Being a leader seems to boil down to a few things, leading through others, having a commanding yet relationship presence, and being authentic in body, mind, and emotion. I've been working with leaders and managers for over 10 years; training courses in the people side of management and leadership. There is a reprogramming of behavior that seems to be needed when making that transition in organizations. Up until mid-level management, staff across the board are told that emotion doesn't belong in the workplace and that emotion should be controlled at all times otherwise you will be seen as unprofessional or crazy. When did emotion become evil?
In my experience, the more I tried to contain my emotion, the more I exploded. The pressure cooker analogy is appropriate here. Yet, I was often sought out in my job as a mentor and as someone who was empathetic and effective with others who had strong emotion. Interestingly enough, what I have learned is that being a successful manager and leader is not done in the absence of emotion or in a controlled environment, but in managing moment to moment the changing conditions and unexpectedness of others emotions and changing job requirements.
There is a level of acceptance and consciousness of yourself that is required in effective leaders. If I accept my faults and strengths and am conscious of when I am oparating in each, then I have access to more choices and decisions versus a blind reaction. Leaders need to be able to show human-ness to their organizations. Show that they do have faults, however, they know how to navigate through failure and bruised relationships more successfully.
Can a leader be a leader when no one is following?
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