We've just had a long discussion on what leadership isn't over at Cass' place. Nick at Ranger Up has some ideas on what it is. They're military focused, but we can probably break out the principles for other sorts of leadership roles -- parenthood, church, community leadership, or perhaps even leadership lessons that apply in different sorts of corporate organization in spite of differences in corporate culture.
One thing I don't see in Nick's list is any presumption that position = authority = respect. You can come to find yourself in a position for which you are unqualified (especially in the case of parenthood!). Your authority to hold that position has to be earned through hard work. The respect that comes from doing your job well does not belong by right to just anyone holding the position. The position is an opportunity, not an entitlement.
7 comments:
"The position is an opportunity, not an entitlement."
What position isn't?
Well, the argument is that leadership positions always are. So if any positions are otherwise, they would be non-leadership roles (assuming I'm right about the leadership roles).
So turn it around -- are there any? The child may have an entitlement claim relative to the parent, perhaps.
That's pretty much how I view it: entitlement ends wit h childhood, so it doesn't attach to a adult's position, leadership or otherwise.
I'm not going to go read the conversation at Cass' but, the position (what it is) often times is entitled to authority, if not respect.
Despite my carping about the polices state, if a policeman tells me to do something--stop, move along, tell me your name, I'd probably be inclined to do it. Same with a fireman.
Don't really see how any military organization would function with out that. Sergeant says go, you go. Ability don't have much to do with it.
It's true that there should be authority recognized by virtue of position sometimes, but in reality, people often don't. If you want to have their respect too (and you may need to) you'll have to act under the premise that you get nothing but what you earn. Obligatory recognition of authority only goes so far anyway. A good leader wants a better relationship with those they lead than that.
Reading those points, it struck me that a good subordinate should try to understand those points as well. Firstly because most people hope to move up in position someday, and also because if you have some understanding of what your boss/parent/leader is dealing with and trying to do, the better a follower you'll be to them, and perhaps you'll respect them a bit more.
I worked for an architect in a small office- 4 to 5 people- and other employees often groused about the boss as he was sometimes rough with us. Having worked for myself previously, I understood how much he was doing for everyone else in the office just keeping the jobs rolling in during a slow economic cycle, not to mention these other people weren't the most likely to be wooed away by another company if you know what I mean. They'd get upset when he got mad because they'd made a mistake. He was different with me because when I made a mistake, I'd own up to it right away- and so he knew I'd be less likely to repeat it, and he didn't need to spend time making sure I even understood what the mistake was. I tried when I could to tell the other employees that they should appreciate the job, even if he was sometimes rough, but it didn't always work. One guy quit after a few weeks- but it was for the best, he was terrible at his job! The ones that have been there for a long time complain sometimes, but they also do appreciate their jobs.
One hopes that some kind of earning behavior went into acquiring the position of policeman or superior officer to begin with, even if we don't expect the officeholder to start afresh earning respect from everyone he encounters while in uniform.
That wasn't always the case, when anyone in a certain class could buy a commission, for instance, but this is a society in which there's very little in-born position that people consider to demand their respect. Of course we may still put our thumbs on the scale when it comes to what it takes to earn the position.
a good subordinate should try to understand those points as well.
"In a social order where one member is officially subordinate to another, the superior, if he is a gentleman, never thinks of it; and the subordinate, if he is a gentleman, never forgets it." --Black Jack Pershing.
In the military, the position comes with authority, but if the man in that position isn't a leader, he won't have earned respect, which can only be personal, not hierarchical. Without that respect, even the most professional subordinate will hesitate a fraction when ordered into danger. That hesitation will kill more than the order itself. It's not that black and white in the civilian world, but the importance of respect--which can only be earned, it does not accrue simply because the man thinks himself special--is no less.
Eric Hines
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