How do you define leadership? 12

[thixoguy]

Hi All,

I had an interview this morning at what seemed to be a very interesting organization. They employ approximately 30 people; skilled machinists.

The company is looking to expand into specialized field in which I have a great many years experience.

The interview went quite well and they seemed somewhat impressed with my skills and experience. More importanly the interviewer stressed how my position would be to provide leadership and mentoring to some of his team members.

He has asked me to return next week and explain what kind of leadership I can bring to the organization.

My question, therfore, is how do you define a good leader?
What quality or qualities do you feel make a good leader?
Why is it that some people have an inherint ability to motivate, inspire and keep people engaged and others do not?
Pick someone who you have dealt with in the past and viewed as a great leader and briefly describe them.

Thanks in advance to all who provide input

thixoguy

 

[PhilBW]

How would it look if you were leading a group of people through the forest? You would endure the bugs and the mud and whatever other hardships they endure. You encourage them when the going gets tough, and lend a hand to help them along the way if necessary. If there are obstacles, you might find a different path to get to the same destination. You can also change course based on the abilities of the people you are leading. You can do this because you are there with them every step of the way and know what they are dealing with, and you know what they are capable of. And when you are finished, you have all accomplished something together.

Someone with a manager mentality would give you instructions and send you on your way. Then he would get in his air conditioned Hummer with leather seats and satellite radio and meet you at the other end. Then he would ask what took you so long.

Translate those descriptions to a job situation and you'll have your answer.

Phil

 

[shin25]

Very frequently, so called leaders like to think, it is their domain and rest are just petty followers. Or, whatever they say will do, doesn't matter if it works or not. These leader also try to create terror, especially if they have the ability to fire employees. At the end, these leaders fail, employees try to distant themselves from this person or good people just leave the company.

In my view, good leaders create friendly environment for the fellow employees, goes and talks to them (not just the department heads) regularly even if the subject matter does not have real importance to the project, respects their vision and opinion, does not hesitate to admit his/her mistake. These leaders realizes it is the employees who make the difference and appreciates their contribution. Sometimes, merely the word 'good job' may do the trick.

A good leader with his/her fellow workers make the difference.

 

[HgTX]

"The ablity to lead effectively is 100% innate. It cannot be learned, sought after, or forced into being. But a leader can hone his/her skills."

Word. I've never understood these "leadership conference" thingies that I keep getting flyers for. If you can lead, you don't need the conference/workshop/whatever. If you can't, no conference or workshop will save you. But I suppose it's a honing thang...

Hg

Eng-Tips policies: faq731-376

 

[IRstuff]

As with most things, there's a portion that's innate, and a portion that's learned.

I think leadership training is a lot like method acting.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[macmet]

I think leadership is a skill that can be developed. True, the best leaders in the world probably did not take leadership clinics to get where they are, but it is possible to make yourself a better leader. To take a quote from PSE:

>You may occasionally get to jump into the trenches but you no longer have the "luxury" of being able to handle everything yourself. Your viewpoint needs to retain a strategic focus. From a team standpoint, in my view, it is nice to have someone who can jump into the everyday fray. However, if you stay in there too long, you can cause people to lose faith in their capabilities. You need to let them know that you trust them to accomplish the work but will assist in resolving obstacles.<

IMO, a good leader gets the most from everyone they work with. They view others as being equal; they realize that to be the best, they need the best from everyone on the team. They know that whether or not they can do the job themselves is not important, it's that the job is done right. They are the leaders that get the entire team to step up and do their best.

Someone without this skill thinks they're above everyone else. They feel it's better for them to do the work and take the credit than to work as a team to get it done. They have no concept of the developing the whole team or what it means to the members to be part of something. They take all the credit and none of the blame. They are the leaders that will not be able to get the other members to work with them when they're in a pinch. They're the ones that will run a team that will never get better, a team that will only ever be as good as one person.

It's true, some people are just born with the teamwork mentality. They don't need workshops to be told this. I think it's also true that there are some people that will read this and still think they're better doing everything themselves. But there are others who might not realize how they're perceived by taking control like this, but are willing to change their attitude to become a better leader.

This was just one of the leadership skills that can be developed with practice.

 

[thixoguy]

WOW! All of the comments and responses are great. There is a great deal of info that has been provided. I wish to thank each of you for taking the time to respond and offering very meaningfull info.

thixoguy

 

[plasgears]

These are some of the noteworthy leaders in my experience:

- Jimmy Doolittle, who inspired and trained Air Force crews to fly B-25's off aircraft carriers. He also liberated fighters to destroy targets on the ground prior to D-day.

- Paul Tibbetts, who led the special B-29 unit that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima. Sweeney, who dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, tells about Tibbetts' leadership in his book, "War's End." A good read.

Good civilian examples abound, but there is something about putting your life on the line in war that brings out leadership in a big way.

 

[graybeach]

I would also add Swede Momsen who invented the submarine rescue chamber and lead the effort to rescue 33 men from the sunken submarine Squalis. He rallied the rescue divers against terrible odds and really did not get the recognition he deserved from the Navy. Maybe another quality of a leader is that he or she puts the success of the mission over the quest for personal glory.

