Leadership Is Action Not Position
As we move deeper into 2009 one thing I know for sure is that many lawyers, law firm staff members and clients are facing deep uncertainty. So many of us feel we have lost control; that larger forces are at work. At this time more then ever it is important to come to grips with what we can influence and impact.
We all have a leadership role to play in our organizations. When we catch ourselves complaining about the system, about how decisions are made and how things are done it is a good time to come to grips with our own responsibility for making a positive contribution.
Some people might say: “I’m not the boss; I have no power to change anything”. Certainly at times we all feel that way but this is rarely the whole truth. I had the opportunity to interview leadership effectiveness trainer Robert Gifoyle to ask him for his thoughts on leadership. He opened with the statement: “Leadership is an action not a position. “ Leadership is not about the role we hold in an organization; rather it is about the action we choose to take. He followed by saying that if you ask people to cite examples of extraordinary leadership at least one third of the time they will comment on the leadership actions taken by a colleague who is not in a leadership position.
Jane took the initiative. We were struggling and wondered if it was even possible. She just dove in and started things off. She got us into the difficult conversations about barriers and challenges and helped us get through. She made things happen.
Gilfoyle pointed to three key characteristics of leadership-in-action:
1.The action is other focused: “How can I help people succeed?”
2.It is future oriented: “I know we are focused on this phase of the project but how does it connect with the end result we are after?”
3.It is client focused. “How is that going to look from our client’s perspective? How will it help them with their business goals?
”
At the heart of leadership is the urge to get things moving
We all have a leadership role to play in our organizations. When we catch ourselves complaining about the system, about how decisions are made and how things are done it is a good time to come to grips with our own responsibility for making a positive contribution.
Some people might say: “I’m not the boss; I have no power to change anything”. Certainly at times we all feel that way but this is rarely the whole truth. I had the opportunity to interview leadership effectiveness trainer Robert Gifoyle to ask him for his thoughts on leadership. He opened with the statement: “Leadership is an action not a position. “ Leadership is not about the role we hold in an organization; rather it is about the action we choose to take. He followed by saying that if you ask people to cite examples of extraordinary leadership at least one third of the time they will comment on the leadership actions taken by a colleague who is not in a leadership position.
Jane took the initiative. We were struggling and wondered if it was even possible. She just dove in and started things off. She got us into the difficult conversations about barriers and challenges and helped us get through. She made things happen.
Gilfoyle pointed to three key characteristics of leadership-in-action:
1.The action is other focused: “How can I help people succeed?”
2.It is future oriented: “I know we are focused on this phase of the project but how does it connect with the end result we are after?”
3.It is client focused. “How is that going to look from our client’s perspective? How will it help them with their business goals?
”
At the heart of leadership is the urge to get things moving