A true leader is someone who will take charge of their team in many aspects. A leader will guide, teach, praise, discipline, assist, and stand back when needed. Most of the leaders that I work with do not have all of these traits and thus are not really true leaders. A leader must always be there not only for the bad times, but the good as well.
A good boss is a great motivator and planner. She knows how to delegate, she never speaks ill of anyone, and rarely does she get mad or frustrated. She is cool calm and collected, and I believe truly wants to make teams at work more efficient. Not because the teams feel as if they can get away with doing things wrong, but because the boss is a great leader, and we respect her.
Thus folks should always try to do their best to ensure their bosses receive as much respect as they give. I believe a boss that is a good leader will get the best results from his workers. And of course having great results and a great relationship with your superiors could lead to great opportunities down the line for career-advancement.
This blog article is a branch out to life-optimizing readers like yourself that were kind enough to do a little question and answer interview survey with me. I’m still working on my interview skills (and some of these were done via email/not-in-person!), but I do promise good, raw, and honest answers from normal people like you and me. I do my best to NOT filter these answers, except for the bad words and hateful speech (which doesn’t happen often).
Topic of Interest: True Leadership at Work
‘R’ = Richard N. Stephenson (me!)
‘I’ = Interviewee (anonymous by request unless otherwise noted)
R: Give an example of true leadership at work that has inspired you (from either internet/mainstream media examples or personal examples).
I: I have a friend who works in a hospital as a patient care analyst. He has taken it upon himself to create projects where none have been in order to help people recover faster, and to prevent incidence of injury or ailment in the hospital. He does this, not only because it is his job, but he believes that every establishment can improve. He is literally leading the way in QA in his hospital.
R: How do you think a better understanding of true leadership at work would help other people in their personal or professional life?
I: A better understanding of true leadership at work will help people in their personal life because they will be able to lead in a less formal setting. Most groups of people work better under strong leadership and the same holds true for informal groups of friends. An individual who is able to develop a strong sense of what leadership is can better serve his or her friend group by providing necessary direction for the group.
R: Give an example of how true leadership at work has helped you professionally or personally.
I: Rarely have I had the pleasure of working with someone I consider a leader, but one person does stand out in my memory. She was kind, and encouraging. She made working together fun, instead of a chore. She always made sure I understood what was required, and gave me a chance to be my best. I considered her a friend, and someone who I admired, for her gentle ways, and for leading by caring example.
R: Describe at least one way you think true leadership at work could cause trouble or hurt someone in their personal or professional life.
I: I believe in the philosophy of ‘absolute power corrupts, absolute’. When a person lives with the realization that there is no one that can tell him/her what do to, it’s going to go to their minds. For their own personal fulfillment or for a greater good, that kind of power needs to be checked. When looking back in history at the list of individuals who lived their lives that way, we see a staggering array of people. From Hitler to the mighty Caligula, it’s only a reminder that we must remember our history or we truly will repeat it.
R: Give an example of how true leadership at work has hurt you or caused you trouble in the past.
I: I used to work for a man that was very controlling. He was the CEO and had built the company from the ground up and was very concerned with losing control of it as the company grew. I had been in the company since day one. I had moved up in the company and had a hand in the success of the company. I started to take over more and more parts of the company over and moving forward on tasks he had asked me to do. I put in great effort and the company started to grow quickly. Because we started to grow so quickly, the CEO was pulled away more and more, leaving me to move forward on items without his being consulted. One of our clients started to rely on me a lot. One day the CEO showed up to that clients business and they asked him to leave. They said they just wanted to do business with me. He was furious. He told them if he was not welcome then our company would not do business with them. He pulled the account. Then when he realized it was a huge financial issue, he fired me since they were no longer our client. It was horrible. I had worked so very hard.
R: How do you think true leadership at work could help you in a professional setting? Why is that?
I: I think true leadership is vital to any work setting. I think that each one of us has things to learn and we have days when we are not working up to par. I think a good leader can help to keep the crew working hard and smart, no matter what the obstacles may be. I think working with people that are all striving to be a good leader allows the team to work as an effective team and be most productive. I try to be a demonstrate good leadership at work, and although there have been days when I fail, I also succeed a lot and it has opened up great opportunities for me.
R: Give an example of how true leadership could be useful at work. Why do you think this?
I: Great leadership helps workers feel confident about their jobs. It keeps workers in line. Morale is high. Things also run more efficiently. At the end of the day the person in leadership role goes home thinking his job well done.
R: How do you think true leadership could help you at home? Why is that?
I: By guiding me in the correct direction and helping me make the correct decisions to benefit not only myself but others I care for around me. It could also help me lead others to make similarly correct life choices/decisions which would in turn benefit others, and so on and so forth where there might be a “ripple effect” of people improving their lives. This is because good strong leaders are not very common and when people do have access to one they take their commands seriously and then go and help others.
R: Give an example of how true leadership could be useful at home or in family life. Why do you think this?
I: I am the oldest of my three brothers. At times I had to provide leadership and guidance to them because, being the oldest, I experienced firsthand most of the dilemmas and problems that were being brought up to me regarding my brothers. I believe experience is the best teacher when it comes to learning, and if a leader has gone through these experiences, they can in turn teach others how to deal with certain issues/problems that they may face, the key to being a good leader.
R: How do you think true leadership could help you in a personal relationship? Why is that?
I: Being a leader can mean knowing when to step aside and let someone else take control. You need good situational awareness and interpersonal skills to be a good leader, or at least a respected one. Without these qualities, your relationship will likely fail.
R: Give an example of how true leadership could be useful in a personal relationship. Why do you think this?
I: It would help keep things in order without an issue. Although an opinion is important. i would always consult with my partner.
R: Describe at least one thing you would like to learn more about true leadership at work.
I: I would like to learn how to balance being friends with people I work with while respecting them. Too many times I’ve seen friendship with members of management turn into favoritism, and that’s not right. There needs to be an easy way to be friends with people who you report to, while at the same time having their respect.
R: Give your number one piece of advice for someone looking to learn more about true leadership at work.
I: Make sure that your employees know that you care about them, and appreciate them. A little bit of encouragement and some heartfelt thank-you’s go a long way to making a productive employee. Also, small simple gifts and gestures of kindness A box of cheap cookies goes a long way. A box of homemade cookies goes much farther.
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How was that for a nice little journey into this topic? I hope you enjoyed this interview and found at least one useful bit of information you can immediately begin to apply in your life. Yes, homework is never seen as a nice word, but it’s useful – give yourself an action to use at least 1 thing from this article to help change your life.
Please share your thoughts, experiences, or your own interview answers and let’s share some real life wisdom, okay?