Leadership is a very popular conversation topic these days, especially in the corporate world. What is a leader? Through research and experience I have found one of the best definitions of a leader as defined by Bruce D Schneider in his book Energy Leadership.
Bruce defines leadership as how you interact with everyone, including yourself. Leaders are quite visible within small and large businesses. We tend to think of them as business owners, CEO’s, and managers at all levels. Traditionally, leadership also extends into politics and other global affairs. However, parents, therapists and health care providers, solopreneurs, sports coaches, consultants, mentors, partners in relationship, teachers, authors, and others who interact with people on a regular basis are all leaders. Everyone is a leader either by choice or by default. If you don’t think of yourself as a leader, then you’re limited in your thinking. Leading is the way we help people into action, including ourselves. The question is not whether you are a leader, but how well you lead.
Your attitude and energy are very much related to the type of leader that you are. Maintaining a positive attitude and looking for opportunity in every situation are often characteristics of great leaders. Often times you will interact with people that have negative energy or attitudes. How you react to these people will make all the difference in your personal and professional lives. By maintaining your energy at a high level you will have the ability to raise the energy levels of those around you and inspire them to reach their potential.
One of the biggest blocks that professionals have with leadership is TRUST. If you as a leader cannot trust your team to handle certain tasks, you will compromise your ability as a leader. You CAN’T DO EVERYTHING! Effective leaders do what they choose to do in order to be as effective as possible. Leaders that try to be deeply involved in many facets of the business typically don’t lead well.
By trusting your team, you will earn their respect and there will be more of a “team” attitude rather than a “you versus me” mentality. This can make all the difference between good and great leaders, departments, organizations, projects, etc.
How do you define a leader?
Anthony Fasano, P.E., LEED AP, CPESC, CPSWQ, CPC
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Anthony Fasano, P.E., aka Your Professional Partner, founded Powerful Purpose Associates after he realized that it was the development of his soft skills that helped him to become an associate partner at a reputable engineering firm at the young age of 27. With history as a civil engineer, Anthony is now a nationally recognized executive coach and inspirational speaker, specializing in the areas of engineering career development, as well as leadership. He uses his highly effective coaching and speaking techniques through affordable programs to help engineers develop their soft skills, work through blocks, prioritize effectively, set clear goals and achieve their maximum potential.
Hello Anthony
Very interesting article
I consider myself as a “hands on” leader
I strongly believe in leadership based on experience and personal values
I also believe in congruity, responsability and supportive listening as the basis of effective communication… effective communication as the base of TRUST and TRUST as the base of long term business relationships
Regards
fernando
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Fernando. I agree that experience and personal values go a long way in leadership and TRUST, TRUST….YES
Thanks again!
Anthony
I define a leader as anyone who is being followed. Looking back, my first stint as a leader was as an 11-year-old. I lived in a spread out neighborhood with very few kids and none of the modern virtual socializing tools. The few older kids were starting to find ways of getting into the kind of trouble that I’d already learned from my older siblings wasn’t worth it, so all of my neighborhood friends were younger than me. We generally came up with ideas by committee, but I tended to run the discussions and my words usually carried a little more weight than theirs.
I guess I learned my most important leadership lessons with that group. People won’t follow anyone they don’t like, respect, and trust. The whole thing fell apart in high school when they caught me in a face-saving lie.
Thanks so much Ken, that is excatly the point I was making, a leader can be an 11 year old or the CEO of a major organization. We are all leaders!!!!!!
Anthony
Question
I remember an undergraduate project experience. We all decided what parts of the project each should handle. However, there wasn’t a formal leader at the time. People really didn’t know what to do but I trusted them to finish. Often times I had help them progress through their portion. Would this be considered being supportive or too deeply involved? I tend to think I was the leader by default.In the end I had to pick up the slack and finish the project. I wonder if this is the result of poor leadership on my part or just irresponsible team mates? I realize though that this falls under that “you vs me” mentality.
Good question Manuel. It’s a tough read sometimes between delegation and micromanaging, but here is what I say. If you delegate work to people you should stay involved to some degree and check on them regularly to make sure they can handle the tasks as the project progresses. Once you really get to know people and you develop that trust, the less you will have to “check on them.” And if you continue to find yourself picking up the slack, those people you are delegating too may not be the best for the job. I hope that was helpful!
Thanks for your comment!
Anthony