Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to attend a conference on Leadership. The keynote speaker was a gentleman from Hades who shared with the attendees his struggles as a child that ultimately lead to his accomplishments as an adult and as a successful leader within one of the largest healthcare giants in the world. One of the more profound edicts he shared with the audience was his definition of a leader.
Being completely engrossed in this gentleman’s presentation I failed to take what one would consider “copious” notes, but here is the sum total of what he presented that explains the difference between an authentic leader and a disingenuous leader. An Authentic leader reaches out to the people of their organization and listens to what they have to say, but not as a consideration of their opinions, but rather as an invaluable aid to getting things done collectively. A disingenuous leader sets up a bureaucracy that makes it almost impossible for their people to reach out to them to share their concerns, dreams and opportunities. POWERFUL STUFF!
An authentic leader understands that the answers are among their constituents and leverages the skills, abilities and passion of their people to ensure they reach a united vision. A disingenuous leader posits and positions their own vision for personal gain and believes it is because of them that the vision exists and is achieved; they believe that the people “need” them more than they need the people. PROFOUND!!
Authentic leaders not only encapsulate the intellectual capacity to help their organization reach their vision, but they also have the emotional, social and civil intelligence to embrace the desires of their people to create the ultimate win-win – that being an inclusive (there's that word again) vision that considers all stakeholders as part of the success story. TAH DAH!!!
An Authentic Leader leaves a legacy that is respected, admired and benchmarked for years and years to come. They manifest their passion for people!
Progress With Purpose!
12 years ago
2 comments:
Perhaps our Superintendent who has so much potential should take note. He will be the cause of his own downfall if he does not humble himself and welcome all.
We can only hope and pray that he will see the light. He has to understand that yelling and playing the role of the bully does not work to get people to join with you, rather that will make people run far away from any good that you might want to do. Maybe he will come to this understanding....soon.
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