Pub. 4 2015 Issue 1

l e a d i n g a d v o c a t e f o r t h e b a n k i n g i n d u s t r y i n k a n s a s 8 BECOME THE LEADER YOU WANT TO FOLLOW! By Honey Shelton, InterAction Training L EADERSHIP IS SO STRONGLY TIED TO character that all aspects of your life will realize the payoffs when you strive to become a highly effective leader. Everyone is born with a desire to be well thought of and with the drive to make a difference. How those innate traits are encouraged and how we develop through experience and education will ultimately result in what we pursue. Intensity, ability, and self-awareness will have a major impact on our self-confidence and risk taking as we pursue developing a reputation as a great leader. Great leaders seek self-mastery in professional expertise, character building, and personal effectiveness, often due to an unwavering resolve to do what must be done, and an incurable need to produce results. The history behind authentic, enduring leadership success will include a story chockfull of learning, mistakes, endless practice, self-evaluation, and humility. And, it won’t include going solo! Training, mentoring, support, coaching, role models, and shedding defensiveness for a thirst of constructive feedback and positive confrontation will all play major roles in pursuing success as a leader. Jim Collins, best-selling author and a teacher to leaders throughout the corporate and social sectors, says in his book, Good to Great , “It is impossible to have a great life unless it is a meaningful life. And it is very difficult to have a meaningful life without meaningful work.” Effectiveness as a leader doesn’t include walking on water or perfection. Rather it includes a genuine desire to make a difference – to continuously work on personal effectiveness. At the same time, recognize that the more you contribute and the higher up the ladder you go, the more vulnerable you become. Taking on more responsibility and signing up for big challenges increases the risks associated with scrutiny, failure, criticism, and disappointment. Yet, when weighing all the odds, the chance to experience a deep sense of personal satisfaction that comes with meaningful work will make the effort outweigh the risk. It is easier to be a judge of others’ leadership than it is to lead. All of us have a critic that lives and thrives within us. Most of us never question that critic when the target of criticism is someone else and especially, when we are up close and personal with someone we view as a poor excuse for a manager or a lousy leader. This situation often intensifies when that someone is our boss or a leader in our midst. No question that a lack of management skills or inadequate leadership ability can create a ripple effect resulting in confusion, frustration, dissatisfaction, and even disaster. Perception can come crashing into reality when something similar to an Enron debacle surfaces. Responsible, dynamic leadership calls for you to become a master at self-evaluation. Examine the common characteristics of great leaders and ask yourself, “where am I with that?” Keep a watch out for people who exhibit great leadership and ask them about their journey. Look over the common characteristics of lousy leaders and find your own sparks for improvement. The highly accomplished basketball coach at Duke University, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, has earned a reputation for being an outstanding leader. In his book, Leading with the Heart, Coach K says, “There are five fundamental qualities that make every team great: communication, trust, collective responsibility, caring, and pride. I like to think of each as a separate finger on the fist. Any one individually is important. But all of them together are unbeatable.” His philosophy for the business world is to approach it like basketball. “Business, like basketball, is a game of adjustments. So be ready to adjust.” Leadership isn’t better than management nor is it a replacement for it. Not all leaders have responsibility for managing others but, more often than not they do. Leadership is circuitous; what you give is what you need to get. A classic example at the bank is the role of the branch manager. Here the leader is given a set of objectives and is expected to work with a team to produce meaningful results. The branch manager will need