Creating Your Personal Leadership Philosophy

Leadership Lessons CREATING YOUR PERSONAL LEADERSHIP PHILOSOPHY ln this article ... Leam the questions уои need to ask yourself to determine your leadership philosophy One ship sails east and another sails west, With the selfsame winds that Ыоw: 'Tis the set of the sails and not the gales That tells them where to go. Like the winds of the sea are the winds of time, As we journey along through life; 'Тis the set of the soul that determines the goal, And not the calm or the strife. -Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 19161 IF OUR SAILS ARE SЕТ CORRECТLY, OUR PER­ sonal leadership philosophy - not the gales we encounter every day - will tel1 us where to go. ln order to develop an effective leadership philosophy, we first пееd to look at what we mean Ьу the term, "trans­ formational leader." No matter whether our title is leader or manager, we need to Ье transformational. А transformational leader is опе who is сараЫе of leading the organization from one paradigm to the next. А paradigm is the way we think. The way we do things. The way we approach things. ln health саге today we need а new model. We need to think differently. We need to do things differently. We need а new paradigm. The paradigm of the past will not work in the future. Our leaders need to Ье аЫе to lead us from the paradigm of the pas t to the paradigm of the future. Transformauonal leaders lead to the next paradigm. For а transformational leader to Ье successful, three things are necessary: 1. The transformational leader must choose the correct next paradigm. lt is clear to the tran sformational leader that something has to change. The organization needs а new paradigm in orde r to thrive in the future. But what should that paradigm Ье? ln the 1980s, IBM was а mainframe computer company. IBM was also in trouЫe because, as urban commentator David Stein has pointed out, the "past was gone, and the present was full of confusion." The leaders of IBM made the decision that the company needed 10 change paradigms, and needed to do it quickly. IBM decided to make laptops, and the Think Pad was born. lt was а very successful move from the paradigm of the past to an ef fective paradigm for the future. 2. The transformational leader must motivate the orga­ nization to make the paradigm leap along with him ог her. We all prefer things the way we are used to. Changing to а new paradigm is scary. Every organiza­ tion will resist change. А transformational leader is аЫе to motivate the organization to take а deep breath and make the big leap, believing that the new paradigm, chosen Ьу its leaders, is the right thing to do and, in fact, is the o nly thing to do. З. А transformational leader must inspire the organization to hold together while in the very dangerous transition phase between paradigms. We have left the security of doing things the way we did them in the past. We have not yet settled into the new way to respond to the future. People get uncomfortaЫe. Things сап Ыоw up. Life in t he organization is not staЫe. People get emotional and tense. Actions or comments are easily misinterpreted. Flare-ups occur. Little things become Ьig things. As leaders and managers, you must Ье alert to the symp­ toms of instaЬility while the organization is between para­ digms. Watch out for the little things. Stay focused on what you have to do and take саге of each other. lf you are unsuccessful iп making the transition between paradigms, it will Ье because you did not take care of each other. Leaders, managers and supervisors а\1 play а key role in the transformation. Leaders cannot do it alone. Managers and supervisors make it hарреп. PHILOSOPHICAL MOMENT - One of the most important things you сап do to become effective leaders and manag­ ers is to think about, define апd then articulate your own personal leadership philosophy. Неге аге three reasons why it сап become the key to your effectiveness. 1. Your personal leadership philosophy gives you consis­ tency. Without а leadership philosophy, your actions and your reactions will reflect the tensions of the mo­ ment. "We never know how he might respond ог what she might say" The reason is that the leader does not know what his ог her leadership philosophy is. With а leadership philosophy that you know and understand, your actions and responses аге filtered through your philosophy. They аге in context. They are predictaЫe. There is less fear of the unknown in the organization. Your philosophy gives you consistency. 2. Your leadership philosophy becomes your true north. Everything you do, everything you say, every action, every decision, every plan is filtered through your phi­ losophy. Your philosophy becomes your rudder. lt helps you to maintain the right direction. lt keeps you from straying. lt is your compass. lt keeps you from losing effectiveness. З. Your leadership philosophy will соппесt you to your work. Your philosophy is all about your оwп personal mission апd who you аге as а leader ог manager. lf you are поt clear on your own personal mission, your role as а leader will поt Ье clear. lf you аге поt clear yourself on who you are, the people you lead will not Ье clear on what you аге about. Your personal leader­ ship philosophy must incorporate your own personal mission. lt must also incorporate who you are as а human being. But then, if your own personal mission is in sync with your organization's mission, and who you are as а person is in sync with your organization's values, your leadership philosophy will соппесt you to your work. And very few things are more fulfilling in life than being connected. lt is important to understand that your leadership philoso­ phy will Ье а work in progress. lt will evolve as you mature as а leader. lt will change as you study and think about leadership. You need to Ье thinking about your personal philosophy, you need to grapple with it, chew on it. lf right now you cannot articulate your leadership philosophy, your