Do you aspire to become a great leader? This article points out key management issues and recommends proven leadership concepts. If you find it helpful or you want to have your say, please comment on it below and send it to your friends.
Before I start, let me take you back in history, where human beings used to be gatherers. They used to search in the jungle for food to bring to their families. Then, one day, they discovered that they can plant and harvest. It wasn’t easy for them to become farmers but because it was worthwhile they embraced the long and hard learning process to become true farmers. Then came the industrial age, it overpasses the agricultural age by 50 times or more. So, people once again dropped their farming tools and rode the industrial era.
Now, we are living in the knowledge age. Information technology has made the world flat. The knowledge age is proving day after day that it is over passing the industrial age by 100 times, yet this time, not everybody is willing or able to adapt like before. Many people don’t even realize that this is a new age, where they can’t practice management in the same way they have learned at school, practiced in their families or experienced in their work place.
In the industrial age, people were necessary but replaceable. The important was the capital and the raw material, people were treated as things they need to be managed and controlled. People were called an expense (still used in accounting terms today). Imagine the psychological impact on calling people as expense and computers as assets for example.
The essence of leadership is to unleash talent in the people, inspire a culture of trust, align systems for collaboration and unify purpose that people volunteer to achieve. I can’t stress further on the importance to understand the word “volunteer”. Have you ever asked yourself how much of you are you bringing to the office every day? People today have the choice of how much of themselves they bring to work; how much enthusiasm, how much responsibility and how much consideration for your customers. Remember that today you can “manage” things (objects) because things don’t have a choice, and you can only “lead” people because people have the power of choice.
Stephen Covey said “Great leaders are great human beings, they show deep consideration for their people combined with the courage to act for their well being even under the worse conditions ever.” Good character is the foundation of effective management. Having a good character means treating people as four dimensional: Mind, Soul, Heart and Body. To get started, you, as a manager, should ask yourself the below questions:
- Are my people’s physical needs being met?
- What have they always loved doing?
- What are they really good at?
- What contribution would it be meaningful to them?
People need to leave a legacy. They would work harder than you can ever imagine if they feel that they are contributing to the accomplishment of a worthwhile objective. They want to be part of a mission. They don’t want to work for a job that has little meaning. They want to pursue a purpose that lifts them.
Covey also said that many managers today use the “Jackass theory of human motivation: the carrot or the stick”. The stick from behind and the carrot in the front – The punishment and the reward. They deal with the behavior and attitudes of their people trying to control and behave them. They don’t know that if you have a wrong map, positive thinking and time management skills will not help you find a specific location in a city. Besides, people are maturing tremendously. The carrot is not meaningful to them anymore. They have discovered the “Donkey Story” that says:
“Once upon a time there was a donkey. He was stubborn & lazy. Then one day, the donkey’s owner had an idea. Knowing how much the donkey loves the carrot, the owner hung a carrot in front of the donkey’s mouth. The only problem is that the carrot moves along with the donkey. The faster the donkey runs, the faster the carrot ran. Eventually the donkey is running even faster trying to reach the carrot but the carrot is always slipping away!”
Plenty of today’s managers had the problem of “arrogance”. Arrogance by definition is a combination of “ego” and “ignorance”, think about it… Whenever they are faced with something they don’t know about, they go on the defensive instead of trying to learn and adapt.
It is true that organizations are as good as their people, and leaders are challenged in tough times to stay by their values and to proof leadership excellence. It is for sure easier to use the stick and blame the employees for every failure, but this strategy will not prevail, it will not succeed on the long run. It is also good to admit that not all managers are bad. At the end, good character is at the heart of great leaders. The fact that you have read this article till now, shows a good deal of humility in your character. Now it’s the time to get some books, attend some seminars and explore the science of leadership to become more effective and a better person.
