Wanted: A Dictionary-Perfect Leader
Wanted: A Dictionary-Perfect Leader
Explore with me how some of the multitude of definitions for the word "leader" actually serve as a performance standard for leadership.
Leaving behind the standard definition of "one who leads or guides", consider the second definition: "one who has power or influence". Have you known people in a leadership role who seem unable to influence the people around them? The ability to make connections, to speak clearly and to frame information so everyone hears a "what's it in for me" message are essential for influence. We are also persuaded by people with conviction and passion. We are influenced by people whom we think we can trust. Lose or misuse any of this and a leader's power vanishes.
A leader is defined as "a conductor or the principal performer in an orchestral section". Finding ways to bring together the different talents of employees or volunteers so that all play from the same sheet of music and blend their instruments into a harmonious whole is a skill demonstrated by the finest of leaders! As a principal performer, we look to a leader to have one talent that is heads above the other people in that arena of "play". We don't want a leader who professes to best at everything. But we do want a leader to have one clearly recognizable skill.
The foremost animal in a harnessed team is a leader. Do we not look to leaders to guide the way, joined shoulder by shoulder to the rest of the team? Remember how the presence of a leader at a front line became the rallying point for many a battle?
Leader is also defined as "a duct for conveying warm air from a furnace." Care is a four-letter word heard more and more frequently in business circles. Employees want to know that a leader cares for them. The cold, stern dictator might get some results but never the full-blown commitment, creativity and loyalty of a warm and caring leader.
There's the leader that is an economic indicator and the leader that is "loss". A leader better be in command and have a clear indication as to the economic viability of the enterprise. A leader also needs to know when something is done to attract talent or customers - not to make money.
A short length of gut, wire or similar material by which a hook is attached to a fishing line is a leader and so is the blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding.
What's the correlation with the world of leadership in these final definitions? Both are used for setting up the profit potential of the venture. Depending upon the type of fish one wishes to catch, a fishing leader strengthens the connection between the hook and the rest of the line. There are times in which the executive's presence helps solidify the relationship between the customer and the sales team so that the customer "bites the hook". Other times, a leader gently paves the way for the real presentation to the potential buyer or the investment community. He is the "blank tape" that opens the doors for the full presentation of the company.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, a metaphor is worth 1000 pictures. Using the metaphors provided by other meanings to the word "leader", we gain a rich image of the scope and possibilities of true leadership.
© 2008, McDargh Communications. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.
Wanted A DictionaryPerfect Leader - To learn more about this author, visit Eileen McDargh's Website.
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Answers are often before our very eyes or in front of our noses - particularly if we read the American Heritage Dictionary!
Explore with me how some of the multitude of definitions for the word "leader" actually serve as a performance standard for leadership.
Leaving behind the standard definition of "one who leads or guides", consider the second definition: "one who has power or influence". Have you known people in a leadership role who seem unable to influence the people around them? The ability to make connections, to speak clearly and to frame information so everyone hears a "what's it in for me" message are essential for influence. We are also persuaded by people with conviction and passion. We are influenced by people whom we think we can trust. Lose or misuse any of this and a leader's power vanishes.
A leader is defined as "a conductor or the principal performer in an orchestral section". Finding ways to bring together the different talents of employees or volunteers so that all play from the same sheet of music and blend their instruments into a harmonious whole is a skill demonstrated by the finest of leaders! As a principal performer, we look to a leader to have one talent that is heads above the other people in that arena of "play". We don't want a leader who professes to best at everything. But we do want a leader to have one clearly recognizable skill.
The foremost animal in a harnessed team is a leader. Do we not look to leaders to guide the way, joined shoulder by shoulder to the rest of the team? Remember how the presence of a leader at a front line became the rallying point for many a battle?
Leader is also defined as "a duct for conveying warm air from a furnace." Care is a four-letter word heard more and more frequently in business circles. Employees want to know that a leader cares for them. The cold, stern dictator might get some results but never the full-blown commitment, creativity and loyalty of a warm and caring leader.
There's the leader that is an economic indicator and the leader that is "loss". A leader better be in command and have a clear indication as to the economic viability of the enterprise. A leader also needs to know when something is done to attract talent or customers - not to make money.
A short length of gut, wire or similar material by which a hook is attached to a fishing line is a leader and so is the blank strip at the end or beginning of a film or tape used in threading or winding.
What's the correlation with the world of leadership in these final definitions? Both are used for setting up the profit potential of the venture. Depending upon the type of fish one wishes to catch, a fishing leader strengthens the connection between the hook and the rest of the line. There are times in which the executive's presence helps solidify the relationship between the customer and the sales team so that the customer "bites the hook". Other times, a leader gently paves the way for the real presentation to the potential buyer or the investment community. He is the "blank tape" that opens the doors for the full presentation of the company.
If a picture is worth 1000 words, a metaphor is worth 1000 pictures. Using the metaphors provided by other meanings to the word "leader", we gain a rich image of the scope and possibilities of true leadership.
© 2008, McDargh Communications. Publication rights granted to all venues so long as article and by-line are reprinted intact and all links are made live.
Wanted A DictionaryPerfect Leader - To learn more about this author, visit Eileen McDargh's Website.
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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