goal should Ье to get started creating опе. First, you need to spend some time (months, not minutes) thinking about who you аге and what you believe. Think about your relationship with those you lead. Think about how you get things done. More accurately, for each of these, think not about who you are now ог how you do things now, but rather who you want to Ье and what you want уош relationship with your employees to Ье, and how you want to go about getting things done. When you are creating your personal philosophy, it is not necessarily а description of who and what you аге now, but rather an opportunity to design who and what you want to Ье as а leader. Then you сап start moving in that direction. Your leadership philosophy should Ье encompassing enough that it can Ье applied to every aspect of your daily activity as а leader. You should Ье аЫе to filter еvегу action, every decision, every response through your philosophy. You should Ье аЫе to apply your philosophy to every issue, every proЫem and every opportunity. ln order for your philosophy to meet these cr iteria, it needs to consist of th ree essentia l components: 1 . А ph ilosophy is defined as а system of pr incip les for gu idance ,n practical affaiгs. This first and overa rch­ ing com ponent consists of а description of the basic princip\es that gu ide you in yo ur practical affa irs of leadersh ip, principles upon which your actions, dec i­ sions and responses are based . Pr inc ip\es a re а g u id ing sense of the requirements and oЬ\igations of right conduct. They provide а personal an d spec ific ba s is fо г cond u ct a nd/or ma nagem ent . These principles der ive fro m your va lues, from whom you want to Ье as а perso n, а leader and а m entor. These princ iples cou ld Ье ca lled you r menta l mode l. You m ust have tho ught th roug h a nd Ье а Ь\е to cl early articu late th e p rinciples upon wh ich you r p h ilosophy is based . A lways Ье asking yourse lf the question, "' ls this particular decision, th is pa rticu la r action, fi rm ly rooted i in my pri nc ples of lead ersh ip? 2. Your leadership ph ilosophy also shou ld a dd гess the de ­ sired results or outcomes you a re st r iving for as а leade r. Неге we are not ta lk ing about your a nnual object ives or particular p roj ects or even the level In the organ izaм nal h ie ra rchy that you hope to ach ieve. Rathe r, at а h ig he r and more encom passing level, what do you, as а leade r, hope to accomp lish throughout your career as а resu lt of your leadeгsh ip. What d rives your leadership activities? What is your pe rsonal missio n for you r ca ree r? The ques­ tion then becomes, "'Will th is decision or action m ove my o rgan izat ion in the di rection of my desi red results7 " з. The th ird component is а descri ption of what you envi­ si on you r leadership style, your method of operation ( М . О.) to Ье. Not n ecessarily what it is rig ht now. lt is а descr i ption of the p rocess and approa ch that you would l ike to Ье using co n si stently, based u pon your princi pl es, i n o гder to achieve the desired outco m es described in component two. Ask the question, " Will this process or approach move my peop le i n the d i rec­ tion of my desi red resu lts? " ТНЕ ВОПОМ LIN E - The bottom line regarding you r personal leadership p h ilosophy is: Will it епаЫе you to consistently make the right decisions (principle-based), the ngl1t responses and the right actions for every issue, proЬ \em or opportunity that you encounter as а lea de r? 11 so, does it have transfoг­ mative pote ntial? You r leadership phi losophy should Ье cl ea r, concise and princi ple- based . lt should have transformational potential. Неге a re the kinds of questions you should Ье asking your­ self as you thi n k through your leadership philosophy: ■ Сап you define your critica l p rinciples and beliefs that impact your aЬility as а leader? 1 What do you stand for that becomes im porta nt as а leader? 1 How do you define your role in your organ ization? 66 NOV E M B E RIDEC E M B E R ■ 20 1 5 ■ ■ What are your goals ? Not prog ra m matic, but pe rso na l, as а leader. Wha t is your perso nal leade rship visio n ? 1 As а leader, how сап yo u cont ribute to t ra nsforming your organization? Other quest ions to think abou t deal w ith your relationship to those you lead: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ How do you mot ivate your peop le? How do your people k now h ow we ll they have done when they go home at nig ht? How do yo u enco u rage your people? How do you affirm your peop le? How much auton omy do you g ive your peop le? Do you demonstrate respect a n d compassюn towa rd your peo p le every day? The f ina l q uestions have to do with your leade rship style. H ow you do th in g s: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ H ow do yo u app roach p roЫem so lv i ng? H ow do yo u approach conf li ct? H ow do you respond to employee mi sta kes? H ow do you prior itize your act1 vit1es? H ow do you teach your people? Take some ti me and begin to w rite out you r real-wo rl d responses to each of these ca tegories. Your responses need to Ье something that са п get tracti on, n ot so m e pie- in-the­ sky g e ne ral ity. You са п begin to design the kind of leader you wo ul d like to Ье. We began with Ella Wilcox's poem, which asserts that it is the set of the sou l that decides the goa l , and not the ca lm nor the strife. 1 am sug g esting tl1at for each of us as leaders and ma nagers, it is the i n terna l set or our ow n personal l ea d e r­ ship philosophy that decides the goal, and not the day-10-day even ts that con front us. 1 encourage you to take the d evelopment of your leader­ shi p philosophy very seriously. lt is an impoгtant key to you r personal effectiveness. Dale Benson, M D, СРЕ, FAC PE, is the for mer vice president of ,nnovation, qual ity and prac­ tice management, and directo r of the leader­ ship development i nstitute at AltaMed Health Services in Los Angeles, California.