Where are you a leader?

Do you put your 'leader jacket' on before you leave home?
Maybe you become a leader when you walk in the front door of the building where you work.

Perhaps you wait until one of the team seeks your help.

No. If you choose to be a leader, you’re a leader – all the time.

When you understand that leadership is a set of behaviors, leadership is the way you walk through life.

Wherever you are, you’re a leader.

And it’s not hard.

How hard is it to live your values all the time, wherever you are? If honesty is a value at work, you’’re not going to pack the hotel bathrobe into your suitcase as you’re packing to leave the hotel (By the way, that’s a crime.)

How hard is it to do what you say you will do - to your children, your parents, your best friend and of course your partner?

How hard is it to share with others your belief of a future that’s better for all of us?

How hard is it to always be looking for better ways to do things, to make life better for you and of course those around you.

How hard is it to encourage others to be better than they thought they were, to enable them, so they show themselves and others what they are really capable of.

How hard is it to recognizing others for the good things that they do? That might even be a positive comment to the checkout operator in the supermarket, about what they’ve just done for you. Or someone in a customer service situation going beyond what they might normally do, just for you.

There are opportunities for most of us many times a day to tell others how well they are doing.

You are a leader and everything that you do every day is a reflection of your leadership.
It’s not just when you’re sitting in the corner office - with the door always open -.it’s also when you make your team feel proud about their achievements.

Once you decide to be a leader, you’re a leader.

Your vulnerability, and your authenticity, your relationships with others, even your purpose in life is with you. That’s what leadership does for you: you take it with you wherever you go.

And as a leader, you leave a positive impact on those you interact with… those you are leading.

Even in the shortest interaction.

“Well, I report to my boss. So I guess that’s who I’m responsible to.“

Well, that’s the answer from my manager and indeed the extension of that is that you are responsible to your manager.

The question is “You’re a leader…”

Let’s use the analogy of a ship’s captain.
And for this example, let’s just consider that he has received indications of a significant storm due in the next few hours.

The captain is involved in making critical decisions that impact directly on the safety of the crew and of course the passengers.

In this case these are his first responsibility.
Then, of course, he has responsibility to the owners of the ship that he is captaining

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And each crew member has responsibility for their fellow crew and the safety and well-being of the passengers.

In every other context in which all leaders are working together, at different levels, they are responsible, vertically, up and down.

They are responsible to the next leader up the line.

And they are responsible to each person they are leading, or who sees them as a leader.

Is there a conflict here? How can I be responsible to the person ‘above’ as well all the direct reports ?

And who takes priority?

It’s a little bit like the six-year-old boy who said to his father “I can’t get the balance right “.

His father asked “what do you mean, the balance, what balance?”

The boy replied “Well, when I’m with you, I love you. But when I’m with mum, I love her.“ (True story.)

As the exemplary leader is going to be living his values, his Integrity will guide him to make sure that there is no compromise in his relationship with the team or his manager.

And if there is an issue which is directed at him from his manager, which might relates to his team members, his responsibility is to listen to his manager, and we’re practical and reasonable, to defend and protect his team members.
If a directive from his manager he’s not able to be changed and he’s going to impact negatively on his team, the leader will convey this news with honesty, authenticity, and of course empathy.

But as far as possible, in all ways, the leader will be showing support, guidance, empowerment, and of course appreciation to the team members.

After all, that’s who he - or she - is responsible for.

Leaders, face challenges, quite often daily.

The book - regarded one of the top 5 leadership books of all time - written by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner is, after all, called The Leadership Challenge.

Change can come unexpectedly.
It can wear unexpected guises.
It can begin in a heartbeat - and set the heart racing.

Those who manage change, effectively are nimble, adaptive and welcome the positive aspect of every change.

A key leadership attribute here is understanding the importance of intentional acting rather than just firefighting.

In The Leadership Challenge, The Five Practices provide a clear, even immutable pathway to guide change to a positive outcome. When leaders follow this and the team members know the support they always get, there are few resisters to the change.

The framework of The Five Practices ensures there are few, if any, casualties along the way.
Always, when there is a clearly articulated, shared vision of the future, and the leader reminds them of the future and the journey they’re all on together, change is embraced and challenges overcome, as mere potholes on the road forward.

And of course, when the leader and all team members, who know that they, too, are leaders, actively Challenge the Process, almost as a mantra, to find a better way, to learn from mistakes, to share the learning when dealing with change and challenges, change is welcomed as an opportunity and they rigorously overcome challenges.

It’s as if the leader and the team have become the ‘teflon team’ and are further strengthened with each challenge.