I like a leader who leads like I would

Though not particularly profound or revolutionary, esp to anyone who’s done any reading on leadership, I discovered in a new way yesterday how much I like a leader who is like me. You see we had a group meeting yesterday at my workplace and the assistant group leader led the meeting. For the first time in a few months, I felt like we actually got something done in that meeting. We spent the last year talking about a document, asking everyone for input on a document, and putting so many parts of it on the table, one didn’t know if it was a document in process or a corpse receiving an autopsy. (And there were more than a few times over the last year that most of us as group members left a meeting wishing we were dead!) So Monday when we finally got stuff done and we were led through the process of getting it done, while there was a sense of exhaustion over the details we got into, I think most people also felt a sense of “finally we got something decided!”

As a leader, one needs to be self-reflective and I realize that I am a “get things done” kinda guy. I’m willing to discuss things with the team, but not ad nauseum. There’s only so much talking you can do and then you gotta DO something. As an anonymous quote I read the other day said, “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.” Interestingly, I led a meeting the other night where more than one person in our group said, “we obviously should have had more discussion on this topic.” And I was somewhat insulted by that comment a) because it presumed the leadership team had NOT discussed the topic and did not have a clue about some of the concerns people would express. In fact, the leadership team had talked about most (if not all) of the “factors” that various people thought we should have discussed more. Of course second of all, it was time for a decision, not for more discussion. There is stuff to be done; people’s lives to be touched.

So, I realize I need to learn to appreciate different leadership styles, and I also know, appreciate, and believe I am practicing the wisdom of surrounding myself with other leaders NOT like me. But it sure is a joy to work with a leader who leads the way I like leadership to function.