Leadership is an art and those that do it best piss a lot of
people off. It can’t be helped. If you like playing nice then stay put as an
employee or better yet stay home and let the government take care of you. There
is no trophy for everyone in business. There is no participation awards. If you
can’t play and play well then sorry you are going to sit on the bench.
Now I will make a side not to that, you don’t have to hit
that ball every time you are up to bat. No but you do have to get to bat and
you must swing. After a while you will develop some skill that will at least
get that ball in the air and hopefully you to base.
Let’s talk about pissing people off. Sometimes I love it,
especially that old fart that thinks they know everything. Of course, that is
feeding my own ego, but hey it keeps me swinging. Some people will say management starts in the
boardroom, but actually it starts the day you first shit your pants. Seriously
you just accomplished your first task of getting someone to work for you. Well
the basic premise is there. Your so cute and sweet and innocent people are
happy to help you. Extreme example? Maybe,
Let’s put it in perspective. The definition of Leadership,
for me effective leadership is bringing a group of people together to
accomplish a common goal. Simple, right? Yes. Easy not really. The concept is
simple, but then you have our humanness added in, and poof there goes the
simple. You have a group of people each with their own ideas of how something
should be done. If you are assigned the leadership role of that group, then it
is your job to get them to see the goal and work towards it.
Starting with all the facts as to why it has to be done in a
certain way is a start but may get you into trouble. Starting with a powwow to
gather ideas from everyone is also a way to start but then again you may be
adding fuel to an ember. Coming in chopping heads is also a way to get people
moving. All these ways have been used and sometimes very effective though there
is usually a mess to clean up afterwards.
I see leadership in the role of a parent. You must guide,
direct, and correct. You also must know the personality of each individual. If
you are a parent of more than one child you will understand this. Well actually
you don’t need to be, If you have siblings you can. To expect everyone to act
the same in a family causes someone to rebel and when that child rebels they’re
the bad one, right? Maybe that little rebellious one has the best ideas? Hum,
maybe they are rebelling because they are strong. Maybe if you just listened to
them they just need to be heard. And maybe they have an idea that makes
everything clearer, more effective or proficient?
When we are assigned the task of managing a group of
individuals our most important task is to remember that they are individuals. If
you can look at each person’s individual-ness and use that, then you will be an
effective leader.
Where does pissing people off in all this comes in? It comes
in in the process of seeing each person as an individual. You need to know
yourself as an individual. What is your personality? How do you expect people
to act towards and treat you? How do you expect other leaders to act towards
you? How do you act? If you are doing your job effectively you will be pissing
people off. There is no way around it and you must be ok with that. Can you go
to bed at night after looking in the mirror and know that you did what had to
be done? If you managed effectively you will sleep. Whether others are sleeping
is not your job.
The secret to sleeping is knowing that you were fair to
everyone, in a nutshell you had a plan in place, you have policies, procedure
and a goal. People sign up to help you achieve a goal. IE, they agreed to come
to work and take a paycheck in exchange for assisting in achieving that goal.
If they do not, then they are not part of the team. Your job is recognizing the
individual strengths and weaknesses of each person and assign them accordingly.
From there it is in their court. If people don’t want to follow the plan, then
it is their choice. You yes maybe an ass in their eyes because you are not
allowing them to play by their rules, but it is what they signed up for.
Being nice to everyone is not always possible. Being
compassionate is. Compassion comes in when we recognize the strengths and
weaknesses of each person. We all have them and no one can do everything. No
one can have all the trophy’s and sorry not everyone gets one. People need to
be encouraged to work on their strengths. What do they do well? A good leader
will see that and move that person in that direction even if it is out the
door.
Because the art work is judged not by how much paint is on
the floor but how the piece moves people.
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