Becoming an Emergent Leader...

Earlier this week I read an interesting article by Paul H. O’Neill titled Truth, Transparency, and Leadership. Paul was the U.S. Secretary of Treasury from January, 2001 through December, 2002, during the early years of the George W. Bush administration. Prior to his stint as Secretary of Treasury, O’Neill was president and CEO for Alcoa for 12 years, transforming them into one of the world’s leading aluminum companies while emphasizing workplace safety. I had found this interesting, because I did not understand how the president and CEO of a major corporation qualified to lead the treasury department for the leader of free world. Later, I read that he had also served as the deputy director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget from 1974 to 1977. Now, I am more at ease with is qualifications. Not that the level of my composer should be of concern for a person’s qualifications, but I digress.

One of the points that Paul’s article makes regards what is considered “real” leadership. This will be my focus today. He discusses how each of our leaderships can be quantified by our staff answering three simple questions every day. Granted, any leader cannot make everyone happy every day, so let’s take averages here. If the majority of the people that each of us influence can answer yes to these three questions the

majority of the time, then we are doing a pretty good job. Answer these questions in your own mind:

• Are our employees treated with dignity and respect every day by everyone they encounter? 
• Are our employees given what they need so they can contribute in a way that brings meaning to their life? 
• Are our employees recognized for their accomplishments? 

Are our employees treated with dignity and respect every day by everyone they encounter?

This is a simple concept that can often be overlooked. Think about it. For example, do you treat your subordinate with the same dignity and respect that you would your director? One thing I must differentiate here is that O’Neill is asking about whether you treat everyone with dignity and respect, not whether you treat different people differently. You may, and undoubtedly do, treat your director differently than you do your subordinate. This is not a bad thing, as long as you are treating both of these people, as well as customers (internal and external), peers, etc., with dignity and respect.

Are our employees given what they need so they can contribute in a way that brings meaning to their life?
Think about the fact that you and your staff spend a very large portion of time at work. Together. Being a valued contributor at work helps bring balance to one’s life. Psychcentral.com (http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2014/02/02/8-ways-to-find-real-happiness-at-work/) discusses eight steps to achieving happiness at work, including finding balance, maintaining concentration, compassion, resilience, communication and connection, integrity, meaning, and open awareness. Being a valued contributor will help your employees reach meaning in their lives, and in order for them to become a valued contributor, you must remove any and all barriers that are in their way. As a leader, do you provide your staff with what they need in terms of education, training, encouragement, tools, and financial resources so they can contribute in a way that brings meaning to their life? If you are providing for the needs of your employees to succeed, then you should ask yourself if you are holding your employees and your organization back from achieving great things.

Are our employees recognized for their accomplishments?
Has there ever been a time when you took credit when one of your employees did something truly great?

Maybe you told them “great job”, but later when your boss told you that you did a great job, you didn't step up and give your employee their much-deserved credit. It may have been unintentional, but it is still unethical. Your boss will still give you due credit if you tell them that one of your employees did a great job, as your employee will get credit for the great work, and you will get credit for doing a great job empowering your employee and providing them with the tools they needed to do great things.

These simple things create a win-win situation for all. Lifting your employees up to praise their work relates directly to what I had spoken of earlier. Show employees respect and dignity. Provide them what they need so they can contribute in a way that brings meaning to their life.

As a result, you look like a “real” emergent leader

Have a great week!