Whether you choose to be just the leader of your own life, or whether you
occupy a leadership position in a business organization, a political party,
or another social institution; you will find these useful hints applicable
everywhere. Most of them you may already be aware of. Nevertheless, keep on
reading. A refresher in this area is never wasted.
* Always treat others as an end of their own, and not as a means to an end.
The German philosopher Emmanuel Kant was one of the first to eternalize this
piece of righteousness. All it means is: donÆt use others for purposes that
may be unknown to them, but that feed your egotistical goals. Perceive every
other person as a dignified being and be honest about your motives. That
will be much more appreciated.
* Realize that every person makes decisions based on his or her value
system. This awareness is especially crucial when you are dealing with
people from different cultures. An individualÆs value system is determined
by his or her upbringing, backgrounds, and personality. However, even if you
are dealing with people from a similar background as yours, you should still
refrain from trying to predict what decisions they will make. People are
surprising creatures, and on top of that: they change over time. A person
who made a certain decision a year, a month, or even a week ago, may decide
entirely different today, based on the experiences he or she had during the
time in between. Therefore: accept people as they are, and never assume that
you know what their next step will be.
* Time, or the lack thereof, can influence the decisions people make. When
someone has more time and information at hand, he or she will probably come
to different conclusions than when time is a constraint.
* People have a tendency to maintain certain priorities depending on their
age and the spirit of the time they grew up in. The people who experienced
the great depression, for instance, or others who have endured a stern war
situation may be more inclined to base their decisions on frugality than on
other rational aspects. And, although there will be deviations within that
category as well, is remains an important issue to keep in mind.
* What you may consider an absolute taboo may not be a problem at all to
another. This hint is, again, based on individualsÆ backgrounds. Therefore:
never condemn people based on their standpoints. Rather, try to understand
them. And, if you are really interested, try to find out what drives their
motives. This may be crucial when you are the one in charge of setting the
ethical standards in an organization.
* Integrity is an unbelievably important leadership trait. Everybody wants
his or her leader to be honest and well motivated. However, we should not
forget that leaders are human beings too and that, like each of us, they may
have at least one trait or action they are not too proud of. It may
therefore be wise not to be too hard in your judgments, and to reflect each
personÆs situation to your own life.
* Performance measures create room for unethical behavior by the ones who
have to meet them. Therefore: be careful in formulating your goals. DonÆt
make them too hard to achieve, and try as much as possible to eliminate room
for multiple interpretations. If, for instance, you set a certain minimum
number of units to be produced as the determining success rate for a
project, you should make sure that the bylines are clear also. People are
inventive beings: They will always find a way to reach a goal with as little
effort as possible, and with protection of their perception. Remember: there
are many acts that are unethical, but legal!
* Five of the most successful and widely accepted traits of a leader are:
self-confidence, empathy, trustworthiness, emotional stability, and
audacity. The last mentioned should assure that the leader will gain
experience in his or her life. Every successful person should possess these
5 skills at least to a certain level. For some lines of duty certain skills
will be higher valued than others, but they should basically all be present.
* Every person has certain dark traits. Those are usually nothing else than
the exaggerated version of positive characteristics. A quick temper,
impulsiveness and arrogance, may be the overexerted manifestation of
self-confidence and focus. Perfectionism and all its negative consequences
can be seen as the excessive form of reliability and punctuality. The
appropriate warning here is that dark traits donÆt show in application
interviews. They usually hide until a situation of high stress occurs.
* Experienced people can handle stress situations better, whereas
intellectuals handle unfamiliar challenges better. Of course both have their
disadvantages: the experienced as well as the highly educated leader can
make wrong decisions based on the arrogance that supersedes his or her
position. The best leader is one who obtains sufficient education, but opens
him- or herself for experience as well.
* Creativity is a beautiful trait. It is surely proper in leadership. But a
great leader does not necessarily have to be a creative person. As long as
he or she can communicate his or her visions well, the creative souls can be
attracted from outside to transform the envisioned goals into reality.
* Panic is your worst enemy. Unfortunately it is the hardest mental state to
master, as no one gets challenged by a seriously high-pressure situation on
a daily basis, so no one knows how he or she will respond to a challenge
until it happens. But if you try to maintain your calm, no matter how
difficult the circumstances, you will have an advantage over others who donÆ
t. Look at it this way: as a leader you have the advantage that serenity
will prevent you from getting a stroke or a heart attack, while your
followers will benefit as well, as your rationality will brush off onto
them. A flustered leader will have a group of anxious, incompetent
followers, while a well-balanced leader will have an unruffled, evenhanded
group of followers, which will lead to success in almost all cases.
Joan Marques, Burbank, February 29, 2004
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About the Author:
Joan Marques, holds an MBA, is a doctoral candidate in Organizational
Leadership, and a university instructor in Business and Management in
Burbank, California. You may visit her web site at www.joanmarques.com
Joan's manual "Feel Good About Yourself," a six part series to get you over
the bumps in life and onto success, can be purchased and downloaded at:
http://www.non-books.com/FeelGoodSeries.html
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It is better to live in serene poverty than in hectic abundance. Everything
has a price. The price for nurturing your soul is turning away from
excessive stress, destruction of self-respect, and the constant strive in
lifestyle with the Joneses. But itÆs worth it.
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