Stages Toward Leadership

Leaders are not born but made.   Leaders invent themselves by making a commitment to the highest standards of trust, which they must earn through service to those with whom they work.

        For discussion purposes, the development of leadership in a supervisory capacity is examined.  To aid the discussion, distinctions are made among supervisors, managers and leaders, which follow.

 The Supervisor.  Generally, supervisors share core functions.  The supervisor is accountable for the performance of specific duties that are delegated to subordinates.   The supervisor directs the work, monitors performance and evaluates results.  Provided all tasks are completed to acceptable standards, and within acceptable time frames, the supervisor has been successful, but is not necessarily a leader.

The Manager.  To advance towards leadership, the supervisor must become a manager.  A manager performs all of the duties of a supervisor but with notable additions.   A manager identifies the forces that are external to the assigned tasks and controls those forces to the benefit of the organization and the work group.  External forces may include operational, technological and budgetary issues among many others.  

For example, operational forces may include directives from the manager’s superiors, which change the scope of work.   Changes in technology may require that the work group learn new procedures for service delivery.  Changes in the budget may change how services are delivered, when services are delivered and who delivers them.   When budgetary changes infringe on the work unit’s ability to complete its tasks, a manager identifies needs, establishes priorities, redirects resources or acquires additional resources, redesigning service delivery procedures to maximize efficiency and productivity.

        Managers implement new programs, hire new employees, make reassignments, allocate resources and balance the budget.   Successful managers understand that these actions are not performed in a vacuum but rather occur within the framework of the existing work unit who are directly impacted by the changes he or she make.  Therefore, the managerial role requires broader skills of a technical and political nature.  At this point in the manager’s development, the manager has taken an important step towards leadership.

The Leader.  Most supervisors become managers, but not all managers become leaders.  Managers have the potential to lead if they possess the respect of the work group and most importantly, if they are trusted.  But having the potential to lead does not guarantee the manager will become a leader.   To become a leader, the manager must view the employees not as a work group but as a team, working together towards a common goal.  

        But simply viewing the work group as a team does not create one.  Team building is an art form.   A committee can be created by edict, but the creation of a team requires an attitudinal transformation occurring over time.

        But how is it done?  How does this transformation take place?   How do employees come to view themselves as a team working toward common goals rather than as individuals slotted to perform specific tasks?  First of all, we must understand that trust and respect for each other bind teams to the organization, and to their leader.  Teams do not develop in a leaderless environment.  A high performance team cannot develop without leadership, nor will it perform as a team in an environment of distrust and fear.  To transform a work group into a high performing team, it is essential that trust and respect for each other dominate a workplace that is free of fear, and it starts with the leader.

        The leader controls the work environment and it must be free of fear.  The work group must know the leader can be trusted, absolutely.  Therefore, the leader must tell the truth, always. The leader must demand respect, not of himself but respect of each other.  If the leader treats all employees with respect, the leader will be respected.   The leader must be consistently intolerant of those who disrespect others.  Respect cannot be commanded; it must be earned by being respectful. The leader must criticize privately and praise publicly. It is the leader’s responsibility to foster creativity not stifle it.  A leader’s management philosophy that incorporates these principles has transformed an environment where teams can flourish.

        When a manager can do these things, leadership is within reach.

Serve to Lead 

I am convinced from experience that employees emulate the characteristics of their boss.  If the boss appreciates the value of humor in the workplace, laughter is commonplace.  Smiles replace frowns.  If the boss is in a bad mood, a pall hangs over the workplace that day.  When he opens the door for another, a door will be opened for him.  When the boss sincerely demonstrates concern for the well being of an employee’s family member, the employee will return concern in kind.  If the boss celebrates the employee’s milestones, his will be celebrated too.  When the boss shares an employee’s grief, his grief will be shared as well.

        Little things make a leader. Supervisors and managers know they have the authority to assign work and expect it to be done.   So do leaders, but leaders help.  Leaders not only help, they sincerely want to help, because they know it is important to be viewed as a member of a team, not the ruler of a work group.   They understand it is consistent with the goals and objectives of the organization to run an effective and efficient operation and recognize that everyone, working together, have a much better chance of succeeding than does a group of employees slotted to perform specific tasks.

        Help can take many forms from working side-by-side with subordinates to acquiring and applying resources for use by the team to advocating for the team with superiors.  Leaders help by accepting the responsibility of the team’s failures and giving credit to the team for all successes. 

        Strong and effective leaders understand the value of loyalty, not only to superiors but to the team as well and strive to assure that loyalty to one is not disloyal to the other.  Leaders must have the ability to anticipate a potential clash between incongruent loyalties and assure that the clash never occurs.   In doing so, leaders help their teams.

        Recognizing accomplishments, achievements, no matter how small, make a leader.  Leaders routinely perform random acts of kindness.  They recognize that no one is better than any other, that everyone is important and has something to add. 

        In many ways, it is ironic that leadership, as important as it is, can be acquired through little things, but these little things add up.  When trust, respect, loyalty, tolerance, truthfulness, generosity, kindness, patience, humor, morality, ethics and a host of other like characteristics are sincerely and skillfully applied to the work place, a transformation occurs.  That transformation makes everything possible, all goals attainable, all objectives within reach.  In this environment, teams can be built because a leader has emerged.

        Leadership cannot be purchased and cannot be assigned.  It is a gift that must be earned, but it is no ordinary gift.   The gift of leadership comes with a lease, extended by the members of the team but with a cancellation clause, no notice required.  When the team loses confidence in their leader, due to a violation of trust, betrayal, immoral or unethical conduct or any other legitimate reason, the leader’s standing is lost, the gift withdrawn.  A leader can reach full potential when the team grants the right of leadership, which will be granted only by establishing and maintaining an environment of absolute trust. 

 Trust In The End

The road to leadership is paved with service and built on trust. It begins when the manager is trusted.  It ends when he is not.  It is nurtured through service and fueled by the conviction that the workplace is an ideal location to apply the best of human nature to the benefit of the organization and those who work for it. 

        Leadership, therefore, is a set of convictions that guide the leader through the challenges of public administration.  The concept is simple but its implementation is not.  For those of us who have employed these practices and reaped the benefits for our organizations and for ourselves, we recognize this leadership philosophy as fundamental for optimal organizational performance.  Despite the difficulties, the end result is worth it, every time.

        If you would like to discuss these concepts with me in more detail, please feel free to write to me at:  dfrey@netins.net

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