Some of us enjoy the tidy list. Nice to have as a touchstone, though if we’re serious, we’ll dig deeper. Regardless, here are two for your consideration.
The first is seminal for me –– the summarization of the far-reaching work of Kouzes and Posner. The second is the one that summarizes the Group Dynamic leadership curriculum. It was developed in cooperation with former workshop participants, and your feedback is always welcome.
Kouzes and Posner say that leaders do these:
Search out challenging opportunities to grow, innovate, and improve.
Experiment, take risks, and learn from the accompanying mistakes.
Envision an uplifting and ennobling future.
Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interests, hopes, and dreams.
Foster collaboration by promoting cooperative goals and building trust.
Strengthen people by sharing information and power and increasing their discretion and visibility.
Set the example for others by behaving in ways that are consistent with your stated values.
Plan small wins that promote consistent progress and build commitment.
Recognize individual contributions to the success of every project.
Celebrate team accomplishments regularly.
The Group Dynamic checklist:
Instead of thinking “I’ve done my share”, I think “What more can be done?”
I can accurately describe both
A) the ideal state of our group and
B) the exact current state of our group.
I have high moral standards, and my actions are consistent with those values.
I listen well, with total focus on the speaker.
I speak well, clearly, specifically, in a way that leaves no question what I meant and that shows total respect to the person listening.
When helping or correcting someone, I address a person’s specific actions, not their attitude.
I demonstrate/model everything I ask others to do.
When I am corrected, or learn new ways of doing things, I adjust what I do accordingly.
If you ask the people I interact with, they will tell you that I am caring.
If you ask the people I interact with, they will all tell you that I am passionate about our work/cause/organization.
Like all lists, they are both helpful; do they paint the whole picture?
nicholas
I am now able to differentiate what a leader can do and what I can’t and who he is.