What is a Leader? #45 #cong21

Who are good leaders? are leaders and managers the same person? is the journey to being a great leader taking away from the job of being a good leader.

What is it to be a leader?

This is a tough question, when I heard the theme of Congregation this year I thought this will be an easy write, I’ll stick on the YouTube watch a few TED talks and BOOM the post will write it self but that wasn’t the case.

Being a leader and leadership means so many different things to so many different people, Jacob Morgan says Leadership is everywhere. Work, Sport and kids playing in the playground all show examples of leadership so I’m going to ask you now…. Please define leadership in not more than 3 lines.  I’ll share the results with Eoin who on the weekend of congregation is our leader, OR is he?

In my leadership research I came across this video, and it’s true, if you want to know something ask a child. STOP thinking APIs and KPIs and IPs and CRMs and think like a child …… the rest will come, in the meantime take a min and watch this you won’t be disappointed .
Another thing that struck me is everyone on the internet is talking about how to be a great leader, is just being a leader not good enough do we all need to be great leaders, it may be the case the journey to being a great leader is taking away from the job of being a good leader.

Why would you become a leader?

This question is another one that caught me by surprise, WHY, it’s suggests that one day be decide to be come leaders, a second part is WHEN do you make this decision, does it happen on the way to work OR before you go to bed OR at lunch, “I’ll have the chicken roll and oh yeah, today I’ll be a leader”.

There’s very few people out there that describe themselves as leaders other than team leaders which was put in replace to remove that old term “Manager” which when you say it suggests ties and meetings and rottas, a team leader is your buddy, a team leader is your go to person a team leader doesn’t wear a tie?

If you’re a leader can you also call yourself a manager? so many questions so little time.

To me there’s no different between being a team leader and being a company leader, the traits are the same. For some reason we go from being a worker to being a team leader then being a dreaded manager but then as you grow in your organisation the two become one, but it’s my opinion that it’s your skills as a good team leader that will keep you in your job rather than the skills of a good manager …. It’s a personal thing but in my eyes I attach more importance the leaders in a company rather than the managers. Leaders will take us to the next stage and good managers will make sure we get there logistically. I was once told that Steve Jobs was a terrible manager but he was a great leader, to be fair his people skills needed a bit a of work but he did put Apple where it is today, however Tim Cook it’s a great manager and logistics person and as yet I have heard what kind of a leader he is, I’m struggling to see his vision

Who are the leaders I most admire?

“Great leaders don’t look-down at research papers and trends, great leaders see around corners”

I don’t know who said that, it’s seems like something I would have heard on a TED talk, but it rings true, I’m thinking of all the great managers and leaders I’ve had over the years and there’s been loads, I’m almost 50 years old and I still don’t know what I want to do, the most successful leaders I’ve had have not known they were leaders, they brought out the best in me by pushing me and by giving me direction and somehow convincing me it was my idea to take this direction that was I vehemently opposed to 15min ago.

Like the rest of this essay this is a very personal thing but I once asked a company boss I had what drives them, a few of us were working late and …Yes I was THAT guy! …. I was curious to know what kept them going but and how they get to where they are now, they said hard-work (i was expecting that one) and loving what I do, loving the job, if you love what you’re doing it will make the difference, they also said that being a manager was just NOT for them, they hired a manager to do all that kind of management-type stuff,

“so you’re here today because you loved what you did and because you got someone else to do the stuff that was necessary but you didn’t have the interest in doing?” I still speak about his reply today

“not quite!, I’ve hired people to do jobs that they loved doing so I could continue to do what I loved doing which is growing this company and oh yeah, I remove obstacles !”

“Obstacles???????????” and this is the bit I’ve forever quoting, he said “I remove obstacles that prevent people from becoming amazing / achieving /reaching targets / enjoying their work, because if they’re happy and successful in their work then I know I can call on them when the time comes, Look at you!, you’re a DJ at the weekends and you work here, you love both jobs but on a Monday you were impossible to work with so I removed Mondays and Fridays for you and put you on a three day week, you’re productivity went up so much that it was like having you here five days a week and lets not forget it’s 1am and you’re here helping us move premises”.

Who do I admire most… I admire the leaders that make a difference.

In summary I don’t know what it is to become a good leader, there’s no time to become a good leader, it’s just something that happens, I don’t know if we all have it in us but what we do have is the ability to love what we do, the rest will follow, “look after the points and the goals will look after themselves” again don’t know who said that but I’m sure it’s look after the pennies and the pounds etc. etc.

Leaders need to be able to see around corners and see what others don’t, if its a fall in the market or a way to enable someone to be their best self. If you’re reading that and you’re a manager then ask yourself honestly, are you a good leader? Only you can answer that and don’t forget to remove the obstacles including your own.