District 80
Division D
Area D7
Club No. 9270

An Activity Group of CCMC
in
Toa Payoh South Community Club
1999 Lor 8 Toa Payoh Singapore 319258

Members' Articles- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

A novel idea for Leaders – Lead by example, yours.

My patron saint of leadership is lee Iacocca. What’s even better is that he’s back on TV touting the great line of Chrysler cars, “If you can find a better car, buy it”.  Mr. Iacocca took a corporation from the abyss and led it to the top of the class as his competitors were struggling to stay afloat. For three years his company was making a profit as the two competitors were loosing money hand over fist. He led by example, he didn’t get in the trench and do the work he was paying others to accomplish but if he had to he would have jumped right in. He worked and worked very hard, he expected managers to manage, supervisors to supervise and workers to work and together they rebuilt Chrysler Corporation.

So many leaders today say one thing and do something else. There is way too much “do as I say not as I do” in the business world. Just look at the rash of judgments against former “respected” leaders in industry. Look at the newspaper pretty much any day or watch the news at 6 and see more and more examples of just what not to do.

Airline executives and others taking multi million dollar parachutes and standing on the sidelines as their former company goes slowly down the tube to bankruptcy. Staff being laid off and furloughed causing great pains and problems for families of trusted and loyal employees.  Leading by example? The example seems to scream loud and clear, “Look out for number One”

 
History has provided us all with an array of great leaders. These examples were people of vision, people who saw something that others could not see and unselfishly shared their vision to improve the quality of life. Never once did a leader become a great leader by being pessimistic and negative. Never has anything of value been accomplished by looking at a problem and complaining. In my own experience I tell employees, “Don’t come to me with your problems”. Oh I should add that’s only half the statement they hear. “Don’t come to me with your problems unless you have an idea or suggestion on how we can fix it”.  Leaders who only offer a negative picture and a dismal forecast to the employees remain as leaders for a very short time, Employees need an inspiration when they look to their leaders not a desperation.

My daddy used to tell me that if you lie down with dogs you get flees. He was saying that you must surround yourself with positive ideas and people to be successful.

As a leader of people you must understand that to be effective, you have to give the people who follow you hope of better things. In doing so, you rise to greater levels yourself and accomplishes greater things. When you lose sight of the lofty challenge of being the positive visionary in your organization, as a leader you are destined to fail, for no one will follow a leader who is going over the falls.

As you strive to develop your business or career, keep in mind that you can become whatever or whomever you wish to be. You can look at problems and challenges as what they are, opportunities, and offer real solutions and visions for the future that your staff can readily grab hold off or you can see them as someone else’s problem, rub everyone's nose in it as you gripe, moan and complain about it until no one cares anymore and nothing is done.

If you work for a company and find yourself complaining about the company all the time, its decision time, QUIT.  Keep in mind that the chronic complainer is giving the company a bad name in the business world and your customers are getting a full dose of the negative feedback.

When you have a customer and they lodge a complaint, you perk up and listen to them. Your job becomes one of solving the problem, same thing applies to the ever complaining employee, listen and fix the situation. If the complaint has merit fix it and fix it quick but if it is merely the habitual complainer you still have to fix it even if it means firing the problem.

As we look at our so called leaders today, we should never fail to remember that we are not the only ones seeing them.  Our customers, competitors and other employees see them for what they are; they see them as a distorted picture of discontent and failure with no sense of solving obvious problems. More importantly and more concerning is the fact that they see them also as representatives of us and our company.

Only when people realize that the role of the leader is to be the visionary, the one with the answers, the one who can solve problems, will things change for the better.

Expect great things, offer great solutions, and when you are ready for the challenge, step up to lead; but always lead by example.

Compliments from

John A. Delves (Tong Hai's friend)
www.setrainingdev.com
 

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