Leaders: Pride or Humility?

Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”  With pride, we are self centered and believe we have a strength, skill, talent or accomplishment that we have achieved.  When we are self centered like this, we can no longer learn because we are so focused on how good we already are.  Pride is destructive, there is no doubt about it.

When we are humble, we know it is not because of anything that we have done and we are fully and completely reliant on God for strength, skill, talent and provision or accomplishment – anything good.  That is when we have an openness to gain wisdom – only when we take the focus off self and put the focus rightfully on God and how He plans to use the skills He has provided us.

As I look at the proverb quoted above, I find that there is a definitive action that happens depending on the attitude that I have.  If I have an attitude of pride, then disgrace will come.  Notice the proverb is emphatic – it does not say that disgrace might come, or the odds are better than even it will come, or that it will come on alternating Tuesday’s – it just about guarantees that disgrace will come.  It makes me pause and ask the question, is having pride worth the disgrace that will come?  Is pumping myself up so I feel better or that others will look highly upon me worth it when I know that at some point, I will encounter disgrace?

If I have an attitude of humility, then wisdom will come.  We know from other proverbs that wisdom is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold (2:14); wisdom is supreme (4:7).  We also know that fools despise wisdom. Therefore, if we want to have wisdom, one sure way to get it is to have an attitude of humility.  Having an attitude of humility is not about being weak or powerless or any of the other negative connotations that are typically associated with being humble.  Rather, a attitude of humility is displayed when we truly believe that we must still learn, be open to other ideas, that people all around us are more skilled than we are in certain areas, that we don’t have (or need to have) all the answers.

As a leader, do you desire wisdom?  Certainly, the answer is yes.  How do you acquire wisdom?  One way is to have an attitude of humility.  Another is to have an attitude of continued learning from those you can trust.  See the post Who Are You Listening To for more ideas on this.

What has been your experience?  How do you contrast pride and humility? Have you experienced a time when your attitude of humility has resulted in wisdom?  Have you experienced a time when your pride has led to disgrace?  Share with others so we can all learn.

Character Based Leadership

What is character-based leadership?  Quite obviously, it is a leadership style based on character. Duh, you may respond and rightly so.

Digging a bit deeper, what is character?  Some of the words that Webster’s New World Dictionary uses to describe character include “a distinctive trait”, “behavior typical of a person or group”, “moral strength”, “reputation”.

So, I suppose that the leadership style can be based on traits that are positive or negative, that are moral or immoral, and traits that can contribute to or define one’s reputation.  Given these considerations, I guess that most leaders would want to have a good reputation, don’t you think?  We can agree that many leaders who are in the news today including business, government and all other sectors, are “newsworthy” because a flaw has been discovered in the character of their leadership.  We read the story, sit back and say something like, “Well, there goes another one.” For some, it is not just a flaw in the character of their leadership; it is a flaw in their character.

I often wonder what our world would be like if more of our leaders would embrace, practice and really attempt to live out the principles of character based leadership – of having a positive influence on others, on having a focus on the success of others more than self success, on earning and keeping a good reputation.

There is a group that has taken on a challenge to engage other leaders in not only defining character based leadership but doing something intentional and almost revolutionary about advancing it.  The group is called Lead Change Group and is headed up by a friend of mine named Mike Henry.  He and some of his colleagues (and I am privileged to be one of them) have put together plans to gather people to talk about this and do something actionable and intentional about it.  The following comes from the Lead Change Group website providing more of the details. This is unique from the very start, as evidenced by its name – LeaderPalooza 2010.

We’re throwing an un-conference.  That’s right. We want to leverage each others’ ideas and energy in a get-together this February 19-20 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  We won’t have formal speakers and you won’t get a binder.  You will meet great leadership people and create opportunities to be part of something different.  You won’t just sit and listen; you will contribute.  Everyone (who will be attending) is capable of speaking on leadership anyway.  Come and share ideas and create ways to collaborate with other like-minded leadership friends. Will you join us?

The conference registration site is www.LeaderPalooza.com. The location will be at a Hilton Hotel very close to the Ft. Lauderdale Airport. (The room rates are very low, especially considering the time of year and location.) We want to get together, share energy and ideas and make a positive difference through character-based leadership. We believe together we will collaborate and create in a way that we can’t even imagine until we’ve done it. This is a chance for you to act on your beliefs about leadership.

Our world needs your ideas and energy applied toward advancing character-based leadership. Your contribution matters. But more than your individual effort, we need you to be part of a community committed to the same idea, supporting, energizing, equipping and mobilizing each other.  Our world needs us to pull together. Will you? You can get more information and register at www.LeaderPalooza.com.

Are you planning to go?

Leaders Are Teachers

The leader who leads others is also a teacher, whether they realize it or not.  The teacher-leader must provide an example of “service to others” for others to follow. The teacher-leader must also provide a motivation for others to follow.  That is where the “influence” behavior comes in to leadership.  We have all heard the expression that particular leaders have staff that would do anything for the leader.  The military expression is that the troops will go blindly up a hill to follow a leader they respect.

