I live and work in an area where people are leaders in their field. This brings a unique opportunity to speak into these people’s lives but also enables me to learn from them. It was such a privilege, therefore, to sit down for a bit over an hour with someone within the CBC community who interviews people for senior level business positions. I believe he has an organisational psychology background and has also written a couple of books about hiring the right people. In any case, he could be off earning hundreds of dollars in the hour he was with me but i had the benefit of learning about some keys to leadership from him.
Here are some thoughts from our conversation about leaders and leadership:
- Leaders have an over-arching vision. The clearer the vision the more powerful it is.
- Leaders build relationships with people. A good question to ask whether someone might be a leader is: “Does this person have the ability to build relationships?”
- Leaders listen to others.
- Leaders build trust with people. They do what they say they are going to do.
It should be noted that there is a difference between listening and hearing. i.e. two people can hear that there is something wrong with a car, however, a car mechanic can tell you what is exactly wrong with it. It could be a loose fan belt or something like that.
Someone who listens is one who hears ‘it’ and interprets what it means. Very few people can listen patiently and get meaning out of what others are saying.
A question that should be asked about leaders is: “Where do they take people?”
There is also a difference between leadership and management. “Managers are able to climb the ladder while leaders know which wall the ladder should be placed on”.
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