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Leaders lead Leaders

I was reading the article entitled, “Leadership Run Amok” on the Bnet Today and was immediately struck by the idea that one of the difference between a good leader and a poor leader is that a good leader cultivates leadership ability within the lives of those under his leadership.

Some leaders make the mistake of trying to force those below him in the management structure to conform to his ideas. A better approach is to lay out the mission and philosophy - from the top - and then solicit ideas from those who will actually carry out the work. The leader measures the new ideas against the mission and philosophy and then gives approval for the initiative. This structure has some great advantages.

It keeps the discussion from becoming personal. Policy is discussed in an objective manner - ideas are measured against mission and philosophy of the organization, not against the subjective personality of the person in charge. Disagreement may arrise on the philosophical and missional level, not over details. Ideas are accepted or rejected on their merits, not the whims of leadership. This set-up helps to avoid personal offenses and keeps the discussion focused on the issues. 

Under this paradigm, the confrontation that happens in the committee meetings is structured so that all are encouraged to submit ideas to accomplish the mission. If colleagues disagree on the missional level, there are three choices that can be made:

1. Submit to and support the mission.
2. Leave to find a place where you agree with the mission.
3. Seek to change the mission.

It is up to leadership to handle each situation without personal offense and mold your team into a cohesive unit that is bound by the mission.

The leader can fully harness the energy of the subordinate when they know they are free to submit solutions to the challenges presented by the mission. When a solution is approved by the leader, the coworker has immediate ownership of the idea and the supervisor can entrust the individuals that he oversees with the responsibility to accomplish the task. The subordinate has ownership of the idea and can be expected to assume leadership in his area.

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