What I think leadership should mean. Leadership Loyalty o Devotion past the point that is convenient for you. The Willingness to place mission accomplishment ahead of personal needs and desires. No other trait is as important as loyalty. It is through the demonstration of loyalty that trust is earned. Loyalty must run both up and down the COC. You can’t expect loyalty from your peers and your subordinates until you display it to them. Earnestness o Leading with a serious intent and purpose. Demonstrating to your peers and subordinates alike, a genuine effort to provide all the tools and support needed for them to be successful. For leaders, accomplishment of mission must always be the first priority. This is followed closely by a deep concern for the care of your people. If you want to be a leader you must come last. Action o The implementation of a desired idea or plan. You cannot be a leader if all you do is plan or talk about you intentions. The only way to lead is by example. In order to provide that example you must first take action. Discipline o Practicing an adherence to the rules and constraints that govern your organization. No organization of any size can sustain without maintaining good order and discipline. There are many times when what is right isn’t easy or popular, and even more times when what is required isn’t convenient. Good leaders ignore the temptations of being lackadaisical and maintain their discipline regardless of what circumstances they find themselves in. Enthusiasm o Always displaying a robust level of excitement for the accomplishment of your mission. Those in your sphere of influence will match the eagerness that you exude in meeting your challenges. Good leaders realize this and are always excited as they go about the execution of their prescribed duties. Responsibility o Owning your results and your actions. This is quite possibly the most under utilized leadership quality in America today. Nothing is ever anyone’s fault anymore. We pass the buck faster than we pass the pumpkin pie at thanksgiving dinner. If you are a leader you must own your mistakes as enthusiastically as you do your successes. You are responsible for everything your team does and fails to do. I cannot stress this enough. It is NEVER your people’s fault if something goes wrong. It is always yours. If you cant swallow that pill you are not ready to lead. Selflessness o Leading in such a manner that you place little importance on yourself. Realizing that leadership isn’t about a title or a position, rather it is a calling to serve your people. In order to be an effective leader your desire must be to serve, not to be served. Honor o Displaying a high quality of character. This can only be accomplished when you lead from a position that is fair and just, in accordance with your beliefs and actions. To lead with honor means that you hold yourself, your peers, and your subordinates to the same standards that you have set-forth for yourself. Integrity o Honesty regardless of whether it is comfortable or not. You must hold yourself to a standard of truth and forthrightness. Nothing tears an organization apart faster than mistrust. If you lack the intestinal fortitude to look your people in the eye and tell them the truth, good or bad you will fail quickly as a leader. Punctuality o The practice of maintaining a strict adherence to keeping engagements. The quickest way to make your people feel unimportant is to waste their time. Nothing conveys the feeling of a bloated self worth to your people faster than always being late for your own meetings or events and expecting them to wait on you. Time is our most precious asset, indeed it is the only one we never get back, and we are continually running out of it. This doesn’t just extend to you. Make sure you show them the respect they deserve and always meet your own time hacks. Everyone will stumble along the way. You will not be perfect everyday on all of these. That does not mean that you are not an effective leader it means you are human! People don’t want a leader who is never wrong they just want one who is always trying to get it right. Use this acronym, as a guide on your leadership journey and you will be right far more than you are wrong.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Apr 2014 14:57:13 +0000