Break away from the old methods

On February 02, 2009, in Top leadership, by Neculai Fantanaru

Clarify your ideas and validate your hypotheses regarding the beneficial or harmful effects of your leadership in terms of your influence exerted on others.

Imagine the following scenario

Year 1940. On the streets of Berlin, a family consisting of husband, wife and two children of three and respectively four years, are hurrying home.

They almost reach the front of their house when five individuals dressed in black coats, quickly pounce upon them. Meinhard felt a blow on the nape, and instantly loses his consciousness.

Five hours later, he awakens curled up, naked, into a shatterproof glass balloon, in a small dark room. He looks around disoriented, trying to figure out where he is, and how could he get out of there. Then, his eyes discreetly are turning on the left of the room, when a tall and a well-made mister put on the light.

- Listen to me, carefully, and do not utter a word! You will never find out who I am or where you are. Your family is safe for the moment. If you still want to see your wife and children, you will have to help us. Your task is to think and tell us what caused the explosion of the U778 submarine before it will be immersed in the Irish waters. On your left is a file with all the information related to submarine and the latest transmissions that were made by the members of the crew. You have 48 hours until it will be consumed the oxygen from the shatterproof glass balloon, in which you are. If you do not provide us a credible and concrete response in all this time, it is not only that will you die suffocated, but we will also kill all your family.

Are you helping people to think freely, or you are forcing them to push their limits as far as possible?

Is it worth for your model of leadership to be taken as an example? Does your model form people or put to test their spiritual and mental strength of accepting you at their leadership? What can be said about the quality of your character?

Think well what kind of leader you want to become, because people will determine your path. People are the ones that are adding you value, and that help you achieve a high level of performance by their power of penetrating the essence of your leadership and accepting your beliefs. Nevertheless, what example can you be if the main feature that characterizes your leadership style is overshadowed by some harmful values?

Are you propelling people towards excellence, or they are going to it by themselves?

If you want to become a good leader, then help people to think freely, motivate them to find solutions to any kind of problems, but without constraining them in any way. If you promote subversive methods of persuasion and manipulation, if you force people to do what they do not feel comfortable to do, especially in an environment where their talent cannot flourish, then it is clear that your model of leadership does not bring any kind of benefit.

Do you have a plan of your leadership development, through a positive change of yourself? Clarify your ideas and validate your hypotheses regarding the beneficial or harmful effects of your leadership in terms of your influence exerted on others.

Are you making a balanced game?

In football, the balanced game means to create a fair distribution of forces, both between the compartments of the team as well as to counter any action of the opponent.

Leadership can be a balanced "game" only if you realize an appropriate distribution of your sphere of influence that would protect your health and integrity. Your major responsibility is to be a model for the art of relating to other people, and also a model of character. In order to optimize your own performance it requires a more careful analysis of the human resources that you have in your subordination.