Follow The Leader

Written by: Deb Sparrow

Published: May 2014

Leadership is a choice, not a rank. Simon Sinek

Of all of the great expectations that we have for leadership, I've found inspiration to be high on the list. According to 19th century author and thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson, "our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be." As I learn more about leading and consider my own ambitions, I've found that to be true. We all want to be inspired, and we all want to be valued and encouraged to achieve our best.

Emerson was an interesting guy. After all, this was Henry David Thoreau's mentor and life coach, so to speak. He was strongly of the "self-reliance" school of thought, so why wouldn't he be encouraging people to find their own inspiration, within themselves, instead of seeking it from others? As it turns out, he was, but it isn't easy without a trusted outside perspective and an occasional nudge.

We don't always see ourselves accurately, and we may not be the best judges of where our true potential lies. Sometimes our circumstances and thought patterns blind us to both our strengths and our weaknesses. I believe that a strong leadership foundation, modeled by others and developed within ourselves, can provide us with the catalyst we need to see future possibilities more clearly. We may not always be able to define good leadership, but we know it when we experience it, and we certainly know when we're not experiencing it. We know instinctively what type of leader we want to follow, and what type we are unwilling to follow. Understanding what drives those instincts can also help us to recognize and realize our own hidden potential.

So, then, is leadership an art or a science? Are people born leaders, or can leadership be developed? Is there a formula or map to guide us as we seek to become better at leading? Yes, yes, and as I'm learning, yes! I believe that leadership is both a feeling created by a set of behaviors and a concrete set of measurable practices, and therefore could be considered both art and science. I also believe that some people have natural leadership ability and others can develop that ability with the right attitude and effort. I have also found a number of resources that have been very valuable to me as I work to develop my own leadership understanding and abilities.

One of the first leadership books I discovered was John Maxwell's The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. I stumbled across it at the bookstore one day and it caught my eye as I was preparing to attend a high-level leadership development program. One of my favorite leadership quotes comes from the book:

"True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned. It comes only from influence, and that cannot be mandated. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time--either to increase your level of influence with others or to undermine it."

Oh. Or, as I recall from my leadership learning awareness at the time, "uh-oh." The part about increasing influence or undermining it was bit of a reality check for me that I had some work to do.

Clearly, influence is a big part of leadership, along with inspiration. The second lesson that stays with me from Maxwell's book is that people naturally follow leaders who are stronger than they are. That has to do with respect. A person who can't seem to earn respect and doesn't know why will struggle as a leader because he or she won't have many followers. Regardless of title or position, people won't willingly follow someone who is unable to earn their respect. In order to do so, a leader has to consistently and positively communicate a vision and understand how their behavior impacts people. If a positional leader leaves people feeling embarrassed or shamed, those people will look elsewhere for the inspiration they need. What I like about Maxwell is the reinforcement that core values and behavior choices are necessary every day for authentic leaders, with great examples that show why leadership is important.

Inspiration, influence, and respect are all important pieces of the leadership puzzle. And yet, there are so many more required traits and behavior choices that developing leaders need to have and make if they want their leadership to be recognized and valued. If I had to make a list of what I require from leadership, including from myself, in addition to inspiration, influence, and respect, I'd probably go with trust, humility, courage, action, discipline, presence, and willingness to listen and learn. What would you put on your list?

Another leadership resource that I've found valuable is a book by James Kouzes and Barry Posner called The Leadership Challenge. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a true "how-to" guide for leadership. I found this book just as I thought I was making some leadership growth headway, and basically found out that I was missing some fairly significant but necessary leadership steps. "Uh-oh," indeed. Some of the best lessons from this book are that "credibility is the foundation of leadership," and "if you don't believe in the messenger, you won't believe the message."

Kouzes and Posner are strong advocates for authenticity and modeling the actions and behavior that you expect from others. That makes sense, and we all need someone from time to time to point out if our words and behaviors are not appropriately consistent. I don't know about you, but for me, it became clear pretty quickly if someone, a teacher, a coach, or a supervisor, wasn't modeling the behavior that they insisted on from me.

My greatest lessons from the book have been the reinforcement of things that I didn't necessarily want to hear, the first of which is that leaders need to allow people to get to know them and connect with them on a human level. I protect my space and privacy better than most, so my first reaction was 'yuck,' and then, 'no way'. I'm not kidding. Intuitively, however, I understood. So, I shared a little, and amazing things started to happen. People found out that I like to write, and that I do have a sense of humor. They also found out what we can accomplish together. I've learned how much it means to people to have someone in your corner who believes that you can do great things. I guess that's what happens when you learn the science and practice the art of leadership.

Thank you for reading. Your feedback is welcome.

Deb Sparrow

Deb Sparrow worked in financial services senior leadership for over 25 years. She is a firm believer that "the universe always falls in love with a stubborn heart" as she explores the fork in the road and writes about it from time to time. She is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Priority Learning's inaugural Executive Leadership series. Follow her on LinkedIn at Deb Sparrow worked in financial services senior leadership for over 25 years. She is a firm believer that "the universe always falls in love with a stubborn heart" as she explores the fork in the road and writes about it from time to time. She is a graduate of Bowdoin College and Priority Learning's inaugural Executive Leadership series. Follow her on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-sparrow/.