What does it take to be a good leader? This, and many questions about good leadership have been discussed many times and in many places. For sure, there is no simple answer to good leadership.
To add just one more morsel to the soup, here is a little story which I hope will shed just a little more light to the subject. It is a little vague to protect the identities of the people involved.
One day, this lady, let’s call her Ms C, heard that there was a complaint about her performance in one of the classes she was teaching. So, she consulted with her partner and they decided to approach their supervisor. Without saying anything, he simply told them that they should adhere closely to the teaching principles and promptly passed them the “Manual”. Both of them pored over the “Manual” and were puzzled. As far as they could tell, they have followed the protocol and stuck to the recommended practices in almost every case. Not able to discover the source of the complain, and since no one brought up the issue, it was decided that the issue was closed.
What do you think?
Obviously, the leader felt that he had dispensed his duty by reminding the two hapless teachers of their duty. But without a clear explanation, with no resolution to the matter, no follow up, not even an inkling of what the original complain was about; how can you expect your staff to improve?
There are many duties expected of a leader. Leadership is not only about being the front man. It is not only about giving orders. It is not even about taking the blame. Good leadership is a demanding, all rounder role that requires commitment, skill, intelligence and most important of all, leadership qualities.
How’s that for coming around in one big circle?
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