28 Jan 2008
Leaders: Made not Born
Being a leader or possessing leadership attributes has nothing to do with genetics or heredity.
There is a well-known proverb that says "Leaders are made, not born"; but to what extent is this saying true?
The answer is: Absolutely!
No one is expected to become a famous war leader like Alexander the Great, or a global software mogul like Bill Gates. However, not anyone can become a leader, anyone except for those who believe in the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century American philosopher, essayist, and poet:
"You think me the child of circumstances; I make my circumstances."
Only those who go by this saying are the ones who will be able to lead others and do a quite good job at it.
In his article "The Role of a Leader," Brian Tracy, a self-development author and motivational speaker, believes that leaders are made, not born:
"You learn to become a leader by doing what other excellent leaders have done before you. You become proficient in your job or skill, and then you become proficient at understanding the motivations and behaviors of other people. As a leader, you combine your personal competencies with the competencies of others into a smoothly functioning team that can outplay and outperform all its competitors. When you become a team leader, even if your team only consists of one other person, you must immediately develop a whole new set of leadership skills. To determine what these skills are, you need to consider the genesis of high-performing teams."
The first step for a good leadership is a good team. The better the team is, the better the leader you will be. Thus, a leader is never successful unless his team members are, and this degree of success is always measured by the level of performance that his team accomplishes.
Tracy explains that there are four phases that each team needs to undergo to achieve high levels of performance, namely: forming, storming, norming and performing.
The forming phase is highly related to the selection of the team members. In order for your team to succeed, you have to know who you are selecting and why. Tracy points out that if you select the wrong people in the first place, it becomes almost impossible afterward to build a winning team, just as it would be impossible to win athletic championships with unskilled or ill-suited players. As Tracy puts it, this stage also includes "a good deal of discussion, argument, disagreement, personal expression of likes and dislikes, and the forming of friendly alliances between team members."
The second stage of storming refers to brainstorming. The team members begin to brainstorm ideas that would highly contribute to the efficiency and excellence of their performance. They will also start setting goals and deadlines, dividing up the tasks and getting on with the job.
After storming comes "norming", a term that might not be found in all dictionaries and would be underlined as a spelling mistake in your Microsoft word. This is simply because this term is taken from the word "norms". According to Tracy, in this stage norms and standards will be established among the team members so that everyone will feel secure and confident in his/her working place. The team members will become aware of the "responsibilities and obligations they have, not only to the job but also towards each other."
Finally, the last and most important stage is performing, which is all about performance and getting people to perform.
In his article, Tracy highlights five qualities a leader needs to foster throughout these four stages of team development. Should you accomplish this before you start working, you will be a successful leader. Here are the points as mentioned in his article:
1. Shared values: You can foster this quality by asking the question, "What are our values?" or "What do we stand for?" People will contribute to the values they consider the most important. The values will usually be something like: integrity, excellence, and quality, caring about people, profitability and harmony.
2. Shared objectives: Everyone must take the time to discuss the actual reason for forming the team and the chief results that are expected.
Leaders can see the big picture. They are absolutely clear about what they want to accomplish and what it will look like. They have the ability to articulate this vision in the minds and hearts of others and to get everyone, no matter what their background or personality is, to work together in harmony towards the realization of that vision.
3. Shared activities: Each team member should know what they are supposed to do to contribute towards the achievement of the team's collective goals and objectives. They should also know what the other members are expected to do. All the work should be clearly divided up amongst the team members, with everyone knowing their role in the process.
4. A team head who leads the action: You become the role model for all of the others. You go out in front. You continually look for ways to make it easier for your team members to do their jobs. You accept complete responsibility for achieving the overall goal. You start a little earlier, you work a little harder, and you stay a little later. You set careful priorities on your time, and you always work on your highest value tasks. You never ask anyone to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. You always put yourself out in front and go to bat for your people in every circumstance. You are a leader because you continually lead.
5. Team members who continually evaluate their progress: Those are the ones who always ask themselves, "How are we doing, and how can we do better?" When they manufacture or sell products in the marketplace, they ask for their customer's ongoing feedback and evaluation. They set incredible standards of excellence and are constantly striving to be better.
Whenever they have problems, misunderstandings or difficulties within the team, they reexamine their values, goals, activities, assignments and responsibilities. They are more concerned with what is right than with who is right. They are more concerned with winning than losing. High-performing teams run by excellent leaders are determined to perform in an excellent fashion. All members know that their ability to work together in harmony and cooperation is the key to all of their success.
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that, according to Tracy, a real leader is someone who has the ability to negotiate, communicate, influence and persuade others and the best leader is the one who, as Emerson puts it, does not follow where the path may lead; instead, he goes where there is no path and leaves a trail.
Eman Zaitoon
AGCON Webmaster
AGCON
Reference
Tracy, Brian, The Role of a Leader, January 2008