In a first for the Be blog here is a video post. I wasn’t sure if I could do this or not, so I gave it a try.
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson“Throw yourself into life as someone who makes a difference, accepting that you may not understand how or why.”
Benjamin Zander“When you take risks there is the very real possibility of failure. When you take no risks there is the absolute certainty of failure.”
Ralph Marston
The words ‘Organizational Leadership’ can seem incongruous. The key elements of leadership are very personal and relational. How does that fit within a structured group environment? Basically, leadership is leadership, and Organizational Leadership is leadership that occurs within an organization. But it does present special challenges and opportunities, and in the context of certain leadership principles ‘Organizational Leadership’ does make sense.
Leaders lead people.
Leaders don’t lead programs or projects or processes. Those things are managed. The people involved in them are led.
Organizations are people.
And like people, organizations are defined not by what they do but by who they are. It is first and foremost about the being of the organization – the story, the beliefs, the abilities, the culture of shared values, the vision. This is then lived out and reflected in what the organization does. Leaders of the organization focus first on leading the organization and the individuals within it to know who they are and to become more.
Leadership isn’t found on an org chart.
There are operational concerns with organizations that need to be handled by managers. But the responsibility of leading people should not be placed solely on these same people. Whatever role a person has within an organization, manager or not, they will be more effective in that role the more they are capable, committed and free to lead.
Organizations exist ultimately for the benefit of the individual.
Organizations provide efficiency that allows individuals to accomplish more than they could on their own. But more importantly organizations provide an environment that allows individuals to become more than they would ever realize on their own.
Organizational success is marked by individual growth.
Using individuals for the sake of the work of the organization will not bring sustainable success. If individuals within the organization are not becoming more as a result of their being a part of the organization, the organization is not fulfilling its ultimate purpose. The responsibility to fulfill this organizational purpose falls on each individual, to respond as called upon to be a leader to others around them.
Take a moment to think about each organization that you are a part of, both occupational and volunteer, and ask yourself – Am I finding personal fulfillment and growth from being a part of this organization? Are those of us within the organization clear on who we are, and who we want to become, as an organization? Is this honestly reflected in what we do? How am I a leader within this organization, serving others that they may find personal fulfillment and growth?
“In organizations, real power and energy is generated through relationships. The patterns of relationships and the capacities to form them are more important than tasks, functions, roles, and positions.” Margaret Wheatly
“An empowered organization is one in which individuals have the knowledge, skill, desire, and opportunity to personally succeed in a way that leads to collective organizational success.” Stephen R. Covey
“The quality of leadership, more than any other single factor, determines the success or failure of an organization.” Fred Fiedler & Martin Chemers
Servant leadership – what exactly is it? How is it unique from other perspectives on leadership? Who or what is it that is served? What does it mean to be a follower of a servant leader?
One of my goals in 2013 is to explore those questions. I want to learn more of how others define and live out servant leadership, and better formulate my own understanding of it. For now I set a marker on the trail, to measure against later, laying out here what I believe servant leadership is, and what it is not.
Servant Leadership is not self serving.
One element that is clear is that servant leadership is not self serving. Being a leader doesn’t mean that I have somehow become more at the expense of others becoming less. Becoming a leader is not the outcome of a competition with others.
Servant Leadership is not self deprecating.
While I do not become more from others becoming less, it is also true that others do not become more from my becoming less. A distinction of servant leadership is that I give of myself. But to give of myself does not mean that I give up myself. Servant leadership isn’t self serving, nor is it self deprecating.
Service is not sacrifice, it is surrender.*
More precisely, service is not sacrifice of self, it is surrender to us. As a servant leader I surrender to a different reality where all grow because each grows. I give of myself, and I lead others to give of themselves. Together we serve each other in order that what we do brings us to a place where we all become more.
By influence, not authority;
by heart, not title;
by relationship, not structure -
leaders lift people
and bring all together
on higher ground.
How exactly does this come to be? How is this lived out in the day-to-day? Well, this is all part of what I have yet to learn.
“It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.
Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.
That person is sharply different from one who is leader first.”
Robert Greenleaf
Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography
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* While this view of service and sacrifice seemingly conflicts with the writings of Robert Greenleaf, who stated that sacrifice is a key part of servant leadership, our views are much the same in concept. He wrote, “I believe that the essential quality that sets servant-leaders apart from others is that they live by their conscience – the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrong. That one quality is the difference between leadership that works and leadership – like servant leadership – that endures.” and “The essence of moral authority or conscience is sacrifice – the subordinating of one’s self or one’s ego to a higher purpose, cause, or principle.” What he describes as sacrifice is similar to what I describe as surrender. I hesitate to use the word sacrifice because of the connotations that have been ascribed to use of the word. People tend to assume a reference to the subordination of self to others, but what Robert Greenleaf espoused was the subordination of self to a higher purpose.
New Years is a marvelous time. We look ahead to the year before us with hope and anticipation. There are predictions of what we think might happen and plans and resolutions* for what we want to happen.
The way we approach birthdays and anniversaries, however, is much different. These are events to look back and reflect on the year that has past. While New Years is celebrated at the beginning of the year, birthdays and anniversaries are celebrated at the end, giving them an overtone of, “We survived another one! Let’s celebrate!”
