The Lost Intern Blog # 4 - Leadership

6/11/09

Leadership is a key element in a business's success. Without leadership, there would be no one to motivate the TEAM. Who comes to mind when you hear the word "leadership": William Wallace (from Braveheart), Caesar, and even Hitler (what he did was terrible but he was able to do it because of strong leadership; he had the passion but did not take on the responsibility). Leadership does not have to come from the top of the organization but can come from any level of the corporate ladder. To be a leader, one must possess passion and responsibility for their business. They must be decisive, passionate, responsible, inspirational and a visionary. The stronger leader someone is, the stronger the TEAM will be.

While traveling around with Coach Reggie, I can pick out the good leaders from the non-leaders (or managers). He has taught me that there is a difference between being a manager and a leader. When hiring a new TEAM member, a manager is looking for someone who is best suited for the job in mind and body. They are looking at their basic credentials, like what school they went to, their GPA, and past jobs. A leader is looking for someone who has heart and spirit. Someone who can bring that extra to a TEAM. When they show up to work, they are their to improve the business, not just receive a paycheck. If you are high up on the corporate ladder of a business, you must realize that people are counting on you to set them in the right direction. A leader must give the TEAM a vision and set long term goals for them to seek. A or are there to improve the business. When a business is not improving, whether moving along at the same pace or slowly falling, most likely it is because leadership is unclear. Coach Reggie draws out the passion of his clients that they have lost along the path of their business.

”Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of succes;

leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.”

- Stephen R. Covey

Lack of leadership results in absenteeism, low moral, poor results/ growth, lack of results and those are just a few of them. A leader must show confidence that others admire. Confidence comes from knowledge. The more you know, the more confident you will be. In order to learn, one must have self-discipline. If you have something to do that can help you in the future, do it NOW! It might cause a little grief now, but loads of pleasure later. If you put it off, you will have some pleasure now, but guilt in the future.

"If people are coming to work excited . . . if they're making mistakes freely and fearlessly . . . if they're having fun . . . if they're concentrating doing things, rather than preparing reports and going to meetings - then somewhere you have leaders." - Robert Townsend

PJ Fox

ActionCOACH Intern