Leadership Philosophy
LEADERS CREATE CONNECTION
Artisans all have tools they proudly weld in the pursuit of their craft. Musicians utilize instruments of wood, brass, string and voice. Sculptors and painters manipulate their materials of metal, clay, pigment and canvas, while dancers use their bodies and costumes. These tools are used in support of the personal expression for the artist and many seem to be born with natural talents to manipulate these tools in pursuit of their expression. However, none excel at their craft without dedication and deliberate practice. The same is true for leadership. Each of us brings our own combination of life experiences, personal traits and stylistic preferences to the practice of leadership.
I believe a leader is not a singular person, but a member of a community. The community may be a business with goals of sales and profit; or it may be a professional, civic or volunteer association with goals of serving specific needs of others. The community may even be our own individual family focusing on the growth and education of our loved ones. Each of these communities have their own goals and purposes and we are members of them all. As leaders, we excel in our craft not because of the specific traits and behaviors we exhibit to provide control or influence, but in the interactions and relationships we cultivate with the members of our communities as we guide them. It is in these varying roles of our lives that the context of my leadership exists.
As a leader of a community, I provide clarity for the community members on what shared values exist and what goals are being targeted. I intend to energize and focus the community in pursuit of these goals, which I accomplish not through a few singular epic moments of clarity and design, but via thoughtful process and energy contributed to the community in support of our efforts.
LEADERS CURATE CURISOTY
Contemporary organizations often rely on teams to accomplish goals and complete operational objectives. As the new team members come together, they must work through questions such as:
- Why am I here?
- Who are you?
- What are we going to do?
- How are we going to do it?
As a leader, it is then my intent to design an experience intended to shift the power and accountability away from myself as the leader to the members of the community themselves. By placing an importance on learning at the team level, we begin to find what I believe is the first element that truly exemplifies high function teams; their ability to not only perform beyond the sum of their individual contributions but to translate this synergy beyond the boundary lines of their team into the larger organization within which they belong.
As alignment and commonality of purpose come together to create a team from a collection of individuals, the synergy created by a high functioning team is further supported by each member’s ability to be genuinely interested about the reasoning of another. Balancing the skills of advocacy and inquiry by asking simple questions such as “What is it that leads you to that position?” and “Can you illustrate your point for me?” within their team, these individuals create powerful connections. As a leader, I foster these developments efforts by simply curating curiosity within my community.