The leader as a role model

I love the Beatles song, “In My Life.” The song has meaningful lyrics and starts with the words, “There are places I remember, all my life, though some have changed…”

Now, I want you to think back to the various kinds of bosses you have had in your life and sing your thought to the tune of the Beatles song, “There are bosses I remember, all my life, though some have changed.” I am sure many of them have changed, but perhaps some of them today remains the same.

In your process of remembering your former bosses, try to recall two bosses and how were they about each one:

1. Their performance against their annual goals and targets.

2. What and how were they like as a boss and as a person.

Now, which one of the two would you remember after all these years?

There are bosses you remember with fondness, like watching an inspiring movie that moved you to do better and become better. And there are bosses that would still give you the shivers when you think of them, like watching a horror movie that would contain the most horrifying scenes of the scariest vampires combined with the 360 degree turning head of a possessed creature in the process of exorcism.

Now, I want you to project yourself to the future. How do you think your people will remember you many years from now?

But let me illustrate first the different kinds of bosses. There are those who want to be popular with his or her people all the time, they gather them like a gang leader who would gather his or her tribe. Their leadership philosophy is always “Those bosses up there are against us…” They have fun, they did not have to work much. The entire team behave like a corporate mafia. They protect each other’s back, hide the truth, abuse privileges and window dress the numbers.

And though the people love these types of bosses, years later they would remember them with disdain because such leaders waste the crucial years of their lives without building their competence and skills. And today, they end up ineffective, incompetent, unable and unqualified to take on another job because they have grown obsolete in a fast changing world.

There are bosses who act like dictators, hardnosed, offensive, cursing and relishing in making people suffer under the guise of “I am training my people to be strong and effective.” Every day of work with these type is a daily experience in torture and suffering. The only thing that keeps the people from leaving is their pay check. Such bosses still send shivers down the spine of people today. They still wake up in the night haunted with nightmares of their past work experiences with those kind of bosses.

And then there are the leaders who inspire their people to become better. They did not make life and work easier, but they developed their people to become stronger and wiser. They molded, trained, mentored, encouraged and shaped their people, developed their potential and have placed them today in positions of success and influence.

Such leaders are remembered with fondness and they are respected. Their past exploits become subjects of beautiful lessons and stories that are passed on from one generation to another.

Deep down, as you examine the core of well-remembered leaders, you find one common denominator. They are all humble people who really cared for the development of their people. Like loving and responsible fathers wanting their children to be the best and to have the best, they really invested their lives in building up their people. And the people who have been blessed to be on the receiving end of an inspiring leader’s wing and care would most likely pass on the same leadership styles to their people, so blessings multiply.

The sad news is that many victims of bad bosses become bad bosses themselves and tend to pass on the same experience on how they may be in positions of leadership and influence, and so the virus spreads.

The leader as a role model is vital towards the growth and success of the organization or the failure of the same.

The question now is, how are you as far as your leadership skills are concerned and perhaps more significantly, how would you be regarded one day when your people remember you?

(Bring your leaders to Seda Hotel, BGC and experience two inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong in his highly acclaimed and updated Level Up Leadership this Aug. 23-24. For further inquiries contact April at 63928-559-1798 or Success Options at 7270291 / 7275692 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph).