• Trust – trust immediately develops as you experience what the front line experiences.
• Understanding - you can relate to your followers and they can now relate to you as you share an experience related to their job. This is significantly different than chatting at the company holiday party or picnic.
• Perspective – the view from a foxhole looks and feels much different than from command headquarters or from aerial reconnaissance. Both views are critical to any successful operation. You don’t have to take a bullet to understand life in a foxhole but you should occasionally take the opportunity to notice the fear in the eyes of those that must.
• Understanding - you can relate to your followers and they can now relate to you as you share an experience related to their job. This is significantly different than chatting at the company holiday party or picnic.
• Perspective – the view from a foxhole looks and feels much different than from command headquarters or from aerial reconnaissance. Both views are critical to any successful operation. You don’t have to take a bullet to understand life in a foxhole but you should occasionally take the opportunity to notice the fear in the eyes of those that must.
There are a few simple steps that make this leadership trait simple to practice.
• “Get up and get out” - of your office that is. Knowing, teaching leading is done “with people,” not “to people.”
• “Be Curious not Inquisitive” – show interest in the jobs and the lives of those you lead. What can you learn from them? Demonstrate that learning and bettering yourself is everybody’s job, including yours. Imagine the exhilration an entry level person would feel to teach “you” something.
• “Follow through Every Time” – nothing destroys trust and goodwill between leader and follower more than hollow promises and unfulfilled commitments.
• “Acknowledge Through Feedback” - provide indicators throughout the organization that communication is working and that you have listened and acted. Tangible changes to process or policy at the working level lets everyone know that you not only listen but that you have the understanding and authority to make changes and that everyone has a voice.
• “Be Curious not Inquisitive” – show interest in the jobs and the lives of those you lead. What can you learn from them? Demonstrate that learning and bettering yourself is everybody’s job, including yours. Imagine the exhilration an entry level person would feel to teach “you” something.
• “Follow through Every Time” – nothing destroys trust and goodwill between leader and follower more than hollow promises and unfulfilled commitments.
• “Acknowledge Through Feedback” - provide indicators throughout the organization that communication is working and that you have listened and acted. Tangible changes to process or policy at the working level lets everyone know that you not only listen but that you have the understanding and authority to make changes and that everyone has a voice.
You will have a team that is committed to your vision and strategic plan if they know that you understand their unique circumstance. Dwight D. Eisenhower utilized this principle on the eve of the allies’ invasion of Normandy. The Supreme Commander walked the staging areas shaking hands with the young troops that would execute the greatest military invasion in history. Eisenhower didn’t quiz them on military tactics or equipment maintenance. Rather, he asked them about home, families and girlfriends. He was connecting, understanding, learning. He was leading.
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Posted by: bhuvnish sehgal | September 12, 2007 11:03 PM | Permalink to Comment