2 Paradigms of a Leader
Leadership is not so much an activity as it is a Paradigm. The reason is, behavior -or the act of leadership- will always follow one's paradigm of leadership.
There are two basic paradigms of leadership:
- leadership as service to self
- leadership as service to others
Leadership as Service to Self
I'm sure many of us have seen leadership as "service to self". We have most likely all had the displeasure of working with, or witnessing, a president, a manager, or supervisor that had the "service to self" paradigm. Here are a few examples:
- These people see their position as a means to personal gain first and foremost.
- Their actions speak louder than their words- no matter how eloquent those words are- that they are in this for "me".
- They often are constantly seeking positions of power above all else, power for their own benefit.
- They will often disregard the needs and concerns of those under their leadership, because their focus is on themselves.
- The "services" performed in their job duties are often just enough to meet the requirements of their position.
- They would rather not learn new things, just the minimum to get by. Personal growth is a chore.
- If their is any sort of difficulty or failure on the part of those under them, they look to pass blame and responsibility downward immediately, as it moves it farther from themselves.
- When faced with a difficult situation, they often look to pass blame to those that came before them, or those around them, anything to offload responsibility.
- Because of their focus on self, little effort is given to building up the people under them, or the organization they serve.
- They may act politically, looking to their own benefit, by making the politically popular decisions, not necessarily the decisions that actually benefit those under them.
- They often fear those around them attaining power or ability that may rival their own, they look to surround themselves with those less threatening.
- A poor leader spends time trying to make himself look good, often at the expense of his team.
Leadership as Service to Others
These leaders are more of a rarity. Some of us have had the great pleasure of working under these people, and watched how well they were able to serve us, and our organizations with aplomb. Here are a few examples of their behaviors:
- These leaders see their positions of power as an opportunity for more influence, and to serve in the best interests of others.
- Their actions speak louder than their words- no matter how dull and boring those words are- that they are in this for the benefit of "others".
- They are often seeking to expand their influence, for the benefit of teams, organizations and companies they work for.
- They hold the needs of those under them in the highest importance.
- Their services often go above and beyond what is required of them.
- They are constantly learning- they are "students of the game".
- If there is any difficulty or failure involving people under them, they assess the situation, look to themselves, and scrutinize their leadership first- they remember the saying: "There are no bad teams, only bad leaders." Only when they have exhausted all leadership avenues do they move on with extreme prejudice.
- When faced with a difficult situation they avoid placing blame where possible, and instead take full responsibility and ownership, realizing that in actuality, they alone bear it.
- They look to build up those under them, to improve individuals, the organization, and the world as a whole. But they give no free rides- they would rather teach a man to fish than give him a fish. With this in mind, they can seem harsh at times, and hold high expectations of those under them. But these high expectations are in place because they have assessed and estimated the true abilities of their people, and know its a leader's job to bring out peak performance.
- Good leaders also have faith in their fellow man, they visualize people's potential, and see no man as weak, disadvantaged or otherwise incapable. They see everyone as capable of achieving a high level of success, if they only learn to see that for themselves.
- They can often make politically unpopular decisions, but trust that those decisions are in the best interest of the individuals and the organization they serve. They are guided by principles, not politics or personal gain.
- They want to surround themselves with people smarter than they are, they know their power lies in their service, not in their abilities alone.
- A good leader knows they cannot make themselves look good, they look good only when their team looks good.
As leaders, it is important to self evaluate, and even be open to evaluation by others. Easier said than done, but the goal is to have all of our actions reflect a paradigm of service to those we are meant to lead.
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Leadership
Paradigms
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