Leadership Moments 3/2011

Leadership is about ATTITUDE

Because…

The way we think (our attitude) will affect the way we behave. The way we behave as a leader will affect the results we get. It's all about attitude!

Sharing…

Attitude about Responsibility

Leaders with great attitude always take responsibility for who they are and what they a doing. As the saying goes, you can delegate work but you can never delegate responsibility!

I often share with my team members that as their boss, there are certain things only I can do. One of them is taking responsibility for the unit I am leading. However, I must qualify that taking responsibility as a leader doesn't mean that my team members will take their roles and work less responsibly. As a leader, you need to ensure that your team members are equipped with the skills and know what needs to be done. And finally, you must trust that your team members are doing their best.

Attitude about Learning

Great leaders have a very proactive attitude towards learning. They keep learning and growing everyday. They don't depend on others for their learning. They take responsibility. As leaders, we get new challenges everyday, our ability to learn and adapt quickly is one very important attitude in today's fast changing world.

I've worked with many 'CEOs' in my organisation over the past 15 years. Many of these 'CEOs' are often 'parachuted' in from another organisation. Many of them came from very different organisational cultures and work environment. One thing I noticed about all these 'CEOs', they all adapted very quickly, learnt very fast and started contributing to my organisation within a very short time. All of them did very well and all I can say is, they have a wonderful learning attitude!

Attitude about Challenge

As leaders, we get challenges almost everyday. How we overcome these challenges has got a lot to do with our attitude. When leaders encounter challenges they can either ask "Can I overcome this?" or "How can I overcome this?" Yes, the questions we ask ourselves becomes critical (The power of questions). Leaders always have a "Can do attitude" and they know that if someone needs to make things happen, it's them!

There was this saying my Aikido master shared with me several years back that I always kept close to my heart. The saying goes something like...

"If it is to be, it is up to me"

It is all about ATTITUDE!

"Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you thing about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are." -  Norman Vincent Peale

So?

What are you responsible for as a leader?

What are you doing to make yourself better than you were yesterday? When was the last time you learn something new?

Are you asking the right questions when you encounter leadership or work challenges?

Please share with me your thinking or comments...

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Why Am I doing this?

Leadership is a journey for me. I was exposed to various leadership roles at a very young age when I joined the uniformed group during my secondary school days. Over the years, I’ve learnt quite a bit about leadership from reading, observations and experimentation.

As the saying goes, nothing beats doing it! My career in a uniformed organisation for the past 15 years provided me with ample opportunities to hone my leadership skills. I am very thankful that my organisation has a very strong culture of leadership. My organisation pays attention to developing people, they tolerate mistakes and they genuinely cares. Much of my learning and reflections on leadership are from the excellent leaders I have worked with over the years. These wonderful leaders shape the leader I am today.

Leadership is something that is learned. No one is born a leader. We are all capable of being a good leader. Of course, not everyone can be the top leader. However, everyone does have the capacity to lead in some way—but ACTION is required! While all of us are born with many different abilities, but if we do not harness and develop them, those abilities will never come to fruition. Leadership is one such ability.

I hope to share some of my learning and experiences on leadership in bite size in my blog. I hope “Leadership Moments” will help you in your journey towards becoming a great leader in your own right. Remember, knowing is not good enough, you have to take ACTION if you want your leadership potential and abilities to be developed.

All the best in your leadership journey.

Jim