What if birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated in the same way as New Years? What if they were a time to eagerly look forward to the year ahead? What if we celebrated a child’s first birthday on the day they are born? What if couples celebrated their first anniversary on their wedding day? What if organizations celebrated the first anniversary of their existence on the day they are formed?
Now I’m not advocating that we rewrite treasured tradition. However, I do suggest that each and every day is a time to reflect back as on birthdays and anniversaries, and a time to lean forward into the future as on New Years.
Each moment is lived on a fine point in time between what has been and what is yet to be. Life is a dance of hopes upon a stage built of memories. This ever shifting place called Now is rich with experience and possibility. The wonders of a new beginning are there for us, if our eyes are open to see them, and our hearts are open to embrace them.
Happy New Year! Happy New Day! Happy New You!
“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on,
with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” Hal Borland
Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography
*For a great perspective on plans vs. resolutions check out the recent post by Steve Keating – Plans or Resultions?
By data I know.
By reason I trust.
By faith I believe.
As a leader,
I can use data to convince people to follow.
As a leader,
I can use reason to persuade people to follow.
But in a place beyond logic and reason,
when people have faith in me as a leader and belief in the vision,
then leadership of the heart occurs.
This requires relationship.
To lead by heart is an honor.
But more so it is humbling, for leader and follower together
serve a purpose greater than any one alone could ever realize.
When you follow, follow your heart,
and choose your leaders wisely.
And when by heart you are chosen to lead
grab hold of that which you could never possess
and lead on!
The road through the forest wasn’t giving me any opportunities to pass. I was stuck behind a fellow pulling a trailer, and he was plodding along. While I appreciated the extra time to enjoy the beauty of nature around me, I was getting impatient. Eventually we came to a spot where he was able to pull over and let me by. To show my gratitude for his kindness I reached over to wave to him as I passed.
Problem 1: I was snacking on pretzels at the time, and had some in my hand. When I raised my hand to wave to the gentleman, only one finger came up. And it was not a good finger. So my wave of gratitude accidentally turned into an obscene gesture. I wanted to tell him thank you, but instead I flipped him off.
Problem 2: My teenage son was with me, sitting in the passenger seat. When I reached across the car to wave, my inadvertent gesture was right in front of his face. “DAD!” screamed my horrified son, “He was trying to help you!” “I know,” I replied, choking on my pretzels and humility, “I didn’t mean to.”
Whether or not it is the Thanksgiving holiday where you are, this is a good time to give thanks. It’s always a good time to give thanks. If there is someone who has been kind to you, express your gratitude. It may not go perfectly, but don’t worry about it. Make the effort. Say thanks.
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present
and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward
Life isn’t lived in a straight line. There are bends we plan for and hairpin twists we never see coming. These changes in course have an impact on our life, for they are the stuff of life itself.
In the Be-Do cycle our doing flows from our being, and enriches our being. When that is in place it’s a cycle of growth. But a change in what we do can have a significant impact on the cycle.
Milestone life changes such as graduation, marriage, a new job, moving or retirement are events we look forward to with joy and anticipation. But they can have unexpected effects if we don’t stop to think through how life will be different afterwards. Being promoted to a new job brings new opportunities, but can also mean leaving behind relationships that affect our lives in ways we don’t realize.
Profound events such as the unexpected loss of a job or the death of someone close to us can really shake us up. One day our normal routine comes to a screeching halt, and we’re no longer doing what we were doing before. The most severe, punch-in-the-gut experiences can even leave us with a hole in our life that can’t be filled, where there is no new lifestyle that will provide the activities that allow the same expression and enrichment of who we are. It’s a time when we really need to dig deep and get a good hold of who we are.
What we do is an expression of who we are. When what we do changes it can take away a channel for us live out who we are. The key thing to remember in times of such change is that what we do does not define us. It should reveal us and reflect us, but we are who we are, not what we do. Even though what we do is changing, we are still who we are.
A change in our doing actually provides a good opportunity to step back a moment and reflect on who we are. Am I who I think I am? What are my core values? Are my new activities true to these values? Do I need to adjust my vision? How was I living out who I am prior to the change? In what new ways can I live that out?
What we do should enrich who we are. This is where a disruption to Do can really be hard. When we lose a source of enrichment and fulfillment in our lives it can have a major impact on our being.
Again this is a good time to reflect. What benefits and blessings was I receiving from what I was doing before? Which were the most meaningful to me? What would my life be like without that? Can I find another source in my new activities, or start another new activity that would provide what I need? If a new job isn’t supplying an important element of enrichment for me, can I find it in a volunteer activity?
Leading is guiding people forward and bringing about change. But change for people often means a change in what they do. As a leader it is important to be aware of the impact this has. If the leader has built this change upon communal values and shared vision, the new actions will provide the people an even better means to live out who they are, and will enrich who they are in new and wondrous ways. However, if the change brought about by a leader only interferes with the Be-Do cycle of the individuals, then the individuals will not grow, and neither will the team or organization.
When life takes a turn and there is major change in what you normally do – Hold onto who you are. Seize the opportunity to better understand and even refine who you are. Reflect on how to live that out. Seek new means of enrichment, in order that you may become all that you are meant to be.
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” Alan Watts
Photo courtesy of AESThetic Photography
