Throughout the next few months, Vince Bruni-Bossio, Strategic Planning Leader at Morris Interactive, will be providing ongoing lessons of leadership. These will be posted regularly on our blog, and occasionally featured here in our Newsletter.
Here is Vince's first lesson on leadership:
I recall my first lesson with my Sensei (teacher) in martial arts. I had tried many different martial arts, but never really followed through on them. I was sure that this would be no different as I was starting to lose faith in my ability to study a martial art. Years earlier I had suffered a major injury to my spine and was told that I would never walk. I did walk but with a limp and tremendous pain in my body. For this reason I was almost convinced Martial Arts would not be something I could ever hope to do.
Nervously, I met my Sensei in a park in down town Toronto. I was not use to meeting someone in park as I was expecting to train in a studio or Dojo. My teacher was waiting for me on a park bench, all smiles as I limped up. "I am ready to go!" I asserted. "Great," he said, "let's go for a walk."
For the next 2 hours I walked with him as he asked me a series of questions about my life and about my injury. Every time he asked a question he would listen intently as if he really wanted to hear the answer and was not just asking to be polite.
At the end of the walk he said, "Well, I think you can do this practice. Not to worry."
"That is it," I replied, "what about training today?"
"We did train," he replied with a smile.
"No we didn't! We walked around and you asked me questions."
"Yes the first lesson in dealing with an opponent or student is listening. How can I know what is right for you unless I listen first. If you want your second lesson, show up tomorrow at 10:00 in the morning."
I trained with him for the next 5 years and then went on to run my own school for seven years. The reason I followed this teacher is because he listened to me. Now at first this seems almost backwards. After all, a student's role is listening to a teacher and not the other way around. The truth is, however, when we listen to others they feel heard, so they want to listen to us. This also applies to people to organizations.
In my experience, the most important quality a leader can have is being a good listener. Only a good listener will understand and know the issues that face an organization and the people working in it. Part of listening is realizing that a good leader does not impose his/her vision on a group/organization. Instead a good leader listens to see what the group/organization really needs. In other words a good leader creates policy based on what is needed, not based on what he/she wants to create. This type of leader understands that the instructions and rules will come from the situation the organization is in.
A strong leader also understands that the process of leadership is a process of "influence". Basically a leader influences others to follow a vision or idea. For this influence to be effective the leader needs constant feedback from those around him or her. Without this feedback the leader will never know if the influencing process is working and if it is being interpreted clearly. This is another reason why a strong leader is also a good listener. However, listening is not the only quality a leader needs. Leadership must be built on strong values and on exemplifying those values. This is "walk the talk" which I will discuss in another article.
No comments:
Post a Comment