|
The Three Principles of Leadership According to the prominent public figure and leadership theorist John Gardner, “We give every appearance of sleepwalking through a dangerous passage of history.” Sleepwalking is a frightening metaphor in the wake of complex times surrounded by technological innovation, societal shifting, terrorism, political instability, and globalization. In shaping our responses to these times, we, as students, have two choices: we can remain passive, disconnected bystanders, or we can walk the paths of leadership by engaging the issues of the day and seeking important changes. Insightfully, another public figure of the past by the name of Abigail Adams foretold us, “Great necessities will call forth great leaders.” The call for leadership is loud and clear. But what is leadership? It’s been asked many times before, and answered just as many. The problem is that despite all the fancy definitions of leadership, we often lose touch with the principles behind the definitions. In science, principles are “elements that compose a substance, especially ones that gives some special quality or effect.” In leadership, there are essential elements that make it unique from other terms and practices. Understanding these principles is imperative to answering the call of leadership.
Principle 1: Leadership is a Collective,
not Singular, Activity Slowly, trustingly, society is moving away from this myth of one heroic leader who is in charge of our fate. We are learning that we must be involved in defining the vision, we must help plan the strategy, we must fight the fight, we must win our victories with our own efforts. Because we are all in this together. In his landmark book Leadership, James MacGregor Burns said, “Leaders and followers are engaged in a common enterprise; they are dependent on each other, their fortunes rise and fall together.” This means we, as students, have to become proactive and accountable. It means we have to use the term “collaborators” because our efforts are collective. It means we have to understand everything we do, or do not do, impacts everyone else. It means we can no longer look to singular commanders, but rather to communities of shared responsibility and accountability. Communities that we have shaped, encouraged, and emboldened with common values, principles, and purposes.
Principle 2: Leadership is not Management Leadership, though, must be separated from management. This distinction is not simply word play, it’s a vital differentiation in philosophy, objectives, means, and values. Understanding will be key to your success as a leader. Let me give you a better picture of this principle by looking at three areas: status quo, authority, and people.
Status Quo Managers seek to maintain standards. They operate in “today” by seeking to make it “work right.” They work with the day-to-day operations and distributions of resources hoping to become efficient and better control systems, procedures, and policies. They look to tomorrow often only to make sure they are meeting pre-defined goals. They are controllers who implement ideas.
Authority Managers’ authority, on the other hand, rests in contractual agreements and formal hierarchically arranged positions. Managers’ authority is granted by their position and the power it ascribes them. Managers maintain authority through transactional influence – rewards and sanctions that result in compliance.
People Managers work with subordinates in pursuit of top-down purposes. They seek to help their organization work in the present through controlling work efforts in standardized ways. They direct their people and occasionally raise them to higher performance against pre-set benchmarks. They mentor subordinates in hopes of managing their performance. They distance themselves from subordinates in order to not “cross the lines” of work and personal lives so they can be caretakers. Managers are assigned their subordinates. With these broad generalizations and distinctions in mind, you must see that leadership is not one person directing others or doing something to others so they do what he wants them to do. That is management, headship, coercion, authority wielding. Leadership is based on influence and the pursuit of mutual purposes. This principle requires you to move away from the desire to direct, control, and manipulate towards influential acts of encouragement, empowerment, support, facilitation, and service.
Principle 3: Leadership is Rooted in
Service
Read that last part again: Do those served grow, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, and more likely themselves to become servants? This is a reminder to us as leaders what our duties entail. We must ask, consistently “How can I serve you to make you stronger and more likely to be a servant?” This is the human side of service. There is also a “vision side” of service. As leaders, we serve a higher purpose, a greater cause, a larger vision. Think of the great leaders of history and you immediately think of their service to a larger vision: George Washington and democracy; Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights; Mother Theresa and service to the world’s needy; Carl Sagan and little kids running around everywhere excited about science. As students, if we approach leadership from the aspect of serving others and a higher vision, we are with purpose. These three principles lay the foundation for every good definition of leadership I have ever seen and lie in the belief systems of every leader I have ever coached. We can use them in our everyday interactions with collaborators to reach higher levels of motivation, performance, and service. I urge you to consider them. I beg you to practice them. For in the end, these three principles can help us realize the worldwide benefits of leadership and service to our homes, workplaces, and greater communities as navigate this “dangerous passage of history.”
About the Author
Copyright © 2005 Oxendine Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved |
|