Leadership

Leadership Reflection

What leading is all about

Reflection of leadership Motorola  

Why leadership matters 

Leadrship is essential for any organization and there is a difference between managing and leading. That topic, however, I will not cover with this reflection. Rather, I will focus on why leadership is important. The reason I believe leadership is crucial for any organization is because there needs to be someone that can unite, mediate, organize, and motivate individuals. Any great movement starts with one person and an idea – a leader does not need to do this alone; it is up to them to get others on board and move together toward the set goal. If leadership is absent an organization struggles with direction and purpose, everyone will press their own ideals, and it will lead to chaos and eventual burnout as everyone will grow tired of pressing their own ideas and not bending to meet others halfway to compromise. When leadership becomes clear though, and a figure with a voice emerges to take charge and lead, the picture becomes clearer and with the combined voices behind one key figure discourse fades. Now, I know it all sounds obvious and easy, but if it were anyone could lead and, in my opinion, that is not the case.  

Why some people are better suited for leadership 

Leadership is a skill – there is no question about that. It is a skill that can be improved and practiced sharpening one’s senses. When I first was elected as BL, I had some experience from previous work and school related initiatives, but that does not mean I was prepared to lead a team of nearly twenty individuals. There are various kinds of leadership skills one needs to exercise and regardless of one’s experiences these skills need to mold to the current state of the organization they’re intending to lead. I have excellent skills in communication but not quite as much in management and that was the main learning curve I had to face is practicing managment as a part of leadership as BL. Initially, I had not been as familiar with Teams Microsoft or handling finances, which posed the main challenges at the start of my tenure. As both are essential to my management of the team, the responsibility was for me to learn how to use and apply those two flawlessly or at the very least well. So, I took it upon myself to ask others for help in learning how to manage crucial aspects of my responsibilities as a leader. November through January I had obtained crucial skills and using both Teams and directing financial matters adequately to propel my performance as a leader. It was not easy, as it wasn’t something that I was particularly stoked about, but I had to if I wanted to live up to my promises and responsibilities. I would like to shift this thought process to why I believe certain individuals are better suited to lead.  

I have a natural ability to communicate effectively, primarily through humor. I also have been told I can wield charisma charmingly well too. So, that already those two grant me the ability to inspire others. I knew I had those gifts, but it also took me a while to find my voice with them. Since I was learning some of the basics for leadership as I mentioned previously, I did not have enough time to tackle the challenges of leading the team. My focus was split into varied directions resulting in the lack of room to manage the team. Once others helped highlight the skills I had all I had to do was practice how to apply them and see what worked and what didn’t. To circle back a bit, in my humble (or not so much so) opinion, there are simply people better suited to lead because they have a natural ability to inspire, convince, and unite others. Those are all gifts that some have from birth, therefore it comes easier to those who possess them to sharpen their skills masterfully. Think about it this way: Are you more likely to follow someone who is effective but cannot be reasoned with or someone not as effective but are likeable and willing to listen? I think the majority would choose the ladder; likeability is more important than some people realize. Someone that is funny, charismatic, and sociable is far more likely to be able to unite others as they may not face as much resentment or backlash. I am not trying to diminish those that are effective, but such traits are not quite present. The point I am making is no matter who you are, it is important to at least tolerate whoever is leading you because it comes down to trust. To summarize this vastly diverse section, people who are charismatic and likeable will always have an easier time leading and are better suited for it, as their chances of unity within an organization increase ten-fold.  

