taking in some of the coverage of the passing of tim russert this past weekend, i was struck by many things. at one point, someone mentioned that russert had said that now that the primary season was over, the next thing we should be doing is looking at leadership qualities, looking to history to show us examples of good leadership, and talking about how those qualities with reference to obama and mccain.
i kind of like that idea.
so here we go.
"no enterprise can exist for itself alone. it ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others; or failing therein it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist." ~ President calvin coolidge
ask someone to list what they think important qualities of a leader are. go ahead. take a minute. i'll wait. i'm guessing words like passion, vision, determination or even 'someone who gets things done' were listed. perhaps 'a good communicator' made this list. was empathy even mentioned? if it was, how far down the list was it?
empathy can be defined as: identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives. to put it another way, it is the ability to project yourself onto someone else's situation or position. to be able to "feel their pain," as bill clinton used to say. are our leaders able to do that? are they doing that?
in the work world, this means that senior management truly understands the impact that gas costing $4.05-4.19 a gallon has for the people commuting a half an hour or more just to make $8.50-10.00 an hour. does your senior management understand what the lower levels of their organization is going through? what they worry about? what truly impacts them?
it also means that as a leader, you're committed to what deming said:
"the most valuable "currency" of any organization is the initiative and creativity of its members. every leader has the solemn moral responsibility to develop these to the maximum in all his people. this is the leader's highest priority." ~ w. edwards deming in principle centered leadership.
do your leaders know that they cannot possibly develop their employees without caring about them? and employees know the difference between a boss who says "good job" because it's expected and they think it makes them look good to those higher up, and a boss who truly cares about them, knows what's going on with them, and helps bring them along.
what about congress? i remember being struck watching a discussion in congress about healthcare. i was in the middle of negotiating our benefits renewals. and there stood john kerry talking about the people's struggle for healthcare in this country. now, i'm sure senator kerry has done his research. and i'm sure he understands this problem on a certain level. but as i watched, i couldn't help but wonder if someone like john kerry, with a great health care program and access to the best doctors in boston or around the country on a whim, truly knew anyone and could truly empathize with someone who didn't have it and couldn't afford it. (he may be a bad example. because maybe he does. but that's just what i thought while watching him.)
believe me, boston, the blue states, the washington d.c. bubble?
things look completely different from the midwest.
in the same way, as one gains power and rises to the top of an organization, their world-view changes. their view looks completely different from the $8.50 an hour view. it takes a certain dedication to develop this quality in order to hang on to it as we move up through the ranks.
how does your leadership team in organization stack up?
how do obama and mccain?
how do you?
all the best!
deb
