Great leaders go beyond their title

Joan Lloyd  

Are you a leader others look up to? Whether your title is fancy or plain, would you say you are successful?

There was a time in my life when I looked up to people in powerful jobs and thought that they had it all ... success, power, happiness. After working my way up a few corporations and many years as a consultant with a bird's eye view, I came to know the truth: that there are many roads to success, happiness doesn't automatically come with a big paycheck and real leadership doesn't come with the title.

I study successful leaders. After all, my job is to help people build a successful career. And while there are many individuals who understand the technical parts of their business and are wizards in their industry, in my view, there are very few who have mastered the art and science of great leadership.

Here are some of the characteristics that I think make the difference.
• They are courageous. When times are tough and hard decisions need to be made, they step forward and make the call. While others are running for cover, they are willing to do what they think is right and take responsibility for the outcome.

• They can envision the future and are able to help others see it too. They believe so strongly in their picture of a desired future that their steps are a decisive march in one direction and their actions leave a clear path to follow.

• They make the most of even the smallest opportunity. Because they are so clear about their vision, they are quick to see a potential advantage or an alternative solution to a problem. Their pace may be slow and steady but they are alert to any avenue that will help them reach their goals.

• They don't need to waste time playing political games. While they have the emotional intelligence to deal with different personalities, they don't stoop to manipulation, social climbing or patronizing behavior. They don't need to.

• They add value. Rather than take the easy way out, they look for problems to solve and apply themselves to untangling the mess. They are willing to move laterally within the company or move to an undesirable area of the organization to get the job done.

• They are survivors. Rather than whine about fairness, they empower themselves to do whatever it takes to rise above adversity. Entitlement and victimization are not on their radar screen.
• They get a thrill from developing others. They make it a point to know the career goals of the people around them and then look for opportunities to put in their path. They are also quick to give credit and visibility to others.

• They believe in the inherent goodness and integrity of people and treat their coworkers and employees as though they have the best intentions. This trust is rewarded more than it's betrayed because people want to live up to this trust in them.

• They are students who never stop learning. They read books, attend classes and seek advice from those who can teach them how to approach challenging situations. They study behaviors and are close observers of people and strategies. Mistakes are opportunities to learn lessons.

• They have a servant mentality. They dedicate themselves to the outcome, not to personal recognition. Given the choice, they would rather see the team win and don't need to be the "star of the show."

• They are dependable to a fault. Everyone knows that their promise will be kept and a deadline will be met. Great leaders know that their word is the currency on which trust and credibility is built.

• When they're wrong they admit it and make it right. They don't blame others or faulty circumstances. They have the backbone and the character to own up to their mistakes. They don't wallow in their error or seek reassurance; they suck it up and move on.

• They have integrity. Even if it's easy to take the road to personal gain, they won't go down that path if it is at the expense of someone else. They make decisions as though a room full of people was observing each action. Instead of doing what is fast and easy, they will slow the process, if necessary to do what is right.

• They define success in their own terms. They don't let others make the rules for their own happiness. Often it's a balance of family life, personal achievement and doing good for others. They don't let other's "shoulds" and "musts" rule their choices. They make up their own minds and set the course for their own lives.

Level 10

1. Empower everyone on your teaching and senior student team to talk about the benefits of your school and the martial arts, in general, as well as anyone in the world can. Yes, anyone in THE WORLD. Hint: It only takes practice. If you can’t explain the benefits derived from the training, YOUR training, then the only way your community will “get” what you do is through mental telepathy --and I’ve found that to be a VERY inefficient way to inform and educate people.
2. Treat every student in the school, whether you have 10 students or 1000, as if he or she were your ONLY student. What do they need to know and practice? What are his obstacles to excellence --and how can you help him overcome them? What do you need to know about her and her family that could show you care about her as a person, not just a student or agent of commerce.
3. Treat every member of your school who leaves the school, for any reason, as if he or she is still a member in good standing. People will come and go, as that’s the way of the world, but an excellent school gives of itself without remembering --and receives its students, past, present, and future, without forgetting (taken from “The Definition of a Mature Mind,” which is “To give without remembering --and receive without forgetting”). An excellent school develops the means and attitude that they mentor and coach the community, not only paying students. An excellent school isn’t simply another business in the community, it is an institution.
4. Excellent schools, I mean absolute “level 10” schools, don’t just teach, they EMPOWER people. To empower someone is to give them the power to make change in themselves and others. Power is found in health, in compassion for others, in believing that there is always a way to solve problems without resorting to violence or negativity. Power is found in being in the here and now, minimizing fear, seeking clarity, seeking engagement and participation in one’s community. Power is found in living a life of meaning and purpose. It’s good to think about teaching the martial arts, well; it’s excellent to ask yourself how teaching the martial arts can make the world a better place.
5. Talk about others more than you talk about yourself. An excellent school doesn’t just toot its own horn, an excellent school seeks out the wise, the effective, the movers and shakers, the enlightened, and the change-makers in its community --and helps them. It’s good to do for yourself, it’s excellent when you do for others, understanding that you can get what you want, if you help enough other people get what they want, first.

Excellence, like good, is a PRACTICE. It’s not something you have learned or simply know, it’s something you put to work on a daily basis. Cultivating excellence is like eating, you do some of it every day. Cultivating excellence is investigation, constant analysis, it’s honesty, curiosity, and about doing for others, as a way of life. Excellence has the exuberance of a 20 year old and the wisdom of a someone who knows, through experience, the difference between s*** and Shinola.

So, in every staff meeting, in every class, at the end of every day, week, quarter, and year, train yourself and train your team to rate the work, their effort, and the results you get on a scale from 1 to 10. Wherever it is that you end up rating your performance, if it’s less than a 10, ask yourself what the difference is between where you are and where you want to be. It’s in that question that your work begins; the work that changes you and those around you, you and your school, from something marvelously good, to something absolutely excellent.