I wanted to go a bit off topic tonight and talk about leadership. I am looking to hire a candidate this week, and it really got me thinking about whether I’m sticking to the leadership philosophy I wrote down earlier in the year.
That post was driven by a management seminar my company sponsored in November of last year called the culture of performance. It was a great seminar, and one takeaways was that leadership is within each of us. If we’re expecting someone else to provide guidance, then we’ll always depend on someone else for inspiration at work, and that is something we can control.
I believe you can find inspiration in work by being a leader and developing a personal leadership philosophy. This philosophy is followed by you, and in turn, you expect others to follow it. When it’s not followed, you call out why it’s not and reinforce the philosophy. Soon, the philosophy becomes part of you, and it’s in your day to day life.
The focus on leadership is what’s within you. It’s difficult to lead if you don’t have a strong sense of self, confidence, and humility. Without this combination, it’s difficult to learn and grow (since without humility, it’s hard to be wrong). A great quote by Emerson I think illustrates a strong essence of leadership focus, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”
So here’s my leadership philosophy as posted earlier in the year:
- Be on time – it’s important to be respectful of other people’s time. I expect people to respect my time as well
- Listen actively – Whether I agree or disagree with what you say, I will listen to you and acknowledge your viewpoint. If it’s a matter of opinion, I will hold your opinion in high esteem and not judge you based on it. Everyone is different. We grew up in different environments, and I will listen to what you have to say
- Everyone is a teacher – respect everyone I meet because each person has something to teach me. Closing the door on a person is closing the door on an opportunity
- Don’t spread yourself thin – Focus on one thing and do it really well. If I’m so busy that this can’t happen, then work extra hours temporarily and find a way to manage this so it doesn’t continue. Always be VERY GOOD at what I do. Don’t do things mediocre
- Push the limits – just when I think I can’t do more, I usually can. Push to do more. Constantly be amazed with challenging the realm of personal possibility
- Smell the roses – this is my most difficult thing. When a job is completed, celebrate. Don’t forget what I’ve done to get here.
- Say Thank You – to everyone who helped me do a good job, I will say thank you.
- Be assertive – to everyone who prevented me from being my best, be assertive and constructive in letting them know what I need next time.
- Learn from the past, but always look forward – I must understand how I got here, but I understand in order to know where I’m going