Ramblings-there is NO theme today
Usually- up to this point, anyway- I’ve had something specific in mind as I go to write the weekly edition of Cowardly Leadership-Up Close and Personal. But not this week. Not that there isn’t lots to write about. Still, how many different ways can I talk about how cowardly leaders lie, manipulate, are egotistic, full of hubris, insincere, insecure, and the many other traits they possess?
So, today, there is no theme. It’s just stuff I’ve thought of recently.
It’s really NOT about Cowardly Leadership
I visited with a very good and smart friend last week (that’s a shout-out there, ADM Price). He suggested something I hadn’t really thought about until he brought it up (which, in a backhanded compliment kind of way, means he does read these sometimes). He, probably not intentionally, but effectively nevertheless, did the “5 why’s” drill. That where you ask “why” five consecutive times to really drill down and find out why you are-or aren’t- doing something. Here is a made up example:
I’m going to paint the house. Why?
Because it looks bad and needs it. Why?
Because the paint is peeling. Why?
Because it seems like the wood is wet and the paint isn’t adhering. Why?
Because there is a moisture and foundation issue. Or whatever. But now I’ve drilled down to the fact I have a moisture problem with the house, not just that it needs to look better on the outside.
Anyway, it made me think that these blogs aren’t really for cowardly leaders. I mean, THEY aren’t reading them. I know in the very beginning a few people that are cowardly leaders read them, via feedback I was getting. However, generally speaking, they don’t read these because “they” aren’t cowardly leaders in the first place. They don’t lie. They don’t mislead. They don’t take the easy way out. They don’t fail to hold their employees accountable. They don’t abdicate their responsibilities. ad infinitum…
The bottom line is, the blog really should be about, a) how to identify cowardly leaders, and b) how to live with, work with, and deal with them.
Right?
That’s where the “5 why’s” series of questions helped. The focus isn’t, or shouldn’t be, on the cowardly leaders, they should be on you. How do you deal with them.
So, in the future, I’ll keep that in mind. It’s about solutions, suggestions, recommendations, thoughts, ideas, and sharing of things that have happened to me that might help you.
You don’t appreciate the light until you’ve been in the dark
As you know if you’ve been reading these, I’m a fan of James Altucher. I subscribe to his blog and like his informal writing style. A recent blog said, “You can’t appreciate the light until you are sitting completely quiet in a room filled with dark.”
In the same spirit, you can’t appreciate how good your leadership is, or isn’t, until you’ve worked for a cowardly leader. I’ve worked directly for two, and I’ve worked directly for many, many more great, solid, ethical leaders, so in the scheme of things my postive:negative ratio of leaders is pretty high. However, those two negatives were career disrupters to put it kindly.
I was very fortunate early in my career to have worked for some great city managers and elected officials that for the most part were ethical and in it for the right reasons. Who knows what would have happened and how it might have impacted me if the first experience I had was working for a cowardly leader? With that as my frame of reference, I might have become one also (I would hope not as I think I have more internal ethics in place than that).
Think back on people you’ve worked for. You know who are good leaders because of what they stand for, and stand against. And you know who are cowardly leaders because they neither stand for or against anything.
Cowardly Leadership speaking opportunity
There will not be a blog post next week- September 26th, as I will be at the National Recreation and Park Association annual conference, and will be speaking on PARC Leadership. If you’re there, I hope you’ll attend the session. It’s not about cowardly leadership per se, but there will be some examples I’ll explore.
And with that, Ramblings is over. Remember, cowardly leaders are lower case ” leaders” in name only. True, real, Leaders are always capitalized. In more ways than one.
II-52
