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What
you are about to read
may look like an accusation
but
I prefer to call it wise advice.
I
hope this article opens your eyes to the dangers of being
a
leader who does things that may betray your followers.
Did
I hear you say you are not a leader - well then, you
should
use these lessons to warn those who wish to lead
you.
Leaders
usually fail to serve or inspire their followers
through
any one of the following performance conditions:
- =>
A Compassion-deficit
- =>
A Service-meltdown
- =>
A Trust-loophole
- =>
A Satisfaction short-circuit
- =>
An Empathy-gap
As
we ponder those failures to provide leadership, we must
consider
these words of, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "All
labor
that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and
should
be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
Betrayal-1
- A Compassion-Deficit
"The
success of love is in the loving - it is not in the
result
of loving. Of course it is natural in love to want
the
best for the other person, but whether it turns out that
way
or not does not determine the value of what we have
done."
- Mother Teresa
Katrina victums, illegal imprisonments, tax code inequities were perfect candidate
affairs which could have been done in love - yet in each of these cases and others,
reasons were given but the "problems" remained!
Leaders
who do things in "love" also do things that can be
perceived
in physical, tangible ways. The word "compassion"
implies
an action performed with the passion of love.
Acts
of leadership demand the "uplifting" of humanity via
some
concrete means - an excess of the noun 'compassion'
never
overcomes or makes-up for a lack of its action-driven
verb,
'being compassionate'.
"Love is metaphysical
gravity." - R. Buckminster
Fuller
Betrayal-2
- A Service-Meltdown
"I
know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and
thy
patience, and thy works; and the last [to be] more than
the
first." - the Lord Jesus
Christ speaking to the
called-out
believers in Revelations 2:19
The
original Greek text defines "service" as, the acts of
serving
or rendering services to others through Christian
affection,
especially, when people who help meet need do so
by
either collecting or distributing charities [any acts of
helping
or giving gifts to others].
Service
meltdowns happen when leaders let the essential
reason
for all leadership actions slip and escape from their
mental
grasp - that is, "the
greatest among you shall be
servants
of all" - Jesus Christ
"We
make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what
we give."
- Winston Churchill
Betrayal-3
- A Trust-Loophole
"The
three great ends which a statesman ought to propose to
himself
in the government of a nation, are -
1.
Security to possessors;
2.
Facility to acquirers; and,
3. Hope to all."
-
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Leaders
uplift the spirit and esprit de corps or enthusiasm
of
the group by -
=>
Acting in a forthright, consistent and uncompromisingly
trustworthy
manner;
=>
Performing and working in ways which manifest their true
intentions
and actual agendas;
=>
Producing fruits of faith-based, hope-oriented outcomes
through
their acts of leadership.
Allowing
loopholes and ambiguity to exist in your behavior,
your
patterns of working or your approach to people will
spell
disaster for your people's trust in and reliance on
your
leadership.
"Integrity has no need of
rules." - Albert Camus
Betrayal-4
- A Satisfaction Short-Circuit
"A
day wasted on others is not wasted on one's self."
-
Charles Dickens
In
electricity, a short circuit conducts zero energy, yet
that
circuit is filled with resistance. Leadership is granted
by
followers to insure they receive satisfactory benefits from
the
arrangement.
Leaders
must constantly ask themselves: "Who is getting
the
greatest satisfaction from this situation - is it just
me
and mine or is everyone likely to benefit?"
Satisfaction
short-circuits usually impede delivery of a
greater
good for the sake of avoiding a lesser evil -
remember
circuits are designed for the free flow of energy.
You
always should take a reading or measurement of the
beneficial
products and beneficiaries resulting from your
leadership
decisions.
"Do
not ever say that the desire to "do good" by force is a
good
motive. Neither power-lust nor stupidity are good
motives."
- Ayn Rand
Betrayal-5
- An Empathy-Gap
"Absolute
identity with one's cause is the first and great
condition of successful
leadership." - Dr. T. Woodrow
Wilson,
2-Term President of USA, Novel Peace Prize Laureate
The
mission of every leader is founded on an expectation of
empathy
with those being led. Leaders must be sensitive to
and
cultivate a deep understanding of their followers' needs
and
desires.
Can
you imagine people cheerfully following a leader who
appears
to be out-of-touch with and missing the point of
their
reality, plight or problems?
In
times of old, leaders were pushers, today's leaders are
in
the "pull" business.
If
leaders connect with others, then an affinity or alliance
can
be established, otherwise, anarchy will prevail and
humanity
will suffer.
------------------------------------------------------------
"Constant
kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice
melt,
kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and
hostility to evaporate."
- Albert Schweitzer
To
"uplift" human beings, leaders must approach their work
with
loving kindness in their hearts, a hopeful, yet imaginative
alternative
in their minds and a community-enriching product in their hands.
Every
leader has failed their followers in one or more ways.
Even I
have betrayed others by delivering poor and in-effectual
service [my meltdowns]
and by lacking passion in my mission [compassion-deficits].
When
betrayals are 'hard-wired' in the leader's policies,
attitude
and behaviors, people suffer harm and hopelessness.
Do
you want to lift-up humanity? I believe you do!
Use
these acts of betrayal as your warning beacon against
the
rip-tides, shallows, sandbars and whirlpools of poor
leadership
and watch your people thrive, prosper and profit.
"War on the other hand is
such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the
right to assume the responsibility of starting it."
- Leo Tolstoy
Copyright © 2006, Mustard Seed Investments Inc.,
All rights reserved.
------------------------------------------------------------
About the Author:
Bill Thomas teaches innovative leadership and innovation
strategy using next-generation, Imagination Age-focused concepts
- his books, manuals, handbooks, Executive Briefings, software
and training programs employ energizing processes to empower
leaders to develop and produce tangible value & powerful results!
Learn about our Executive Guides, Management Handbooks and Professional Briefings:
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