The fundamentals of leadership using letters of the alphabet.
By Sulaimon Olanrewaju (Culled from Punch Newspapers )
L – Love
Love is the ultimate leadership tool. The reason is simple; there is a nexus between love and leadership. The objective of love is to make its object better. Hence, love is never passive but rather passionate; it never takes a rest until its purpose is accomplished. Similarly, true leadership is focused on bringing out the best in people and situations. As observed by Harvey S. Firestone, founder of the Firestone Tyre and Rubber Company, the growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership. So, love-driven leadership is result-oriented because it is mutually beneficial. It is not aimed at using people to achieve an end but improving the lot of the people as a prerequisite for achieving predetermined corporate goals. So, a leader that is determined to make his people better can only achieve that if he has love as his foundation.
How leaders demonstrate love:
Do you tell them the truth?
The sustaining power of love is candour. Without candour, love will end up in tatters. Lovers must tell each other the home truth. Relationships are jeopardized when the truth is hidden. Leaders who evade speaking the truth to avoid hurting the people concerned always cause far greater hurt to their organizations and the ones they are trying to shield from the truth.
However, while telling subordinates the truth about their performance, the leader should avoid condemning them. Condemnation always results in loss of confidence. So, telling the truth should be done with a view to bringing the attention of the person concerned to the issue without bringing him down.
Do you mentor?
The easiest way to grow is to learn from the masters. People do what they learn and become what they practice. The leader must be willing to sacrifice his time to pour himself into his people. A great leader does not hold back from his people information that can improve their lives.
Do you create opportunity for them?
Leaders open the door for others. As a way of demonstrating your love for your subordinates, you must be willing to allow them ride on your shoulders to achieve their aspirations.
Do you have their back?
Are you willing to defend them and give them another chance when they make mistakes or do you kick them when they are down?
M – Mindset
A mindset is a belief system, an attitude which shapes perception and behaviours. Mindset determines what is done and how it is done. The mindset eventually determines the kind of person we become.
The major difference between those who are successful and those who are not is the mindset. While successful people start out with the belief that nothing will stop them from achieving their target, those who end up failing start with doubts in their mind. So, when they encounter difficulties rather than strive to overcome them, they quake under such and rationalize their failure. As put by Henry Ford, “Whether you think you can or you think you cannot, you are right.”
To achieve greatness, a leader must ensure that he has the right mindset or attitude at all times.
Between the donkey and the elephant
A farmer’s donkey fell into a dry well. The farmer tried all he could to rescue his animal but to no avail. Wanting to help the donkey to a quick death, he decided to fill the well with dirt. He invited others to join him in the task. So started the task of filling the well with dirt. The donkey brayed when the first set of dirt got on him. Then after a while it stopped the noise. The farmer was surprised, so he peered down into the well. The farmer found out that the donkey shook off every shovel of dirt that hit him and took a step up. Seeing this, the farmer was encouraged to continue until the donkey finally stepped out of the well.
A man saw some elephants held down by a small rope tied to their front legs. The rope was so tiny that the man wondered why the elephants did not free themselves. He saw a trainer nearby and asked him why he took the risk of tying down the huge animals with just a tiny rope. The trainer explained that when they were still very young and much smaller, the same size of rope, which was strong enough to hold them then, was used to tie them. As they grew up, the animals had conditioned their minds to believe that they could not break away. So, they did not even bother to make an attempt.
The donkey was able to liberate itself from a very difficult situation because of its mindset, but the elephants were held bound by a simple problem because of their mindsets. To be a successful leader, you have to mind your mindset.
Last line
We are a product of the choices we make, not the circumstances that we face – Roger Crawford
The ABC of Leadership III
N – Nerve
Fear is a major factor that draws people back from attaining the highest level possible. Fear stops men from living their value. Fear keeps people from taking the decision that could birth the change they need. Fear keeps chief executives from executing ideas and strategies that will give them phenomenal growth. Where fear holds sway, opportunities are not seized, status quos are not challenged, frontiers are not extended, innovations are not pioneered and average performance becomes the standard. Fear restrains people from doing the right thing. The antidote to fear is nerve or courage. Aspiration to a higher height is always countered by opposition; the only thing that overcomes such opposition is courage. Courage is doing the right thing irrespective of the consequences.
When leaders are not afraid of the backlash of their actions, they stretch themselves, prod their subordinates to seek new frontier and make their organizations outstanding. While other leaders are content with keeping the status quo, they pursue new possibilities. Courageous leaders are neither motivated by praise nor flattened by criticism. What keeps them going is the understanding that their decisions and actions are in the best interest of their organizations. So, they keep pushing until they get their desired outcome even if not many people believe in them.
Alan Mulally left his job as Executive Vice President at Boeing to join Ford Motors as Chief Executive Officer only to find out that the organization was in a dire strait. Ford was losing money on every car it produced and about $18billion yearly. The future looked bleak not just for Ford but for other vehicle manufacturing companies as well, especially after the 2008 global economic meltdown. The USA government offered to bail out the companies, others (General Motors and Chrysler) agreed but Mulally persuaded the board not to take the bailout but to allow him borrow money to reinvigorate the distressed company.
The board agreed and the Ford family also agreed to pledge its stocks as well as the company’s trademark, the Ford Blue Oval, as collateral. It was a daring move but Mulally was able to swing it off through his creative leadership and ‘cultural revolution’. The company regained its market share, became profitable and was able to avoid bankruptcy. So, while its competitors were taken over by the American government, Ford ownership remained unchanged.
Without courage, it will be difficult for leaders to leave a legacy.
O – Opportunity
A major advantage that great leaders have over others is their ability to identify and pursue opportunities. When opportunities are identified, a new vista of possibilities emerges, when opportunities are seized, a new window of revenue generation is created. While identifying and seizing opportunities improve the lot of some organizations and persons, many people miss opportunities because they do not want to soil their hands with the associated work.
Giuliani and September 11
Rudy Giuliani saw the opportunity to force his name into the consciousness of the world when terrorists attacked the World Trade Centre in New York on September 11, 2001 and seized it with both hands. Prior to the attack, he had spent seven uneventful years as the city’s Mayor and he was sliding into irrelevance. But by deciding to step into the scene and coordinating the response of various departments, while also organizing the support of state and federal governments for the affected site, his rating changed. His handling of the disaster became the defining moment of his public service career as it revived his sagging popularity among the city’s residents.
Giuliani had arrived the scene of the attack a few minutes after the second plane crash and immediately took charge of the rescue operations which resulted in saving no fewer than 20,000 lives. Rather than leaving the people despondent, the Mayor gave them hope. He had said, as his response to the debilitating attack on the city, “Tomorrow, New York is going to be here. And we’re going to rebuild, and we’re going to be stronger than we were before… I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can’t stop us.”
Giuliani was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2001, because of his handling of the September 11 attacks. He was also awarded an honorary knighthood in 2002 by Queen Elizabeth II. In 2008, he sought the Republican Party’s presidential nomination. He was regarded by many as a front runner until he withdrew to endorse John McCain, who eventually emerged the candidate.
From a lack-lustre city Mayor, Giuliani later became known as the ‘America’s mayor’, all because he saw an opportunity and made the most of it.