To Be The Leader
Originally, the idea of leadership was drawn from ancient language to mean “to shoulder the load to show the way.” That stands in notable contrast to the ways we often think of leadership, i.e. as position, or rank, or hierarchy. Instead, it means that whoever is taking responsibility to guide others is leading, and therefore is the leader. That’s a much more grounded way to view the role of the leader.
With that as context, recently Ron Chapman was approached by the youth Gavel Club at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts to speak of leadership to the membership and a number of invited guests. He used the occasion to provide the key roles of the leader and to drive a question and answer session afterward. The feedback indicated others would find value in these ideas about leadership.
This video is Ron’s presentation to the Gavel Club. It summarizes the four essential roles of the leader as excerpted below from the handout provided to the members.
Here then is a framing of leadership and its trajectory. Please note, leadership and management style and practice are ultimately a very personal matter, yet it always hinges on these. That said, it all revolves around the principles of leadership, management, organization development and performance, and change management.
Clarity of Direction – Without clear direction that is well communicated and understood throughout an organization, there can be little effective followership. Further, motivation and commitment of people are invariably undermined when there is insufficient clarity or understanding. Whether a leader uses planning that is strategic, growth, program, agile, or long-term, it must produce a clear sense of a future state to be realized, the means by which it will occur, and the essential priorities or levers that will be focused upon.
People and Talent – The magic elixir for the great leader is to enable excellence through the people who will achieve the direction. This too is not merely a matter of subject matter expertise, rather talent, aptitude, attitude and alignment. The largest predictor of success is fit between person, role and setting. Whether the strategy is recruitment, development or retention, the right people produce great results.
Ecology and Culture – We know that people cannot succeed where the ecology does not support that success. This includes positive climate, effective core processes, excellent communications, and strategies for developing people, processes and culture. Senior leaders must fully own and develop such a culture for it does not manifest without such investment.
Resource Generation – The greatest impact comes through other people’s resources. Need and wants always far exceed funds. Therefore, leaders must spend increasing amounts of their time focused on leverage and influence not just through others, but through strategies for leveraging resources.
Over time leaders should see a progression of attention and effort in these arenas.
Leading is its own practice, other disciplines are not a sufficient substitute.