L's of Leadership, Even the Small Ones

While I was going through the Pathway program, I had to read and study the talk by Kim Clark. I appreciated the information then, and going over it again was welcomed. Leading by example, leading with love, and leading with vision are the ways to become a great leader. When I was a supervisor over 13 technicians, I found that when I lead with love and with vision, the technicians reacted positively. Because I saw their desire to do well with me, I was able to also lead with love. We saw great results! The base, when I arrived, was one of the poorest among my company's groups. It took just under a year to turn it around. I taught the men how to be great technicians because I lead them by introducing the vision of what I though they could become. I told them they represented the best the company had to offer and they deserved to have their names at the top of the list of best technicians. I then trained them in the areas where they were the weakest. Three years later, I'm in a different department, but I was able to proudly look at the numbers to see they had improved to the best base in the company in Quality Assurance where they had been among the bottom when I arrived.

Carly Fiorina says leadership is about capability, collaboration, and character. I believe that when I was working in conjunction with my workers, literally standing by their side and coaching them, they were able to increase in their capabilities. As theirs increased, my capability as a supervisor or leader also increased. I built trust as they saw the results of their actions. I was able to ask them to do nearly anything and they would work toward my direction because of that trust. Much of that trust was built in my character. I had a history of strong character and they held onto that as a foundation. I believe Fiorina is correct in her statement.

It seems we lack leadership quite often in our society today; however, with people who are leaders teaching others how to become leaders, we can change that exponentially. It is partly for this reason that I became an instructor and have remained an instructor. A telling sign of a great leader is the ability to create more great leaders. That's what I'm hoping to accomplish.