Leaders are takers

I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of working with great leaders – both in the context of employment, and as a volunteer in charities and not-for-profit organisations.

In many cases, I’ve been inspired by them and I remember and apply the lessons they taught me.  In a few other cases, I saw them operate in a way that made me certain that if I was ever in a leadership position then that’s NOT how I would do it.

I remember when I was working as a trainee in the computer department of Lloyds bank, a new senior manager was appointed into our department – a lady and this was unusual in the early 1990s in a bank in the UK.  One of the standout things I remember her saying during a ‘getting to know you’ session she had with her team was how she defined her role.  She said ‘my job is to enable you to do your job – so tell me what you need and what is getting in your way.’   To this day, I often use similar words to describe my role when I meet a new team member – it is the ‘leader as servant’ model of leadership.

Another great example, came during a board meeting for one of the Hewlett-Packard international users groups where I volunteered as a director.  As with many large users groups, the day to day running was handled by a management company and then a board of directors taken from volunteers in the user community and staff from HP provided the leadership and governance. I remember one board meeting, held in Mexico – best margaritas ever! – and the management company reported that some project had not gone so well and so the money that had been spent on it had been wasted – a few thousand dollars.  

I distinctly remember the reaction from Vice-President of Marketing from HP who sat on the board and whose budget had provided the money – he got really mad and gave the team a real telling off.  He took those wasted dollars personally – in the late 1990s a few thousand dollars was nothing to HP – they were printing money. But this guy, he took it personally – like the money had come out of his own wallet.  He acted as though HP’s money was his own money – he had a really strong sense of ownership.  

I remember reflecting on this later (in the bar sipping another margarita) and thinking – that’s why you are the VP of marketing – because you care and take it personally.  I could remember plenty of other conversations where some money had been wasted on some project in different organisations and the people round the table – while not being negligent or dismissive – you could tell they thought, oh well – tough luck – but it’s not my money so….   

Personal ownership is another trait in great leaders.

It’s true that leaders are givers not takes – except in this situation – leaders take ownership, leaders take it personally!

Great leaders are takers (when they need to be).

This article is an extract from the HIGH FLYERS online leadership development programme. To find out more, visit: www.cool-waters.co.uk/highflyers