To BE or not to be
It’s not even a question really, is it? Leaders don’t get to choose. Leaders cannot choose to be a leader most of the time and choose not to be one at times when it is not convenient, at times when it is difficult, at times when it is seemingly not necessary. To quote Tom Peters: “Leaders BE”. This is the BE in the renowned U.S. Army leadership principles, be, know, do recognized by the likes of Peter Drucker and Noel M. Tichy as a premier model for leadership development. This is the BE in the Gandhi quote: “be the change you want to see in the world”. This is the BE in Susan Scott’s “be there and be no where else”. Two words: Leaders BE.
Over the past couple of weeks, I have witnessed many leaders in action in the space I will call NOT BEING. To wit: the top leader of an organization chooses not to attend the company’s annual Family Day. A leader blows off a meeting with his team and leaves them hanging for over 30 minutes creating much waste. A leader repeatedly misses deadlines set with her team. A leader commits to follow up by a specific time…and never does. A leader chooses to spend time on personal tasks vs. time on supporting the needs of the team. I could go on. What gives here? If your blood isn’t boiling right now then you are not paying attention. What is at risk when leaders drift off into the NOT BEING sink hole? How does this action or lack there of affect the team? This not-so-silent-and-very-deadly killer is choking the potential right out of businesses. Many of them. Yours?
Take the stand. Be the leader you want to see in the world and be no where else….ever. 24/7. Leaders never close. Leaders BE.
Thank you Sunshine Dixon, Brian Francis Hume, Chris Garrett, Ronnie Noize, Jennifer Powers, Patrice Cook, and Adam Kayce for inspiring me to become more of who I can become.
Mr. George Meet Mr. Brinson
I picked Manuel out of a sea of bright-eyed boys and girls with grass stains on their shirts and legs like baby colts. Manuel was to be my official support person during my opportunity to speak with the kids after a grueling day at the Myles Brinson JR Adams Football Camp in Gilroy, CA a couple of weeks ago. On cue he read from the card: ”you are successful when you help others become successful”. When I looked out at the 100+ faces I wondered if my interactive plan was going to work. Then, determined to boldly surge ahead, I asked them: How do you help your team mates be successful? How do you help your friend that just got a 68 on his math test become successful? How do you help your Mom become successful? (Here is a hint for parents: the kids said “clean my room”, “take out the trash”, “be nice to my sisters”. Take this information and run with it!). The kids know. They know about helping others be successful.
What happens to us as we grow into adults and leaders? Gordon MacKenzie, in his most creative book, Orbiting the Giant Hairball, proposes that societal norms squash our creative genius and force us to be normal and surrender to the status quo. All kids think they are artists in first grade but by 6th grade perhaps a single brave soul might still be clinging to that claim. So, with that thought in mind, it is easy for me to make the leap and wonder: do we all start out knowing that you are successful when you help others become successful and then as we mature into working adults and leaders of organizations big and small do we succumb to societal pressure and live in our worlds of “I” or “It’s all about me”? Poke your head up from your cubicle and look around. Do you see living proof of what Manuel read from my card?
Fortunately, I don’t work in a cubicle but I have living proof. Mr. Bill George meet Mr. Marlowe Brinson. In his most recent article in Fast Company, author Bill George nailed it: “authentic leaders understand that leading is not about advancing themselves and their personal interests, but serving others and bringing them together around a common cause.” Authentic leadership = serving others. Indeed, great companies are built by these leaders who inspire others to greatness. So, show me authentic leadership! Enter Mr. Brinson. Marlowe is a team leader for a large manufacturing business and a one-of-a-kind coach, father, husband, friend, community member and human being. I have not met his equal. There is not a second of his waking moments that he is not in service of others. Marlowe is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get)…and that is authentic Marlowe doing the deed every day of bringing out the best in everyone he comes in contact with. Watching him coach at the camp he created in honor of his son, Myles, you see a man that gets it coaching a battalion of kids that get it. It may be 95 degrees in Gilroy but I have goose bumps on my arms when I am at camp. I know a small minority of authentic leaders can change the world. I’ve seen it.
Have you seen authentic leadership in action? Is it in you? I am collecting sightings so please let me know where you have witnessed authentic leadership in action. It just takes a few, rare leaders to change the world. Tell me where you have seen it. And, oh, Manuel, I am counting on you.
