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Team Leadership: |
The Healthy Leader part 1 of 2 |
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Dominic Orr, CEO of Aruba Networks, suffered from not dealing with the tough questions early enough in his leadership development process. After some time his relationship with his son was in a poor condition. Also, he “was starting to realize that his lack of personal life made him an unappealing boss—and to his dismay, perhaps a poor leader.” “Confessions of a CEO” by Stephanie Mehta in Fortune, 9/12/07.
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by Brit Boone, president of GHP When the first flower appears at the beginning of spring, you can be confident that there will be several flowers in just a matter of days. This power of nature is a good metaphor for how one may view leadership. As one observes the world around him, it quickly becomes clear that health exists in organisms that are growing, improving in form or function, and reproducing new, healthy organisms. This definition of a healthy leader can be referred to as organic leadership. It is this style of leadership that is essential in today’s rapidly changing world. To examine organic leadership, it is important to start by looking at each facet of a healthy organism. First, healthy organisms grow. Multi-cell organisms start small and grow larger over time. Some organisms do this rapidly, others much more slowly, but growth is a common aspect of complex organic life. Even simple, one-cell organisms increase in size over time. Likewise, the organic leader will grow or develop in some key ways. These areas include developing in skills that can range from gross to fine motor movements, intellectual and analytical proficiency that is headed toward mastery, awareness moving toward excellence of processes and procedures necessary to achieve set goals, and understanding and ability to work effectively with others. The growth aspect of leadership is essential to develop the skills necessary to move toward personal success while developing influence in the lives of others. In this area, an individual will demonstrate repeatable results in effectiveness and efficiency. Developing the requisite skills—an on-going development process—prepares and mobilizes people into situations where they begin to develop influence in the lives of others. Ultimately, this points toward increased leadership capacity as well as the scope and breadth of an individual’s influence. Second, healthy organisms improve in form or function. A budding plant, such as a tulip or rose bush, start with small sprigs of green growth poking out of the ground. Though at different rates, each grows until a bulb or bud are visible. Then, within days, a beautiful bloom opens wide with color. In the same way, the healthy leader will evaluate the value or quality of the influence she exerts. She will ask the hard questions. She will grapple with the ethical issues. Defining, clarifying, and seeking to consistently live out her values will be key to her long-term success in each area of life. Regular, honest analysis serves to protect and promote the health of the leader, those she leads, and the organizations she influences. The growing organism is not always healthy. There are times when growth is a negative trait. For example, cancer, which can grow at abnormally high rates, achieves no good result for the organism it attacks. Some growth may be healthy, though when left unchecked can cause significant problems. This can be seen in a healthy man that takes in more calories than are required on a consistent basis. Within time, this will create problems related to health and beyond. The healthy leader must evaluate what growth is healthy, to what extent, and at what cost. Evident in areas of work-life balance, poor decision-making based on excessive drive for profitability that is the root of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, and the ethical lapses which allowed the downfall of organizations such as Enron are all representative of the problem with growth that is left unexamined in the health of its form or function. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ page 1 2 © Copyright – Brit Boone – 2008 |
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