Saturday, January 31, 2015

I can lead!

People at the helm of affairs (at home or at work) should realize that they are responsible for the whole and not the pieces. The very idea of having a team is to share responsibilities, the role of the leader being that of one to guide team members with their tasks, make decisions (if needed) and provide the members a holistic perspective, whatever the project is; but it's never the responsibility of the leader to 'do'. However, the leader should possess enough skill to replace a member, when required. It is sometimes tempting for the leader to start 'doing' (taking on the team members' work), in case:
1. He doesn't trust his team members as his self,
2. He's a workaholic, or
3. He simply loves doing.

In any case, it's fine for the leader to replace a team member, in his absence, thus. However, it cannot be healthy for the team when the leader's time and efforts are spent this way. And, an ineffective leader is who lets the team member 'do', but in his (the leader's) terms. Here, the ineffective leader would give step-by-step instructions to the team member, telling him how to do it, without accepting to have it done any other way. In such a case, the leader imposes his learnt method upon the sub-ordinate, which not only kills the creativity of the individual, but leaves no chance to improve upon the original method. This is a flaw of philosophical proportions, since this curtails the freedom of the individual and prioritizes the method over the purpose of the activity. The ideal leader gives the sub-ordinate a big picture and nurtures the creativity of the individual to solve the problem in his own way. Delegation of this sort makes the individual confident as well as appreciative of the leader's faith in him. If one has to love his job, he needs to have an able leader. If one has to love his home, he needs to have a similar non-imposing leader at home. Let's spare people of emotional leashes. Live free and let free!

1 comment:

R said...

Well... Thats what they men, When you hire a dog, let him do the barking ;)

Yet.. What is the real genesis of this thought stream... I wonder!

Should I be reading between the lines, a hidden message for people at office??