A skill set called leadership

What is leadership and why is it on everyone’s lips? Leadership is more than the conventional definition to lead a situation by achieving goals or leading (managing) a group of individuals. It contains many characteristics, such as setting out new ways to strategically meet goals; it is not about managing people but advising and giving insight in how best to reach a mutually beneficial destination for all publics. The most important shift in leadership is the knowledge that leadership does no longer has to happen top-down in the hierarchy scheme of things and that there is a difference between leadership and authority.

The reality of life is that not everyone will go on to be a CEO of a big corporation. Despair not…not all is lost. We all have the ability or potential to nurture the skill set called leadership, whether it is be the leader of your household, the leader of your own life not waiting on others or life to go out and achieve what is that you want in life or just showing leadership skills in your office teams.

The Cluetrain Manifesto stated a remarkable evolution taking place…that management can now seek counsel from those at the bottom of the corporate food chain. The guys at the bottom are often overlooked, however, they are the ones who understand what it is that the customers are interested in or what there concerns are. This information is more vital than what can be achieved by a piece of paper stating you achieved an advanced qualification obtained at some University.

So don’t leave it up to the big boys to lead the way…get in there and play the game. Not all of us will become our own boss one day but given the right knowledge of our product/service, our consumer’s needs and concerns and the industry, the application of how to meet those goals can assist us in being leaders in our own right.

Is it better to be feared or loved?

When watching the Alice in Wonderland movie, one of the characters, the Red Queen, posed an important question which got me thinking…is it better to be feared or loved? In the movie the character tries hard to be loved by the kingdom but when betrayed she quickly changes to be a fear-driven queen.

These characteristics had me thinking as to which leaders are more effective in their ruling? There are many examples of leaders which have taken both sides of the fence. You have Nelson Mandela who proves to be an unselfish leader who fosters relationships based on love and sound governance. On the other side, a good example is Adolf Hitler or better yet, let’s keeps it local, Robert Mugabe. These leaders fostered a following based fear and hardship.

How often is it that you come across a work environment whereby, the manager is adored and respected – not too often. I think a contributing factor is due to the fact that mangers have the unfortunate of disciplining staff. Would it then be a factor in which the success of the leader is dependent on? Is it possible that if the people in question are good that it is possible to have a loving superior?

While Hitler may have been a cruel leader, he got results. In today’s world, his governance may have been out of line as we attempt to become more civilized human beings. One thing is for sure, I am glad I come from a democratic ruling where there is freedom of speech …even if the people at the top do very little about it.