There is a Need for Good Leaders
I feel like there might be dearth of good leaders, but then again we are all human and we are probably constantly evaluating trade offs. But what trade offs are taken are key.
I have a few thoughts on what makes a good leader and a few gripes.
Going from place to place, I observe leaders not willing to delegate and just hoping for someone to stand up and volunteer. And if somebody doesn’t volunteer, the leader makes some comment that doesn’t really encourage volunteers to happen in the future.
Or, I observe leaders not really engaging with the ones they lead and they pretend like they’re available. Those leaders make false assumptions and the do things based on them. A good leader requires people skills and effective communication.
Now, there are definitely groups of people that are probably going to complain no matter what. I am familiar with these kinds of people, and they’ll complain when they can. At some points I feel like I was one of those persons as well, and I am embarrassed of myself to admit it. I have experienced enough to know that being a complainer won’t be productive in the long run.
I have seen that a leader has an explanation that is no where near what the workers concerns are. So then the explanation is not validation and it’s risking to be perceived as condescending.
A leader needs to be present for who they are leading. This creates a great team culture. How can a leader be present? Prompt and conscious interactions.
A leader needs to create and be responsible for the culture. They must realize that the mission they are driving is very risky to manipulate the ones they are leading. The ones that are laid off and were for the mission will have such a hard time to reconcile the dissonance.
Work satisifaction is a stronger indicator for employee moral in a workplace than workplace ideals.
Of course, I can say these things about being a leader all I want and not try them myself. I don’t want to be a back seat driver for leadership, I have to actually try and practice this myself.