Leadership Makes or Breaks the Whole

I have written about leadership for quite a while now. It’s not that I know everything there is to know about both effective and ineffective leadership styles and traits; however, I just have had a lot of experience recently with a variety of leaders. Each individual will come with their own bag of tricks. And with that, also comes their own load of baggage. Sometimes its emotional or realistic, but either way I know that no one is perfect as a person or as a leader. With that being said, I do believe the success of a leader depends on how they carry their load, make decisions and communicate.

I want to take a moment to highlight some characteristics I have come into contact with recently that have helped me strengthen my leadership potential and I hope that any leader out there will read this post and reflect so that they too can grow to be more effective, for themselves and those that they lead.

Communication

• Acknowledge feelings but require logical thinking– A lot of disgruntled employees state that their boss didn’t understand how they felt. Many would even say their boss didn’t want to hear about their feelings. However, when you are in the people business you have to account for feelings. It does not mean you allow feelings to win over or fuel the decision making process, but you allow for the opportunity for emotions to be present. In doing so, people feel heard and understood. Once you acknowledge the feeling, it increases the likelihood that everyone will be on board to move forward towards a fact-based, logical solution together. (Ex. “I hear you saying you are frustrated and I can certainly understand why that is so under the current circumstances. How can we move forward, past the frustration, into productivity and success?”)
• Be Open– One way to build rapport with staff is to share honest thoughts with one another- boss to employee and employee to boss. This means, when change is going to come, the boss should share details of the decision so staff can understand the process in making the decision and can then stand behind the decision. If your boss comes in one day and says, “I have just fired two teaching assistants,” the staff would be in an uproar, fighting against administration. Rather, say “I just got word that the budget has been cut by x amount of dollars. I have been looking at areas to cut and the one area that can account for this amount as well as have the least amount of negative impact on our success is to release two teaching assistants. I realize this is bad news and not an ideal situation, but any other scenario would not be in the best interest of students.” The second approach would not make the staff respond in an uproar. There would be tears or frustration most likely, but the staff heard the problem as well as the boss’ steps to solving it. Sharing the rationale as well as how one arrived at the solution is paramount for getting the staff to understand the scary changes that affect them as well as feel part of the mission that they are serving. No one likes change happening to them; they prefer to be part of the change.

Decision Making

• Be Fair and Consistent- Nothing can upset a staff more than a boss that plays favorites. Each staff member deserves the opportunity to thrive and grow, so a leader should invest in each employee equally. Then its up to the employee to maximize that investment to gain additional opportunities for success. Playing favorites also rears its ugly head in terms of not applying consequences for particular staff members who are not meeting expectations. Requirements are for everyone to adhere to and be held accountable to as well.  I have seen school leaders allow their favorite employees to arrive late or not turn in lesson plans, when the school requirement is to arrive on time and turn in lesson plans a week ahead of time. Employees cannot respect a leader that changes the way they make decisions (or hold staff accountable) based on the topic or personnel that it concerns. Or maybe the boss makes a pattern of decisions that are out of convenience. A leader must make decisions that are the best fit for their company’s purpose, that bring value to the whole. That means sometimes making decisions that are hard or uncomfortable.Choosing to support particular staff or initiatives at random will not bring about a healthy working environment, especially in the department of respect and willingness to work from the staff. I have seen school leaders make decisions based on their own interests, like pulling money together for the arts because they themselves were an art major instead of filling a real need at their school site, like installing a safety fence at the recess play area. The behaviors described here are unfair and unprofessional, so be fair and be fair consistently.
• Use a rubric to outline the decision making process– One way to be consistent in decision making is to establish a process for how a company will make such decisions. I simply call it… be transparent. It is even better to include staff in the development of the decision making tool. Once it is created and agreed upon, it must be implemented on a consistent basis. It’s almost like a budget with formulas. Each data point is treated the same way within the formula no matter the number. Therefore, a decision should be made following the same rubric or formula no matter who or what it concerns. If the intent of the process is to make sound decisions that benefit the whole, then believe in the process and use it consistently.

Personal Load

• Keep personal and professional life separate– One of the major rifts between a leader and their staff is the unclear divide of relationship. When you cross lines and become friends with those that work for you, not only is it unprofessional, but it is also a slippery slope. Emotions soar and personal arguments make their way into the working environment and then others suffer. The relationship is strained and before you know it, you can no longer see the line that separates personal from professional interaction. The second part of this equation is the unfair burden placed on staff to deal with the repercussions of a leader’s personal load that they carry to work; whether it be a struggling relationship or financial hardship. There is no reason that stress should be placed on anyone else’s shoulders, except for the one and only person that it belongs to. Grumpy moods because of an argument with a significant other, or an angry tone because of a cancelled babysitter are not reasons to project the stress of a personal load problem on to staff. Personal loads need to remain personal and not become the public’s problem. Check the stress or personal troubles at the door, put everything you can into the staff, and deal with the problem when leaving the workplace.

These are just a few characteristics that stand out to me as making a leader successful. As the title of this post suggests, the leader affects all those they come into contact with and if they are successful, then the whole group is successful, but if they are ineffective, then the whole group is negatively affected. It is so important that leaders require of themselves what they ask of others (be fair), are open to changing their perspective and methodologies (be open), and jump in to the thick of the matter with those that they serve (remain present without bringing personal matters to work).

Remember, each puzzle piece is integral to creating the whole picture. If one puzzle piece thinks they are more valuable than another piece, they cannot adequately fulfill their role as a cohesive group,  throwing off the result of the whole. A leader cannot and should not consider themselves to be more valuable than each person that makes the operation successful, unless of course it could operate solely on their own accord. To be part of something greater than yourself, I believe, is the highest honor. We need leaders that believe in this philosophy and put it into action.

Please share your thoughts on successful characteristics of leaders below.

I encourage input to help this list grow in efforts to impact all sorts of leaders!

About the author, Gretchen

I am a teacher trainer and coach. Working elbow to elbow with teachers and teacher leaders to ensure instructional proficiency and student achievement soar lights me up. We have a real need in our nation for strong educators to remain in the field. My blog, book, podcast, courses and instructional materials are geared towards empowering teachers (and those that lead them) to receive the support needed to grow and thrive today, tomorrow and always.

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