I remember once when I was younger – maybe 10 or 11 –
sitting in my dad’s office looking at a computer software magazine. That was at
least 25 years ago and computers were not the entertainment systems that they
can be today. Most of the software was business based with some kind of a
purpose. I didn’t really have an understanding of what software was at the time
and I remember asking my dad how anybody could ever even hope to use all of the
stuff that a computer can do. He explained to me that the software is not
really the computer but just something that you can buy that tells the computer
what to do. As we wrap up this particular course in leadership, I can see that
all of the concepts that we have learned are kind of like the software for that
old computer. We, as leaders, can never hope to be every type of possible
leader all wrapped into one. Denning (2011) points out that true interactive
leadership adds and subtracts elements of leadership to cater to the situations.
Just as that computer is just a tool that has to have programs added and
subtracted to make it function properly, we have to add and subtract leadership
techniques to be the leaders that we want to be. But that begs one very
important question – what kind of leader do I actually want to be? What
dimensions do I want to have? Denning points out several different dimensions
of leadership in the closing chapter of the book that we have been studying.
The idea for this blog is not for me to just sit here and list those but rather
for me to tell you the dimensions that I see myself as having in the future.
I inherited a very special trait from my mother. She
and I are both very logical/analytical people. It is rare that we act on
emotion without full evaluation of a situation. That is probably not going to
change. In fact, I don’t want that to change. However, that sometimes leaves me
sitting on the outside of situations looking in. Over the years, I have met
many people that I view and effective leaders that have taken a very different
approach. They have been much more “free-spirited”. They have this way of just
jumping in with both feet and not just existing but they truly live life! We
probably all know people like this. They are the people that travel to all of
the cool exotic places and have the most wild adventures. I want to incorporate
that into the way that I do leadership as well. There are three dimensions to
leadership that I want to exhibit that will lead to that. First, I want to have
leadership that participates. “Employing the interactive mode of leadership
means engaging the world with a mind-set of active participation rather than detached
observation” (Denning, 2011, p. 271). As I lead my teams in the future, I don’t
want to look at our objectives so much as tasks to complete as I want to look
at is as tasks that will change us all. I don’t want to be on the outside
looking in. I want to actually be a part of what is happening and to be excited
about it. This can be so hard to do as an Army recruiter sometimes because it
is so hard to see the actual fruit of our labor. Once someone signs a contract,
they ship to training and they fall off of our books. I want to really
participate in the development of these new Soldiers! If this makes any sense,
I want it to be who I am and not just what I do. The second dimension is one of
connection. Have you ever been sitting in a meeting or a conference and someone
of high importance comes in and they tell a terrible joke that isn’t even funny
but the entire audience busts into fake laughter? Yeah, that’s not a
connection. That’s the opposite of a leader connecting. But how about when we
roll back into the FOB (Forward Operating Base) and our vehicles are smoking
from the burning oil and being all shot up and there are ammo casings all over
the ground and we are all covered with blood, sweat, and dirt and the Commander
looks you right in the eye and says “You did well, son”? Now that’s a
connection! As I prepare to transition out of the Army and into the civilian
workforce, I would like to be able to have a connection like that with my team.
Of course it won’t be a battle-hardened bond but, through participation,
perhaps I can form some kind of a bond with my team. The final dimension falls
right in line with the first two. I want to be a leader that has feeling. “Interactive
leadership involves passion – another ingredient that is missing from the
traditional mode of management” (p. 283). As I said, I am a very rational
person. That doesn’t mean that I have to stop being rational and act on emotion
but it does mean that I can listen to my emotions a little bit more. This is
kind of like politics. The left is very emotion based. The right is very logic
based. The best practices come, however, when they work together to compromise
make bipartisan deals. I want my leadership to be bipartisan within myself –
logical but with great passion.
I understand that I can never hope to be a perfect
leader. I can’t incorporate every element of management and leadership all at
once. In fact, that is why several organizations now use separate people to act
as managers and leaders. However, I see myself as a “free-spirit leader” – one who
participates, connects with his people, and acts with a passion for his
purpose.
Denning, S. (2011). The leader’s guide to
storytelling: Mastering the art and discipline of business narrative. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
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