 

[IRstuff]

Interesting comment...

What would one say about leaders like Custer and MacArthur? To some degree, they are both considered to be self-aggrandizing, yet their followers clearly followed them wherever they were led.

TTFN

FAQ731-376

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

"yet their followers clearly followed them wherever they were led."

When you consider the alternatives to not following, that's not really surprising.

 

[Maui]

A leader inspires loyalty, respect, and trust in the people who are under their direction. And these people are motivated to take action that achieves the goals that the leader effectively communicates to them. True leaders are a rare breed.

Maui

 

[Comcokid]

Interesting - Jimmy Doolittle and Swede Momsen as examples of leadership - and they were excellent leaders. And both of these leaders got into a lot of serious trouble for not following the status quo and for upsetting the complacent seat-warmers who surrounded them. Doolittle was court-martialed, basically for proving others wrong by his examples and forward thinking. Momsen never received the promotions he deserved.

Now, I would not exactly pick Custer and MacArthur and top examples of great leaders (at least not in my list). Unlike the first two, both Custer and MacArthur were self-promoters and had huge egos. But then again, both frequently got into trouble in their careers as well and drew many to work under their leadership.

General George Patton is also an example of a leader who somewhat fits inbetween the two groups above (smaller ego issues, inspired those around him, unquestionably capable, but always somewhat in trouble).

A more recent example would be John Boyd. Little Ego, highly capable, and his career ended with little promotion yet his theories and insights have shaped our 21st century military. If you haven't heard of him, read the book Boyd: The Fighter Pilot who changed the Art of War.

Do these observations indicate that true leaders are not only capable and inspire people around them, but also may frequently be in trouble or under attack from incompetent peers?

 

[KENAT]

Doolittle Court Marshalled, sure you don't mean Billy Mitchel?

How about Churchill, or for my American Friends either Roosevelt? Gibson of Dambusters fame, or maybe Park & Dowding of Battle of Britain? Wellington, Nelson, Drake Henry VIth... History is full of them. Of course while one side may view them as great, the other side may not be so kind. And changes in perception over time will change how they are viewed.

Leadership can certainly be developed to some extent, just look at all the acadamies for military leaders dating back a long while. I'm tempted to say you do need some innate ability in the first place though. Hence the interview boards/testing required before you're normally accepted into such institutions.

A lot of great leaders are charismatic, however so are a lot of less celebrated (not quite the right word but hope yo get my point) individuals. Just look at some of the Cult leaders, or even characters such as Stalin, Hitler etc.

Arguably someone that gets himself and his troops killed unnecessarily due to essentially poor tactics etc isn't a great leader overall. I wouldnt' say he was just because he was charasmatic.

Also for most military leaders, their men had to follow them or face courtmartial or the like. One exception to some extent would be George Washington who I understand had to persuade his men to say.

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[PSE]

Leadership: The ability to draw success out of people.

Regards,

 

[KENAT]

http://www.despair.com/leaders.html

Not quite leadership I know but close.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadership

KENAT, probably the least qualified checker you'll ever meet...

 

[jmw]

There is an old saying: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
So, is he asking the right question or are you going to answer the wrong question?

I doubt you will get any consensus on this because leadership qualities (or lack of them) are often unique to the individual.

Chances are that whatever you say will not be what the interviewer thinks. Of course, sometimes interviewers have their own pet questions to ask, perhaps because they "want to see how you think" or because they have their own unique perspective on this (i.e. they are the only people who think so), act surprised and impressed when they tell you the "right answer".)

Some people may know what they think makes a good leader but couldn't, themselves, lead a conga at new year. Others do it without knowing how they do it.

You say you have "a great many years experience."
I'd have to guess that you have experience of leading and mentoring and perhaps the real question should be, not "what makes a good leader?" but "are you a good leader and mentor?" and however you answer the question he asks, you need to get this question answered at ever opportunity.
Bottom line, can you do the job?
Not "how should the job be done?"


JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[whyun]

A good leader was, at one point, a good follower.

 

[Maui]

He who would rule must learn to obey.

Maui

 

[powerhound]

"Those who can, do, Those who can't, teach."

The first time I heard this, it came from someone who couldn't, but thought he could. He was being given remedial training because he couldn't and was bitter about it so he decided to pull the ol' ad hominem on the trainer.

Powerhound, GDTP T-0419
Production Supervisor
Inventor 2008
Mastercam X2
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SSG, U.S. Army
Taji, Iraq OIF II

 

[jmw]

Quite right, Powerhound.

There are, of course, many excellent teachers with a life time of doing behind them but there seem to be an awful lot who think they know how, but have never actually done it and if they had to would find something lacking.

But the point I was trying to make is that when the job calls for leadership and mentoring, which is more important? unproven theories about what intangible qualities are required or is a proven ability to do the job, no matter whether the person doing the job is aware of what characteristics he has or has not?

It would be silly to fail an interview because your definition of leadership differs from the interviewers when, if allowed to, you can actually do it.

IF leadership qualities could be precisely quantified then it would be straightforward to only select as leaders those with the right qualities and there would never be a bad leader. In real life it is often only by seeing someone do that we recognise their true abilities.

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com