Developing leaders around you
Recently as a leadership exercise, we watched John C Maxwell’s talk on developing leaders around you, these were some points I thought were particularly important
“An organizations potential is directly related to its personnel”, this goes for any team. Team members and the way that the view the team will make or break the team, people who view the team positively will contribute with more energy and people who highly value the team will put more work into insuring its success. Making sure you have cohesive team members that work together is important because otherwise the team will not have each other’s backs and may fail, a positive team with members who have respect for each other will work better than one without, this is one of the ways the team members are essential to the success of an origination. This idea has relevance to me because I know how difficult or easy working on a team can be based on the other members and how the other members interactions with myself effect how i see the team and act in the team, people tend to work harder for a team when all the other personnel are pleasant to be around, which typically makes them more pleasant to be around, and the cycle continues, making personnel and the way the interact what makes or breaks the team. This concept is hugely important when planning hikes has it is important to remember that we, the team members have the power the control the success or failure of any talons trip.
“Leaders think differently”, this is something that we can consciously except and try and think about, and thinking “how can I approach this problem like a leader.” “The major difference between successful and unsuccessful people is how they think”. An important part of team work and mentoring is to talk to the leaders around you about strategies you have for a leadership point of view, and to ask the leaders around you what some considerations they’ve made with leadership are. It is important for me to think about and consider how i can look at problems from a leadership angle. Before addressing a group I often make considerations about whether or not I’m coming at a problem from a leadership angle, this is what makes the concept of “leaders think differently” relevant to me, because i find it fascinating to consider how leaders think differently. Acknowledging that leaders think differently and making considerations about this/ sharing said considerations with your team is relevant to the success of any talons event where the grade tens are passing on knowledge to the grade nines as it is important that we share what we’ve learned about leader style thinking with them.
“Effective mentors have compassion and the ability to hear what another person is saying without judging what they are saying”, it is important when on a team or as a leader to always respect others ideas, if you as a leader or a team member make others feel bad about presenting certain ideas, even when they might have an idea that works better for the situation they may feel hesitant to share for fear of being ridiculed. Listening with compassion and encouraging sharing is important to a positive team structure, listening to everyone openly makes for a more inclusive and welcoming team environment and giving everyone a platform to share makes for a better team in the long run as you will have more people willing to share more good ideas on a team with a compassionate leader then you would on a team with an uncompassionate leader. I can relate to this idea personally as i feel that i tend to work better on a team with a positive and compassionate leader who can listen to ideas or suggestions without making anyone feel judged or less then accepted. I find that a team with a compassionate leader makes me unafraid to share ideas and help problem solve, where as a team with an uncompassionate leader often makes me feel judged causing myself (and those around me) to not share as many ideas. Remembering to lead with compassion is something that can and should be employed at all talons events as it makes participants, mentees and fellow leaders feel more open and comfortable to share their thoughts and ideas
So, can the skills that make a leader so talented be taught or does it have to be a skill that’s been ingrained or is a “natural skill”
Maxwell, J.C (2014) developing the leaders around you. The john Maxwell company