Leadership – by Chuck Morris

LEADERSHIP

BY CHUCK MORRIS

Our recent two-day leadership sessions held in Richmond was great! I believe in what we do and how we endeavor to build upon leadership programs delivered for you. I believe all of us can benefit from the lessons learned. If you were not present, try to catch the next session.

Read. There are a lot of papers on leadership. Search the internet and you may find a few choice sites where you can glean great, positive information. I did that many years ago.

Tell stories as you begin to feel more comfortable and confident in your delivery of tips and lessons on how you should be leading. Stories, interwoven throughout whatever you are trying to say exemplify and more easily illustrates what you are emphasizing to those listening. Leadership is necessary and if done right will allow you to learn as well; from your staff. As they build confidence in how you perform and build trust, you will gain more respect.

Being a good leader means you speak the truth, have solid integrity, use good moral judgement, take complete responsibility, and OWN your actions. You do not have to make up a story to dispel your responsibilities; you do not need to remember a ‘little white lie’ to cover your mistakes. Always OWN them. Never pass blame onto any of your staff!

Use mistakes a staff member may have made as a learning moment. Bring them into your office and talk about what you have seen and perhaps may have heard. Identify what you saw and talk to them, identifying that perhaps there is a better way. Use this as a teaching moment without accusation, without demeaning anyone, without raising your voice, or hitting the table. You don’t need to slip into that type of autocratic aggression.

Doing what has just been described will create a much better environment for them (and you) as the days carry on. A good idea is to hold management and leadership training sessions periodically. This builds a better team and suggests to your staff that good things are happening. Why would the boss spend all that time with us? Because for those of us who have been there, we have seen the results. Those results mean you have a great team in front of you and have likely prepared them for a new challenge if they want to take on more responsibility and possibly post out for a new position in the district they currently work in or another one they may want to try for. Don’t discourage them from advancing. Someone gave you that break years ago. Think about that. n

a past you can trust and a future you can depend on

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