owners and customers of the organization. Great places to research for learning more about Officers Code.
Why is it important to have a code? I have found through my experience and research that the most dangerous substance in the world is Power. This is given in various degrees to leaders. Think Safety first. Best to learn quickly how power affects and influences your behavior. Those leaders that remain Officers throughout their career and retire with dignity learn their limits and keep to a code. Most pirates use to be offices. Somewhere along the journey they forgot who they are.
Lesson #1 Fundamental Leadership
The juice is worth the squeeze.
Principle 1. The juice is worth the squeeze. The first principle of leadership is that there is a greater benefit you will experience for every effort you put into improving your leadership ability. Leadership, when done correctly, will magnify your outcomes. Think of it this way. You have two choices, do the work yourself, or recruit people and have them help or do the work with you. One person or many people? The difference is leadership. With leadership, you can get more people involved. I heard this saying many years ago, “I would much rather have 1% of a hundred people’s efforts than 100% of 1 person’s efforts. The sum can be, and often is, greater than the individual parts. It is like a drop that hits the still surface of water. The energy that is released roles out to all corners in waves.
Principle 2. Leadership starts with me. In order to be a leader a person must choose to engage in this work. To do so they must have some fundamental skills. Think of a sports team or musical group. To be a member of the team one must be able to dribble a ball or play an instrument. After they have demonstrated proficiency, they are then put on the team or in the band where they learn their part. So step two is learn fundamentals.
Principle 3. Leadership is a team activity. Leadership requires interaction with people above, to the side and below the person leading. The shear act of leadership is to convince others to support and follow. Once a person has learned the fundamentals of leadership they then need to learn how the group works together to lead. This system of philosophies, tools and practices is called a Business Operating System (BOS), no pun intended. Great organizations have excellent business operating systems. Examples of systems and partial systems include the Studer Group’s, “Hardwiring Excellence”, Lean Six Sigma. All organizations have a BOS either intentionally or unintentionally created. High performing organizations have a better BOS than other companies.
Principle 4. Leadership has its own, intrinsic rewards. To choose to be a leader, and remain engaged in the responsibly, stress and pressure that come with leadership positions one must “see the end from the beginning” as Steven R Cover explains in his book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” There are a few perks that come with leadership such as titles, offices, salaries and benefits. If you go into leadership for self serving purposes you most likely will burn out. When you see the difference you make and want to be apart of something greater than yourself then the rewards will be far greater than dollars and titles.
Principle 5. Leadership is far more than authority. If your plan for leadership is to use control, manipulation and maneuvering to accomplish your ends you will never accomplish your full potential. Why? You will only have a small group of people over whom you have authority, while all around you are people you could lead with others means to engage in your cause and movement. I call it ten to one. For every one person you have authority over there are ten people you could influence with the right approach. To be an effective leader one must strive to learn and implement more approaches than just authority.
Principle 6. Leaders know two things, Who they are, (Identity) what their purpose is. They then help others learn their identity and purpose.
Lesson #1 Fundamental Leadership
The juice is worth the squeeze.
Principle 1. The juice is worth the squeeze. The first principle of leadership is that there is a greater benefit you will experience for every effort you put into improving your leadership ability. Leadership, when done correctly, will magnify your outcomes. Think of it this way. You have two choices, do the work yourself, or recruit people and have them help or do the work with you. One person or many people? The difference is leadership. With leadership, you can get more people involved. I heard this saying many years ago, “I would much rather have 1% of a hundred people’s efforts than 100% of 1 person’s efforts. The sum can be, and often is, greater than the individual parts. It is like a drop that hits the still surface of water. The energy that is released roles out to all corners in waves.
Principle 2. Leadership starts with me. In order to be a leader a person must choose to engage in this work. To do so they must have some fundamental skills. Think of a sports team or musical group. To be a member of the team one must be able to dribble a ball or play an instrument. After they have demonstrated proficiency, they are then put on the team or in the band where they learn their part. So step two is learn fundamentals.
Principle 3. Leadership is a team activity. Leadership requires interaction with people above, to the side and below the person leading. The shear act of leadership is to convince others to support and follow. Once a person has learned the fundamentals of leadership they then need to learn how the group works together to lead. This system of philosophies, tools and practices is called a Business Operating System (BOS), no pun intended. Great organizations have excellent business operating systems. Examples of systems and partial systems include the Studer Group’s, “Hardwiring Excellence”, Lean Six Sigma. All organizations have a BOS either intentionally or unintentionally created. High performing organizations have a better BOS than other companies.
Principle 4. Leadership has its own, intrinsic rewards. To choose to be a leader, and remain engaged in the responsibly, stress and pressure that come with leadership positions one must “see the end from the beginning” as Steven R Cover explains in his book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.” There are a few perks that come with leadership such as titles, offices, salaries and benefits. If you go into leadership for self serving purposes you most likely will burn out. When you see the difference you make and want to be apart of something greater than yourself then the rewards will be far greater than dollars and titles.
Principle 5. Leadership is far more than authority. If your plan for leadership is to use control, manipulation and maneuvering to accomplish your ends you will never accomplish your full potential. Why? You will only have a small group of people over whom you have authority, while all around you are people you could lead with others means to engage in your cause and movement. I call it ten to one. For every one person you have authority over there are ten people you could influence with the right approach. To be an effective leader one must strive to learn and implement more approaches than just authority.
Principle 6. Leaders know two things, Who they are, (Identity) what their purpose is. They then help others learn their identity and purpose.