The Critical Need of True Leadership

I think "leadership" is such an important thing and can make organizations, or break organizations and whatever else is around to break.

The impact of it all comes into my mind increasingly each and every year of my (short?) life. Especially seeing the gone-wrong political candidacy, resulting in a childish drunk driver in government. 

I think that true leadership is a very critical and little known thing. 

Leadership is not just directing; it is not just being a whiz kid at something and telling others what to do.  The first thing too many think of is "now I am the boss, and need to take hold briskly".  

Yes, it does include managing the fabric of the group, identifying goals, bringing needed relevant information to the group, facilitating the operations, basic decisions of organizational and prudent financial management, etc. Managing people, with their differences of experience and basic nature. 

All that while recognizing and respecting that some of those people know things, principles, and methods the manager doesn't. And maybe the manager need not know those things; just respect that the follower does.

True leadership helps the followers become NOT JUST doers of that tasks they are directed to do (and the detailed way the leader thinks it must be done); not just becoming competent, but also confident. Not just obedience, and not just asking "how high" when told to jump. Inspiration, motivation, respect, and human growth potential is all part of the equation.

A sector of Covey's Eight Habit deals with our responsibility each of us to help others grow, in their decision making confidence, to grow spiritually, and to grow in competence, confidence, and ability to THEMSELVES (as followers of said leader) to lead others. Every man, woman, and child has an immense potential (and is a leader by example and performance) and has a God-given responsibility to help uplift tlhat in others, toward and in an eternal growth upward perspective.....  

Over the years I have  lived, I have seen so many promoted in accordance with the Peter principle(**see paragraph below**). The person has a great deal of competence in some area: technical, influential speaking, inspirational, bossiness, or... simply given a pot of money and silver spoon to play with.  (Seen that in recent times?)  But they haven't learned to delegate the thinking power, they haven't learned to develop (other than to say, "I'm the Boss, and if you just do what I say, you will be OK, this and that is what I want you to do.")

The Peter principle ... published in 1969... states that the selection of a candidate for a position is based on the candidate's performance in their current role, rather than on abilities relevant to the intended role. [In my years of observation, we should add  "; a role of  leadership, management, etc." because there is where the big difference is; help people in their upward progress, or destroy them. ]

If you've been promoted, selected, elected, or called as a leader, one of the greatest gifts you can give - to yourself, to the organization, to the followers, and to mankind in general, is to decide you need to learn about how to be the best leader. Go, learn; many sources. Here are two THIN books with the right message  - in title and in content: (1) "Pushing Up People", and (2) "The Leadership Pill: the missing Ingredient in Motivating People Today".

A good leader inspires, motivates, encourages someone to think, to be their very best, to serve with all their heart, mind and strength. 
A good leader trains his/her replacement to be a leader. [How? Think about it.] 
"Hire a good man, and get out of his way."  
Another expression (if you know the initials "JS") is to teach them correct principles, and let them manage themself.  No, that is not a 100% thing, but the principle...

Things don't have to be exactly the way your genius mind or whatever has imagined.  Work toward the desired outcome, the results.  

That's where the value of a book that had a favorite comes in: "Getting to Yes".  It's about there are more than one way to get the desired result, and if someone has a different way of doing that, the best manager will thank the person and respect it, maybe use it.  (You encourage growth and uplift, right there and then!) That does not take away from the leader's or manager's position; it uplifts the position, in a spiritual sense.

Have I done this, can/have I practiced what I preach? 

Yes, I have managed a few great groups, although not in my writing career. One always comes in mind: a great group in the Navy, at Whidbey Island, who knew what they were doing, reported what they were doing, and did it in the best way; they just looked for the fabric of the group to be held together in a cohesive manner, and information and guidance if and when needed. They were happy to report, sometimes sharing proudly. Another was keeping organized a great group who uplifted others and each other, in a spiritual sense, on the Kitty Hawk. And some other times.  After the USN, most of my time (nearly 40 years) was writing, and the Peter Principle never got me into management.

My best three managers were in telecom.  In common, they asked how I would approach a problem (a need).  Then, after that, they would just ask that I would review what I was doing, the progress, what was going on, they just listened, primarily with ears open and mouth closed. Good listening......

And... very importantly... they ASKED is there anything they can do to remove roadblocks?  Oh, how sweet that was. In tech writing, road blocks are found in very great abundance. At times, they displayed the needed humility a leader should have by learning from me in my developed area of understanding. Those good three managers didn't operate as if they had all the answers, as if they were the innovators, as if they knew everything, as if they had so much pride and "I am the Boss" that you couldn't tell them anything.

It was really really great working for them. Great, good things were done. 
The biggest issues have always been ego, territorialism, and competition - but not between those managers and myself.

True leadership is based on the spiritual nature of mankind, who were created in the image of God, according to the good book. There was a Covey book that was popular in the '70s: "Spiritual Roots of Human Behavior".  One that I liked a bit better but didn't sell as well because it didn't have "Spiritual" or something like that in the title, is "Leadership and Human Relations".  But it dealt with marriage/human relationships, leadership, decision-making with real good feet on the ground approach, understanding our spiritual nature - the way God made us - at least as well as that other one.  Again, though, Covey's Eighth has that section and is still in the bookstores - I think.