My Leadership Style

It’s been way too long since my last posting but I’m back now and glad it is so.

A couple of months ago one of our key team members asked a few of us to write about our leadership styles. Of course I was flattered she thought to ask, but more than that I was impressed. I’m not sure what her plan is for these thoughts but I know it will be fascinating. I’m excited to be part of her brainchild. Thanks Molly.

Over these many weeks I’ve been jotting down a list of random thoughts with the idea of eventually putting some words in front of them. As I look at my list I find it very hard to prioritize the various facets of this thing called style. So I stopped trying and started writing. The more I write the more I realize the idea of giving any of them priority over the rest is futile. You see at any given time, in any given circumstance any one of them will always take precedence. And maybe that’s what leadership is all about. An accumulation of elements that compliment each other and are used to solve problems, define a path and inspire others.

There’s a danger in giving things numbers because numbers imply priority. In this case the numbers only serve to keep me organized and to enable me to write about other things and then come back to continue the list. Each number is preceded by LE which stands for Leadership Element.

So my list starts here. Who knows when or where it will end?

LE #1: The Twist of Creating a Learning Organization.

You hear a lot about the need to be a learning organization but little about how to become one. Does it mean everyone being enrolled in some form of higher or adult education? Does it mean spending huge sums on new technologies? Hiring the most expensive consultants? I guess it could mean any or all of those.
But for me it means creating an atmosphere; an atmosphere that encourages questions from anyone to anyone at any time. An atmosphere that seeks the right answers; no matter how difficult or where that search takes you. An atmosphere passionately obsessed with mission and vision and values and empowerment.
The result is learning by everyone, all the time. And here’s the twist. When everyone is learning, everyone becomes the teacher. When someone asks me a question, as I am giving them the answer, I’m learning a little about them. When they get the answer they’re prepared to answer that question the next time someone else asks it.
Each year I view myself more as a teacher of teachers and I mean that in the broadest sense possible. And I see the same thing in our most talented staff. We don’t hire a lot of certified teachers and yet everyone we hire has teaching responsibilities. We expect supervisors to be teachers of their subordinates and staff to share what they know with each other. Everyone searching and learning from each other. Seems like a learning organization to me.