Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Hit the Ground Running and Take ’Em Deep

LEADERSHIP IS HONESTY AND COMPETENCE. It’s as simple as that really. It doesn’t matter if it is self-leadership, spiritual leadership, workplace leadership or leadership of an empire, honesty and competence will take you further than any two other attributes.

Leadership in any walk of life is about hitting the ground running and going deep. It’s transformational at its best.

HONESTY

Honesty is hitting the ground running because it’s essentially the bridge of rapport. We don’t get to first base with people or ourselves without being honest. Both parties can smell unauthenticity miles off. Think about it, we cannot develop and hence transform ourselves if we’re not honest. Likewise, people will quickly dismiss us if they feel we’re not the real deal.

COMPETENCE

Competence is essentially about credibility and hence the ability to take people “deep.” Honesty started the charge, and credibility never gets a chance without the trust of engaged honesty.

Competence is the oil of sustainability regarding leadership from a technical standpoint. And depth is never encountered without much competence to hold a membership seeking that sense of technical mastery with which to trust in.

HONESTY & COMPETENCE

The greatest leaders of history were masters first of these two. Their honesty saw them enjoy the confidence of admitting the things they didn’t know, and this authenticity—which is such an alluring quality—endeared them to their charges, such that they soon did know and were hence found competent.

Likewise, the technically competent have the consciousness of being to note incongruence, and with their passion for truth, so the team doesn’t miss out, they quickly find re-dress for the situation in ways that engenders positive results for the person(s) affected and the team.

Leadership is power. It hits the ground running and takes ’em deep!

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.

Acknowledgement: My thanks to a colleague, Keith Britton, for reminding me of these two key ingredients of leadership.

No comments:

Post a Comment