Some Words on Leadership

"A new leader has to be able to change an organization that is dreamless, soulless and visionless ... someone's got to make a wake up call." ~ Warren Bennis

I’ve been thinking about leadership lately. I have had some really good leaders in and out of uniforms, in classrooms and in front of them. I have also had some horrible 'leaders' in my past that I've seen simply torture an organization. What makes a good leader? What kind of leader do I want to be? What kind of leader do I want to follow? What can a good leader do for an organization? Here are my thoughts of my perfect leadership ideal below, not in any particular order:

• Vision, Passion & Self-Sacrifice - Be an Inspirational Communicator of the Mission: Remind everyone why they are there, what has to be done, fire everyone up; Cheerlead the Cause! Make it look like the vision is the reason they live! - Understand the state of “Now” and communicate the future state of “Success”
• Be Confident, Persistent, Consistent, Decisive - Be the Communicator of Professional Expectations - Be the Fair Compensator & Punisher - Be the Top Listener
• Be the Role Model – Coach – Teacher – Career Councilor – Empowering Force
• Representative of Company’s People and The Company’s Goal – The Face of the Company – Be accountable for the Successes and Failures of the Company – Do Not ‘Lead’ from the Shadows
• Be the Great Aligner – Team Builder – Mission Chef – Positive and Active Intervener - Environmental Monitor – Resource Manager – Change Manager
  

I love some of these quotes: Bright Leadership Quotes, one quote from Jim Rohn that I liked and that I’m going to summarize and have made into a tattoo:

Be strong but not rude – Be kind but not weak - Be bold but not a bully - Be humble but not timid - Be proud but not arrogant - Be humorous without folly - Deal in realities - Deal in truth