I am still inspired by my first boss, Jenny. One thing that I remember about her was that she made tea most mornings for our departmental cleaning lady, Vicky. About 10.30, Jenny’s voice would ring out in the department: ‘Vicky, your tea’s ready!’ And that still inspires me: every member of our team valued, willing to serve one another, caring, but also focused on achieving together. Jenny was kind, but she was not a soft touch – she got in early, she worked hard, she challenged us when our work and attitude were not good enough. And she also made tea for Vicky, and left a lasting impression on me. She led herself and others well.
So what is the best way to lead myself and others well? It means starting with myself: with understanding my strengths, my fears, my weaknesses. It starts with being humble and vulnerable, with serving and making tea. It is also about developing self-awareness and self-control: being able to choose and use the right leadership style for the right moment.[1]
Nick and I and the Artesian Associates have the privilege of working with many different leaders and their teams. As I do this, I see that healthy leadership is less about being a hero and more about being a host, as Margaret Wheatley[2] and Simon Walker[3] describe: it is about serving people and creating a culture and environment where others can flourish and be most effective in their work. It is about building highly-effective teams and impactful relationships, both within organisations and with other teams and organisations. I think it might start with making tea…..
Later this year we plan to write a series of blogs focussing on this key facet of healthy leadership … stay tuned!
[1] Daniel Goleman. March-April 2000. Harvard Business Review. Leadership that gets results.
[2] Margaret Wheathley and Deborah Frieze. 2010 Leadership in the Age of Complexity: from Hero to Host. http://berkana.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/New_Leadership-in-the-Age-of-Complexity.pdf
[3] Simon Walker. 2010. The Undefended Leader.
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