In business and other organizations the expression speaks about going through walls for someone they respect.  These leaders have provided motivation to do something that the staff may not necessarily fully understand.  It is because they have such respect for the leader; they trust that the action the leader has asked is in fact necessary to accomplish some greater good.  The staff is saying they do not necessarily need to know what that end result is but they will press on to accomplish the task anyway. This trust is never because of “positional power”; this trust is earned by the relationship building behaviors of this leader who keeps watch over the people s/he is leading.

Those who may be familiar with teaching techniques for adults (as well as for children) understand that not all people learn by the same method.  Some learn by reading, others by observing and still others by doing.  In his book Teaching to Change Lives, Howard Hendricks says that psychologists believe that we can potentially remember up to 10% of what we read, remember up to 50% of what we see and remember up to 90% of what we do.  Leaders allow other to learn.  They ensure that others will be put in situations where they can use their talents, skills and gifts in order to try new methods.  These situations are such that the company is not going to blow up or go bankrupt if big mistakes are made.  People learn from their successes; they learn more from their failures and mistakes.

Effective teacher-leaders take the time to know how to teach others in the way that the other person will learn.  This means that leaders must alter their teaching style for the benefit of the learner. If a leader expects each person to learn in the same manner, he is sadly mistaken and will no doubt be surprised when some get it and others don’t.  the ineffective teacher-leader will naturally blame the students, whereas the effective teacher-leader will look at himself to understand where he went wrong in the teaching.

Setting the example that we want others to emulate in us is another way to demonstrate this teaching-leader approach.  Actions do really speak louder than words. A message on a local church building says, “Your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” This statement is so true! If we say something, yet do something else or neglect to follow through as we have promised, what do most people believe: our words or our actions?  The teacher-leader fully understands this concept and puts it into practice all the time.  They have earned the right to be called leaders not because someone has appointed or elected them but because they have gained people’s trust and respect by their previous actions. Effective leaders take this to heart and actively teach others to do the same.

Who are some of the great teacher-leaders you know?  Please share with us.

Communication is Essential to Leadership

Why do we read one book, but let another sit on the nightstand for days? Why do we start counting the recessed lights in the conference room when one leader speaks, but really engage when another speaks on the same subject? Why do people walk out of your office after a long meeting and do exactly the opposite of what you just talked about? Communication.

Effective leaders know how, when and why to communicate. They understand that all the performance, action and results that those under their authority obtain must begin with communication.

Most effective leaders spend considerable time thinking carefully and critically about the purpose of their message and how best to communicate that message to their audience, be it an audience of one or 1,000. They deliberately craft their message in terms their audience will understand, even if it means communicating in a style different than their own. They think carefully about the timing of their communication.

God was perfectly clear in His communication. During creation, He communicated what He wanted, and it happened exactly as He said. In communicating to the first man and woman, He spoke clearly (eat anything you want except from the one tree that I have clearly identified) and provided the outcome of disobedience (if you do, you will surely die). Clear communication prevents misunderstanding.

Effective leaders communicate clearly, concisely and in a manner that people can connect to a purpose.  To paraphrase an old adage, leaders who fail to plan their communication are planning for their communication to fail.

In my recently published book, Chapter 4 deals with this whole topic of communication.  There is a discussion on communication styles and a quick quiz to assess the communication style that is most natural for you.  The chapter also provides tips for dealing with different communication styles.  When you can make these adjustments, you will be more successful in delivering your message as it is intended.  You can order it by clicking HERE.

Setting A Vision

Why do some organizations seem to continually grow, prosper and have a positive impact on their community while others flounder, lose money and employees, lose respect and eventually close their doors? Obviously, there can be many explanations. One of the surest explanations has to do with vision; either a lack of a vision, lack of commitment to that vision or lack of clarity of the vision.

Setting a vision provides the foundation and core values for everything you do personally and professionally. Companies or organizations without vision are like sailboats without rudders; they blow wherever the wind takes them. Without a vision, they can be heavily influenced and directed by the marketplace’s changing patterns. They tend to be reactive and not proactive.

Leaders at organizations without a strong vision do their own thing with little connection to the company’s main purpose. These leaders, not to mention employees, often feel frustrated, disconnected, and unappreciated. Setting a vision and regularly reminding employees of that vision allows them to stay engaged, connected and contributes to their motivation to perform. It enables them to see and have a purpose in their work.

Establishing and communicating a vision provides the building blocks of leadership. It enables leaders to speak to, guide and direct their staff with purpose and resolve. It allows leaders to establish measurements of progress. It enables leaders to set clear goals that drive people and the organization in a specific direction to accomplish a desired result or outcome. Vision provides an essential ingredient to employee motivation. A worthwhile exercise is to look at the vision you have as a leader and determine if it truly motivates employees.

Effective leaders spend a great deal of time thinking through what the vision ought to be, how to make it compelling so others will be energized by it, and how to reinforce it and keep it top of mind among staff. They do not rush into it nor do they take on this critical assignment on their own. They engage with others to provide input, dissect, tear apart and otherwise reconstruct the vision to ensure the outcome is clear, concise and passionate. Most importantly, effective leaders strive to have a vision that is larger than they are as individuals. As Christian leaders, they strive to have a vision that has an Eternal and Kingdom-focused impact.

I have outlined the steps to take in setting a vision in my recently published book Leadership Lessons From THE BOOK. You can order it by clicking HERE.