Is leadership YOUR business?

Is leadership YOUR business?

Debbie Nicol - MD of Dubai-based ‘business en motion’

Research of Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner indicates that everyone can be a leader. It’s not about whether you were born or made, but rather leadership is about ‘what you do with what you have’.

Let’s dig further into those words: ‘it’s what you do with what you have’. Whether you have an abundance or lack of resources, both can be used or applied. Let’s drill down into the word ‘resources’, as that often is interpreted as purchasable items. Could resources also be ‘ideas’, those little nudges I call life force that pop into your mind when you least expect them? What do you do with those – jump into action (make that call, read that book, speak to that person) to use those ideas or let them fade away and become forgotten? Could resources also be your personality or behavioral preferences. What do you do with those – use them to their fullest allowing them to bring results for your desired outcomes? Could resource also be the dreams that will offer more hope that the reality you currently face? What do you do with those – see them as something to wait for, or opportunities to take steps towards creating their existence?

Let’s take a practical example where success has come from taking the first step, any step into an unknown because you believe in a change, yet have no idea how to make it happen.

Rania desperately watched on as her company colleagues were handed redundancies in waves of 100’s. It was unacceptable to her to see the damage this caused, seeing people no longer wanting to get out of bed and falling into the depths of depression. While understanding that when a company met economic hardship there really was no other option, she also believed fervently that everyone deserved hope in their life. She intended to reconnect these people to hope even though she had absolutely no idea how to achieve that. So, she simply took a step, just one step, by picking up her phone and sending an SOS message out to anyone in her phone list. She asked everyone to consider what they may be able to offer that might gift these people hope. She then put down the phone and walked away. Within minutes the messages starting flowing in from consultants, coaches, and trainers, offering free-of-charge motivational talks, webinars, techniques. Rania then set up a timetable and infrastructure from which these people could serve.

Was Rania a leader – you bet! She’s an ordinary person who has made a difference to thousands of people, by taking one step into the unknown because it was just unacceptable any other way.

Leadership is indeed everyone’s business, offering them to take that first step or not. That’s where choice comes in. What are you choosing right now regarding the struggle, pain or adversity you are facing? Ask yourself: Am I prepared to accept that this adverse situation right now? This question should facilitate some type of emotional response; ‘listen’ for that. Is there something I could be doing right now to change this situation? The question did not suggest you know what to do, or the required action. Does taking no action feel right for me? The question does not judge you, as you remain at choice here.

Taking that first step will indeed feel like you are walking in the dark, with little to no knowledge of where the first step will lead nor where the second step will follow. And therein lies the magic; we humans do not need to know, but rather need to trust that the steps

will find their own way. Leaders trust themselves first, and it’s only then that they can be trusting of others. Leaders recognize that great things are only achieved with and through others. If leadership is truly everyone’s business, and everyone was transacting trust each day, what a different world we would be creating, full of creation, happiness and acceptance.

Needing to know, needing to be right, needing to be the first are all counter-productive to wanting to serve. When COVID is affecting the community, are you wanting to contribute in the best way you can, when someone loses their job, are you wanting to help that person with their future, when a process is inefficient, are you wanting to make improvements, when a manager’s style is counter-productive to innovation, are you wishing to quietly highlight the impact, when growth and learning is not an option, are you wanting to find new ways to obtain development opportunity, when a country’s traditional practice seems outdated, are you wanting to help to bring that practice into the modern way of life, and the list goes on. Leaders are ordinary people who achieve extraordinary results because they are driven by a desire to change and afterall everyone can feel frustration at times. Yet do you feel a desire to drive a change moreso that keep the frustration alive and nourished?

If not, what’s holding you back? Great leaders all broke through the barriers and made things happen. Some initially had fear, some faced a lack of expertise, some had bad memories of previous tough discipline. Yet, their passion for change was stronger than the obstacle itself.

Are you seeing a message here? Leadership is indeed the business of everyone, from a small child who brings a parent back to them, to a family store who forged through economic hardship through to a council representative who brought the community back together. None of them had titles yet each of them had a strong desire for change, as their current circumstance was unacceptable. They then took a step into the unknown and by doing so, influenced others to jump into their story with assistance.

Nothing in the leadership research cited above hints that leaders should be perfect. Leaders are not saints. They are human beings full of flaws and failings, and make mistakes too. Yet the key is their intention for greater hope and a better world, be that in a household, in the community, in the organization or in the country. They are real people like you and me doing something with whatever it is they have. Does that present any opportunity for you?

Debbie Nicol, MD of Dubai-based ‘business en motion’ moves businesses and leaders ahead through change. Specializing in leadership and change, Debbie is a Certified Master Facilitator of The Leadership Challenge leadership methodology, facilitating leadership to be everyone’s business.