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Friday, September 12, 2008

It's ALIVE!

I'VE CREATED A MONSTER!!!! Or rather 12 monsters. Am I a bad leader? Looking back on all the leadership roles I've been pressed to take, I don't think I did well in any of them. I've heard the best leaders are the reluctant ones, but I might be the exception. I'm trying to find that delicate balance between reprimanding my peers and encouraging open anarchy among them. I think I lead better from within the group than outside of it.

I've also heard that the worst leaders are the best teachers. My boss teaches me something every day. Each day I renew my goal to be as LEAST like her as possible. I'm keeping a running list:

-Be slow to take offense (which is a lot harder than being slow to offend)
-Be mature
-Be professional
-Be modest in everything
-Sleep on it before replying to that email
-There are two sides to every story - educate myself before picking a side (or choosing not to)
-Don't micromanage. Delegate, delegate, delegate.
-Compromise facilitates greater changes than inflexibility

I've got more where that came from. I'm a regular fortune cookie when it comes to this job. But now that I've admitted to creating this monster, how do I tame it without breaking its spirit? I prefer people to think for themselves, and to not allow our boss to walk all over them. By the same token, they have a job to perform, and their constant whining, naysaying and cries of injustice are affecting the quality of their work. The monster is bitter, self-righteous and hostile. What do I do?

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