Our daughter Tricia’s family came for the holidays and had a good discussion on leadership with Tom, our “son in love”, Docomo’s Commercial Business head in Guam. Tom said that leadership style can be related to trust and support. When you trust your one down, you delegate and know it will be done. You empower, you facilitate, take risks and stretch people.
I recall my Citibank boss Rafael Buenaventura, later BSP Governor. He gives out general assignments, leaves his one downs alone and just look at the final results. When needed, he gives guidance, follow up, and always recognize our efforts and achievements, and give us the credit. I was Citibank’s Country Financial Controller and Chief of Staff, and I recall him saying that I was not only his “right hand but his left hand” as well.
Tom said where there is high trust and high support, that’s collaboration, the ideal situation. If you trust your staff and leave them completely on their own to do things on their own, he cautions of the tendency to neglect and then blame should things not turn out right. If you don’t trust and don’t support, the bias is to dictate what to do. If no trust, but give support that’s micro managing. What is your leadership style?
This discussion led me to look back on John Maxwells teachings, the guru on leadership. John says, “a leader is one with a follower”, and “leadership is not about titles, positions. It is about one life influencing another.” When you are appointed to a position of leadership, people below you follow because they have to. At this level, followers do the minimum necessary to comply. Do you find your staff counting time and getting ready to leave 30 minutes before 5 pm? There is no energy, its minimum effort for maximum return
Do you want them to follow you with energy, giving time and more than what is necessary? Then It is important to have relationship and connection. They follow because they want to, more so if they respect you as a leader knowing you are capable and trustworthy, based on what they see you have done for the organization, and for them.
In a race, the leader will not be seen alone in the finish line. The leader will have his team with him. And more importantly, the leader develops people thus making the organization become productive and perform much better.
Leadership is influence and valuing people. How do you add value? The leader needs to know his people, go to where they are, ask good questions consistently and listen. Leaders learn their aspirations, what’s important to them. If a staff assigned to do something wasn’t able to do it, by asking and listening, perhaps he didn’t hear the instruction clearly, his child was sick or didn’t have the tools to do it. Then the leader can do something about it.
John said he wanted to be a leader and was told he will be an expert in five years. He tried to learn everything about leadership. Midway he realized that leadership is a journey. How far can he go? There is no limit with what an organization can do and where it can go with the right leader. Jim Collins, author of ”Good to Great” said, ”great leaders (the person on the driver’s seat) first get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus”. Yes, attrition is normal. The issue is who are leaving and who are coming? Good, if performers are coming and half bodies are leaving. Do you know?
Having the right people in the right seats means motivated staff and self-starters. With the right people, the organization will arrive at better destination and maintain momentum.
This new year, let us be better leaders, let’s start valuing our people more for a productive and better organization. First WHO before WHAT.
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Ms Tarriela, a FINEX trustee, was former chairman of Philippine National Bank. Former Undersecretary of Finance and the First Filipina Vice President of Citibank N.A. She founded Flor’s Garden in Antipolo.