People Power - May 2010

By Scott Humphrey

There may be no topic that fascinates me more than that of leadership. There are thousands of books by an equal number of authors evaluating every aspect of leadership and its influence. I personally have written on this topic more than any other and feel as though I have the equivalent of a doctorate in studies on the subject.

Why the fascination, you may ask? It could be because of the varying styles of leadership I have been privileged to sit under. Experience tells me that leaders have an enormous impact on our happiness and productivity. As a parent I am also aware that the leaders of today are making the decisions that will impact future generations.

At this point you may be saying, of course leadership is important, I’m with you on that—so why write another article on the topic? Well, I relate it to the story of the pastor who comes to his new church and preaches an amazing sermon. The people love him. They invite friends and family, and then next week he stands up and preaches the exact same sermon. Though they speak to each other about it, no one addresses the issue with the pastor. The next week he preaches the same sermon again. Finally the deacons confront him. They ask why he keeps preaching the same sermon over and over. His response is my response to why I continue to write on leadership. He says, “I’m watching and little is changing. When you guys get this topic down, I’ll move to another.”

I am concerned. I am sensing in our culture today the greatest lack of true leadership that I have experienced in my adult life. I am not speaking from a political or business perspective, though there are obvious needs for improvement in each of these areas. I am speaking of leadership in general. So in this article, I want to share a list of things that we followers wish all leaders knew.

What we wish our leaders knew
Your actions impact our standards. We are watching what you do, and what you do helps us determine the unspoken standards of our organization, club or family. Yes, we know the spoken and printed rules of right versus wrong, but if yours differ from these, ours likely will too. You are not above the standard. You are the standard! There is no “do as I say, not as I do.” In the end, we will assume it is acceptable to “do as you do.”

You don’t need to be superhuman. Actually, it is quite the contrary. We are more likely to follow you if you have risked, failed and learned, and are willing to admit it! We want to follow people who have had to make the difficult decisions and occasionally have made the wrong ones. These are the leaders who are most likely to allow us to take risks as well. These are the leaders who are approachable and real.

The best leaders are born from life’s experiences. We will follow someone who has been there and done that. I remember reading about a bestselling book on parenting that was written by a person who had never had children. Are you kidding me? You can’t lead where you haven’t been. As a former youth minister, I thought I had all of the answers to parenting…until I had kids of my own. In short, we want someone who has worked their way up, not someone who had it handed to them on a silver platter.

By the way, if you have been in a leadership position for some time, we need to be reminded of your experience. Many of us may not know your résumé. Work it into your speeches and presentations. It makes you more human and thus more approachable.

Leadership is not based on a position or title. It is an earned right. The truth is, we don’t care who you are, who you think you are or who your momma or daddy is. We care about the decisions you make and how they influence and impact us and those we care about. Leadership is not a badge to be worn on your lapel. It is an attitude to be worn in your heart. We don’t care how much you know until we know how much you care.

Leadership is not a vote of popularity. Popular people don’t usually make the best leaders. In fact, the best leaders have had to make some unpopular decisions along the way. They simply count this as the cost of their authority. Those concerned with polls and popularity ratings will often forgo doing the right thing because it is seen as unpopular and a setback to their career goals. The steps to the right decision are often unpopular, but in the end the right decision is still the right decision.

You don’t have to have all of the answers. If you did, what would you need us for? Leadership is not about having all of the answers. It is about acknowledging when you don’t and seeking to find solutions through your people and your resources.

In fact, the best leaders are not those who pretend to have all of the right answers or the ability to do it all. They do, however, surround themselves with people who can get the right answers. They have a strong desire to listen to those impacted by their decisions. On a recent episode of the new hit show “Undercover Boss,” we learned that a CEO who created a color-coded dispatch system for Roto Rooter was colorblind. When he had to use the system he created, he realized the impossibility of it. What if he had taken the time to ask and listen?

Leadership is not about getting the glory…it’s about giving it. Please get this point. It will ultimately determine our level of commitment to your leadership. If you want us to be loyal to you, spread the praise and divert the attention away from yourself. We will work much harder for someone who points out our successes to others.

Weak leaders seek to get all of the glory. Strong leaders seek to elevate their team. In fact, if you want to find the strong leaders in your organization, look at where those who are being promoted are coming from. There you will most likely find leaders who have empowered their people and allowed them to flourish.

The people you surround yourself with strongly impact our opinion of you. Though you may have a stellar reputation, we can’t help but question your values and judgment if you surround yourself with people whose character is questionable. On the other hand, one of the quickest ways to gain our respect is to confront unacceptable behavior. This takes courage and can involve short term cost to the organization, club or even within the family, but in the end we will always respect the leader who does the right thing.

In closing, I want to recommend the show that is the catalyst for this article, “Undercover Boss,” which airs on Sunday evenings. Each episode shows a CEO who goes undercover and works with people at all levels of their organization. The boss gets to meet the people behind the job titles in their company. At the end of the show the employees are brought in, and the boss is revealed. One thought occurs to me every time I watch this show: only real leaders would humble themselves this way on national TV.

Often there are tears, but always there is change. And in the end, isn’t that the real purpose of leadership, to help us embrace the change that is right for our organizations, our families, and ultimately for ourselves?

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