Friday, September 12, 2008
Humble Leadership
Recently, I was in conversation with a group of managers when one of them said, “The usual way of doing business is no longer working.” He went on to explain that tactics for making production goals seemed to be falling on the deaf ear of customers. He then began to describe in detail what he and his team were doing practically hour-by-hour in order to get their customer to buy.
I began to realize that their “doing” - all the tasks in a process - had come in the way of this teams’ “being.”
The ‘usual way of doing business’ has been to make a certain number of phone calls per day, run the same ad campaign, mimic identical weekly staff meeting, and treat both team members and customers as if they robots. This manager’s company is reinforcing the behavior of trying to control every step...and it is not working.
It seems there is a need to become something different; something more empathetic; somehow unique in organizations today. The new emerging leader should “become” a catalyst that affirms and encourages team members. There should be a level of humility where it is no longer necessary to put down others who you think may be usurping your leadership. Why? Because you have confidence and are secure in your leadership abilities.
It would be interesting to see how your team, department, and organization would flourish when you become a humble leader and give-up the need to do controlling things. The creativity and innovation from within your team may just surprise you.
Until next time...live like you mean it!
Marjorie
Majorie,
I find myself agreeing with virtually everything you write. Management is about getting things done through your people whereas Leadership is about creating an environment where your people get things done.
However, the level of empowerment and trust that it takes to move from a management culture to a leadership culture is a challenge beyond many managers. True leaders have been able to make that leap of faith.
Keep up the good work
Simon