Developing and Refining Your Leadership Philosophy

Good leaders have a leadership philosophy. It serves as a personal road map that guides your actions, behaviors, and decisions. A written leadership philosophy brings clarity to what is important in your life, the values that are important to you, and guides how you will conduct your life in both the personal and professional realm. If you don’t have one already, now is the time to develop your own. My dad often recited the old maxim to me that “if you don’t believe in something, you’ll fall for anything”. There is no better way to memorialize what is important to you than a well-thought-out and articulated leadership philosophy put into writing.

You may have heard it called different names, i.e., a purpose or values statement, life plan, goals program, or a host of others. Regardless of its name, most leadership philosophies begin with the same thing – a period of soul searching and self-examination. Self-examination creates self-awareness which comes from personal thought and introspection. Our worldview is informed by our value system and is influenced by our parents, teachers, coaches, and other role models during our formative years. These values not only help to form our beliefs but influence how we choose to act and behave in our interactions with others.

Because leadership philosophies are extremely personal and reflect who we are down deep, relying on your values is a good way to incorporate your beliefs into the way you lead others. Another great way to develop your leadership philosophy is by talking to and interacting with other leaders. Asking them about their experiences and how they lead is a great tool for helping develop and refine your leadership model.

My personal leadership philosophy has been shaped by emulating and modeling the behavior of several people that I worked for or interacted with over the years. For me, that meant closely observing the leadership styles of those leaders that I admired, and internalizing what it was I liked about each one.

While there are many academic theories regarding leadership styles, I chose a combination of servant leadership and a character-based model as the foundation of my leadership belief system. I define servant leadership as leaders first looking out for the best interests of their people and team while believing that positive individual and organizational results will follow. Because servant leadership turns the traditional organizational hierarchy upside down, it puts the power for decision-making with both the leader and the team. And, although servant leaders work to share power and decision-making with the team, they don't absolve anyone of personal accountability for results. Great examples of servant leaders in our past include Jesus Christ, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and more recently, Nelson Mandela, and Mother Teresa.

In addition to the servant leadership model as the foundation, I like to feather in the character-based “do right” philosophy of Lou Holtz which I was first exposed to during his time as head coach at Notre Dame. The thing I like so much about Coach Holtz’s philosophy is that it is commonsensical and easy to understand and apply. Over the years, I have modified it somewhat to meet my own personal and leadership needs. My version goes something like this:

·??????Do What’s Right – always lead with integrity. Let this principle be the guide star for all of your decisions, big and small. Put all of your choices and decisions through the prism of right and wrong.

·??????Do Your Best – be committed to excellence in all you do. It's very simple, do your best with the skills, talents, and abilities that you have been given. Commit to a life-long quest for personal and professional growth.

·??????Do Unto Others – treat other people the way you wish to be treated. Yes, it’s the same golden rule we have heard all of our lives.

It’s pretty simple from there. If you seek first to serve others (servant leadership), always striving to do what’s right, to do your best while doing unto others (do right principle), I can guarantee you that you are on your way to personal and professional success, regardless of your profession or vocation. On this foundation, you can develop and memorialize your priorities, layer on your goals and aspirations, and lay down a roadmap that will carry you to where you want to go, all the while living a life of integrity and purpose. For illustrative purposes, I have listed my priorities below:

MY PRIORITIES

·??????Pay attention to and take care of the spiritual side of my life

·??????Care for my family and friends

·??????Keep my mental state sharp, always on the lookout for ways to improve my job duties and career responsibilities

·??????Keep myself healthy and fit

·??????Watch over my finances and material possessions. Have an organized plan for savings and investments, giving and retirement

There you have it, my leadership philosophy with servant leadership and the “do right” principles as the foundation. Layered upon that are my priorities. My one-year and five-year goals are at the top of the pyramid as the capstone. Naturally, my goals change as time progresses and I enter the different phases or seasons of life, but my leadership philosophy and life priorities do not.

?Again, drawing from the wisdom of my dad, "if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything". A well-thought-out, memorialized leadership philosophy helps guard against that ever happening.

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