When I think about views on
leadership from my grandparents generation I think of authority figures. I see the man of the house running the family
and the wife’s role was to cook and clean.
Now mind you three of my four grandparents have passed away and my
grandfather is 96, their generation was a long time ago and far away. They were firm believers of following rules
and direction from those who were “above” you on the power scale. The way my parents ran the house was much
different. My dad was the one working
the most outside of the house and my mother was the one who was responsible for
me, however, my mother was the one who ran the house from financials to
day-to-day decisions. She still controls
all aspects of my parent’s lives and my father seems fine with that.
My house is very similar to that of
my parents but yet quite different. I am
a stay at home mom and my husband works outside of the house. I am the one who pays the bills, handles most
of the financial decisions, and makes sure the kids daily needs and wants are
met. The big difference in my house
compared to my parent’s house is that my husband is actively involved in all
the major decisions. I rarely make a big
decision that he does not have some input in, and the fact that we are complete
opposites helps us narrow down the options and most of the time we make sound
choices. We do however have a sort of
veto system set up to help keep us in check.
When it comes to participating in family gatherings outside of our house
the one who’s family is holding the gathering ultimately has the final power to
decided if we attend or not. This has
eliminated the “you never want to spend time with my family” attitude and
assumption.
Over the years, it seems the idea
of authority has lost importance and has been replaced with the idea of
leadership. When I think of authority I
think of giving directions, when I think of leadership I think of offering guidance. Obolensky (2014) quoted Lau Tzu about leadership with “the best
leader is one whom the people hardly knows exists, leaving them happy to say,
once the aim is achieved, we did it ourselves” (p.6). This to me illustrates guidance in
leadership. When you give the people the
tools they need to guide them towards solving problems on their own then you
have succeeded as a leader. This thought
process is what I have based my leadership style on from the start. I’m certain it is a result of my background
as a teacher and my instincts to help others learn.
I believe the gap in quality leadership, despite the
enormous amount of information about leadership, is a result of the mentality
that anyone can lead if given enough information and education. It seems that today that there are many
people in leadership roles that may not belong there. I am not a firm believer that all leaders
were born to lead; I do feel that leaders have to possess certain qualities in
order to be effective. I believe
education can strengthen a good leader into a great one but may not have the
power to turn someone into a leader.
Obolensky (2014) stated that leadership in any form cannot
produce results without a context within which to exist (p.4). This theory can be looked at from a business
perspective and a personal one. In a
business, leadership can only occur within the perimeters set by that
business. In other words, if the
hierarchy is set up to limit the number of decisions a department manager can
make then that person’s leadership ability is limited. This is a good example of leadership as
guidance rather than direction. If that
same manager had more flexibility then they have the opportunity to take their
leadership ability as far as they would like.
The same goes for personal growth; leadership can only flourish in an
individual who is capable of leading.
Too many leaders are in their positions simply because
they have an educational experience, but what about actual expertise? I am from the mindset that leadership
education will help improve people who lead, but not that it can teach others
to be a leader. Being a leader is a
distinctive ability where education and information help expand that talent. Until there are ways to assure that only
quality leaders hold leadership positions the gap will continue to widen. These leaders also need the best configuration
from their companies to grow and expand their abilities by showing just what
effect they can have on their followers.
Leadership education is an opportunity to improve on today’s already
great leaders.
Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex adaptive leadership:
Embracing paradox and
uncertainty (2nd ed.). Farnham, England:
Gower Publishing Limited.
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