LEADERSHIP IS A CHOICE

Sometimes the best way to understand something is to study it’s opposite.

I agree with the wisdom of Stephen Covey who often said, “Leadership is a choice, not a position.” If that is true, what does the opposite look like?

What happens when those in positions of leadership don’t actually make the personal decision to lead?

Here are five pain-points:

1. Suspicion reigns in relationships. Leadership is relational to the core. Building trust is the first and primary responsibility of a leader. Trust is the one thing in relationships that changes everything in relationships. When trust is high communication is easy. But when trust is low, suspicion creeps in and makes communication difficult, draining and ineffective. You may be very calculated in your words and precise in your language but without trust others will listen to you like this, “I hear what you are saying but what do you really mean?” When titled leaders neglect to build trust day-by-day, suspicion enters relationships – all relationships because it’s contagious. It can spread throughout the entire organization. It creates a paralyzing tension that is difficult, if not impossible, to overcome.

2. Staff become de-motivated. A big part of leadership is inspiring a shared vision and rallying people together in the pursuit of a clear picture of a preferred future. When leaders neglect to inspire a shared vision, aspiration evaporates in the hearts of their people. When employees are unclear of the destination they are heading or unsure of the path that will take them there, they soon start to doubt the journey altogether. If this continues over time, they will become disengaged, passionless and far less productive than they could be.

3. Staff become overwhelmed with permanent whitewater. Uncertainty is a constant condition in the leadership landscape. It’s not an indication of poor leadership, it simply points to the need for leadership. Let’s face it, we rarely have enough information to be fully confident in the strategic decisions we make.  When leaders are reluctant to make decisions until all uncertainty is removed or delay forging ahead until the entire path is clear, they never move the organization ahead. Leaders choose to lead by creating clarity in the midst of uncertainty, missing information and confusion. Leaders choose to “build the bridge while they walk across it” they choose to “build the airplane while it’s in the air.” Sometimes, clarity comes from making a commitment to a decision or direction and executing it rather than waiting to remove all uncertainty.

4. Yesterdays solutions become tomorrow’s problems. In a typical organization, employees produce results by working within the system and leaders produce results by working on the system. Leaders fail to lead when they neglect the important element of working on the system. If nobody owns the improvement agenda, the organization will not get better over time. It will stagnate, capitulate and eventually deteriorate. It is the leader’s responsibility to own the improvement agenda and to drive it forward by working in, with and through the people that work in the system. When there is no improvement agenda, there will be no thorough analysis or systems thinking and yesterday’s solutions will become tomorrow’s problems.

5. Delegation feels like abdication. Anybody can assign work to another person but it takes a leader to empower others in the process. When leaders fail to see the real opportunity in delegation, that is the empowerment of others, it feels more like abdication than delegation. If the reason for tasking another person is only to get some of your work done, that is not empowering at all. Real leaders look at delegation from the lens of leadership development. They align the work that needs to get done with the talent and passion of their people. They delegate authority and responsibility, which means the freedom to choose how to get the work done and the ownership of the results.

The five pain points described above illustrate the frustration we feel working for leaders that fail to make the personal, conscious decision to lead. I will write in greater depth about the five choices leaders make in a later blog, but for the moment, here are the five choices leaders make to lead:

1. Leaders choose to build trust.
2. Leaders choose to inspire and motivate others.
3. Leaders choose to provide clarity.
4. Leaders choose to work on the system.
5. Leaders choose to empower others.

Leadership has little to do with holding a position or a title. In the healthiest organizations, leadership is a function that everyone can choose to exercise and should be encouraged to do so. Leadership is action, it is a choice.