As I said in the previous post. I am making two points here. One is that leaders back their people when the going gets tough. The other is that successful leaders never give up.
Now back to you. What do you do when one of your team members gets into trouble?
One of the worst things you could do as a leader is to leave one of your team members behind when they need you most.
Ask yourself, what do the following people all have in common?
• Adolph Hitler
• Nelson Mandela
• Margaret Thatcher
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Winston Churchill
• General George S. Patton
• General Colin Powell
• Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Jack Welch
They all are or were leaders.
So your comment might be:
“Wait a minute! I agree with most of them, but you can’t call that mad man Hitler a leader!”
Some HR professionals and other leaders can’t resist the temptation to use the power they have in destructive ways. At times, the power, real or perceived, goes straight to their head.
Now let’s look at some of the kind you do want to be like.
Human being Always greets everyone with at least a smile and a nod as he walks by.
Small talk Can make small talk with either the custodian or the company president.
Turf Turf has little meaning to him. Will cross any line to resolve a problem.
Walks the talk She knows that one of the strongest tools she has is the positive image she presents to the world.
Integrity Don’t even think about asking her to do something unethical.
There are two distinct types of leaders and managers. As mentioned in the chapter on Motivation, you have to talk about Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric.
There is no doubt in the minds of people who have met him, studied his management methods or worked with him over the two decades of his tenure; Jack Welch was a leader.
In contrast, Harold Geneen, the ex-CEO of the old ITT, was a manager. He kept detailed notebooks on each of the operations he controlled. He managed his divisions by knowing the details.
Let’s spend some time on leadership styles.
There are all kinds. What’s your style? Are you going to be your own person? Are you going to copy someone else’s style? Hopefully, you will be yourself and develop your own style.
For one thing, becoming a leader and then radically changing your style is not the way to go. For example, don’t go from being a hard working team member who works well with people to one who demands everything be done yesterday. It’s not the real you and your team will resent the change. And you will end up with more stress problems than you can possibly believe by trying to maintain a persona that doesn’t fit.