Washington on the delaware imagery
Philosophy of Leadership
Leadership is not just something that happens at the top tiers of an organization. The people at that level are responsible for the success of the organization and the people that we have invited into the organization to help us build that success.
But they are not the only people who lead, nor are they the only people REQUIRED to lead. Every single person in the organization is responsible for practicing excellent leadership. If one day you hope to have the responsibility of ensuring the success of an organization and its people, you have got to lead…yourself.
Elite organizational/team leadership starts with elite level self-leadership. You cannot lead anyone else if you cannot lead yourself (mentioning this again just in case). If you have failed to lead yourself to success, you WILL fail to lead anyone else to success. You simply do not know how to get there yourself, much less mentor/train anyone else to get there. You cannot lead like a travel agent, sending people to places that you have never been (a little John Maxwell there). You cannot lead people past you… They leave you and promote around you at the next organization. That is a loss to YOUR organization and to the people they served with.
Developing yourself into a leader is where you start if you one day hope to lead others. That personal leadership begins and will end with the development of/ or failure to develop and exercise personal discipline. Not a strictly regimented/militaristic lifestyle, but one of intentionality, purpose, and skill. Avoiding at all cost resistance to new information, impulsive action, and default responses to certain stimuli. If you do what you have always done, you get the results that you have always gotten. The very best leaders became and embodied the change they wanted to see around them FIRST.
Leading yourself can also be seen as building your personal brand. Much like a corporation builds a brand, people/leaders build a brand. Either intentionally or by virtue of their existence in a space. Mission, Vision, and Values is a good place to start, much the same way a corporation begins to build their brand. For a leader, your brand is your credibility. Credibility is based on proven competence + integrity + relationships. Meaning, you posses the skills and have demonstrated competency to lead; people know how you will react under different pressures and what you will compromise to relieve that pressure; and finally the ability to build and manage relationships (inside and outside of the organization).
You must first BECOME the leader that you have always wanted to follow. We don’t call people leader because they are in charge of something or someone. We call people leader because they MOVE FIRST. You won’t be a leader until you move first, that means leading yourself first.
Success helps you build your brand… Success IS YOUR BRAND. Relationships, your personal brand, and your skills all come together to build success in your leadership journey.
BUILDING YOUR OWN PHILOSOPHY
Who are you as a leader? What do you stand for? If someone were to ask you what your leadership philosophy is or how you approach leading people, would you be able to answer it? Don’t get caught flat footed without a response to that question. The better you know what you’re about as a leader, the more effective you will be.
Here is a framework for building your personal leadership philosophy:
Theory -> What leadership theory or theories inform the way you approach leading your team. Don’t just say “Extreme Ownership,” you have to understand the deeper leadership principles that inform that philosophy in order to effectively lead from that mentality. Study leaders, different styles of leadership, and different leadership challenges. Understand the theory that informs the decisions those leaders made (good and bad). Adopt what is effective, not what makes you well liked.
– “I believe”: Start writing what you believe leadership to be and how to lead and take care of people. These statements will form the backbone of your philosophy. Make 10 “I believe” statements and then back in to them with leadership literature/anecdotes. Now you’ve got a good foundation to build on. If you don’t know what you believe about taking care of people you will attach yourself to whatever “feels” right. Not everything you read is good leadership or should be emulated.
Attitude -> Get an attitude about it. The attitude is how you embody your theory and philosophy.
– My Thoughts and My Actions WILL… → Write two or three of these action statements and describe how you intend to impact your team and organization. These help you understand and explain “why” you make decisions or behave the way that you do. If you are direct, be able to explain why. If you are more passive and democratic with things, be able to explain why.
Guiding Principles -> These are your cardinal directions as a leader. The foundational things that you will not compromise.
I will lead by_____: This seems simple, but writing them down is the easy part. Your guiding principles are the things that you will not compromise and will be the guard rails for every decision you make and every interaction you have with your folks.
Here is are some of my guiding principles as an example:
Model the behaviors you want to see
Leaders go first.
Create the environment where the results you seek are even possible.
Loyal to the team over any single individual.
Leaders are not responsible for the results. They are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results.
Close Out:
A leader without a guiding philosophy is a blade of grass blowing in the wind. You have to deeply understand leadership and then who you are as a leader. You have to be aware of how your leadership style and approach is impacting your team and have the ability to pivot away from “this is just how I am,” to “this is who they need me to be.”