It is essential for anyone, regardless of their natural gifts, to find their unique voice as a leader. Identity is everything in leadership – you must first find yourself and your style to lead effectively. When I became BL I wanted to take inspiration from leaders throughout history and analyze where their effectiveness stemmed from. A figure from history I took inspiration from was Churchill – regarding communication, resilience through crisis, and inspiring hope. As the team was just mustering through a crisis and the team being spilt in half, it was the only inspiration I could think of to model from. The team being spilt in half is not even figurative, in Paja’s the circle was quite literally spilt in half with “quiet people” on one side and “loud people” on the other. The gap wasn’t all that real, but we all breathed life into it, feeding into the delusion that only the loud people were contributing to the evolution of the team. It was up to the leaders, me, to somehow fill that gap and unite the team to accomplish the goals we had set. Churchill famously led Britain through its darkest hour, where all hope seemed lost, and the light at the end of the tunnel seemed all too far away. I studied his techniques on how he managed to inspire a nation to maintain faith and hope that there lie better days ahead. I will admit, though, because of my inexperience in dealing with such a large group of people, I was unable to close that gap. It was until I took inspiration from another hero of mine, Ronald Reagan. He was the 40^th President of the United States and was famous for his efforts on initiating the collapse of the Soviet Union and winning two land-slide victories. He was known for his exceptional humor that he used as a weapon and diffusor in tense situations. Since I had mentioned earlier that it is important to find your own style of leadership, it is through Ronald Reagan that I learned my strength as a leader came from my easygoing nature and humor that I could use to unite in mutual laughter and diffuse situations that could’ve breathed more life into a non-existent divide within the team. Franklin Delano Roosevelt also used something during World War Two he called “fire-side chats”, which was him talking or reading speeches and stories on the radio to calm nervous amidst the conflicts. I also used that idea to talk to others about their problems in their projects casually in hallways, cafeterias, or whenever they seemed free to chat. It was a journey to find my own style of leadership, but all I truly had to do was find what my natural talents could be used for and apply them. My goal was not to become Churchill, Reagan, or Roosevelt; it was the blueprint for what made them effective and how I can use that to make my doings effective. What was common between all of them is that they all remained true to themselves through crisis, which was something I wanted to do – not lose myself in problems or the study of leadership.  

Hardest lessons 

Some of the hardest lessons I learned were that you cannot force leadership or responsibility on others. You must win them over and inspire them. I also concluded that leadership is a process; one won’t always be perfect or even become the perfect leader. A good leader knows what their weaknesses are and asks others for help or guidance to create mutual support and reliance. The greatest lesson by far, however, is that no matter how good a leader you are, if people aren’t willing to follow, you’ll fall flat on your face. People must let you lead them, and that stems from trust – if the people do not have trust in you, you will accomplish little to nothing. In my experience you must show that you care and communicate that you care and trust will grow from that naturally. To contrast, a leader must also trust the people; it is a double-edged blade that cuts both ways if one side lets go the trust is cut.  

What I am proud of 

Throughout my tenure as BL, I stated I was approaching leadership from the wrong angle and didn’t have enough experience in tools and resources that were crucial for the functioning of the team and my role in that. As I studied figures throughout history and found my own strengths through that, I developed a vision for the team that everyone could get behind, resulting in the amending of old wounds and a united effort to accomplish the goals we had set out to achieve. The brainchild of mine that granted us unity was something I called Operation Momentum – that in essence forbade negativity and promoted support, doing, and professionalism. It was broad enough for everyone to agree to it, but specific enough to target the key issues the team was facing.  

What I would do sooner 

I would have delegated earlier and expanded my scope to larger problems rather than smaller ones. That would have helped me propose solutions earlier or perhaps even the birth of Operation Momentum months before. Another is I wish I had put trust earlier in myself that I can help the team get through its issues. Which ties together with my regret of not asking for help earlier to build mutual reliance and trust within the team. All in all, I wish I could have done just about everything sooner, but at the same time I believe that I was not ready nor the team, we all had to push through hell to come out to the light on the other side.  

Conclusion 

Leadership is all about service, and it is a position of trust. A leader must do their best to fix issues and have trust in its people, and the people must trust the leader too. Leading by example and asking for help are the two primal ways to build trust. It is also about respect, respect for yourself and for others in the team and acknowledging strengths and weaknesses. It is also about influence and the matter by which you lead and finding what works for you and the team. Lastly, leadership is all about learning – learning what works for you and the team, understanding the people around you, and how everyone has their own talents that can be applied to areas where you or others lack experience. It is a hard road to navigate, and good leaders will learn how to inspire others, but great leaders will learn how essential trust and communication are. Because as Winston Churchill stated, “the difference between management and leadership is communication.”