Back to Basics

Back to Basics

For IT Leaders
1. The Principle of Servanthood [1]
o Do you seek to serve or to be served?
o Self-promotion (pride) and self-protection (fear) are the reigning motivations that dominate the leadership landscape.
o Shackleton practiced the principle of servanthood.
o He chose to serve rather than to be served.
o Are you a servant leader or a self-serving leader?

2. The Principle of Influence [2]
o True leadership cannot be awarded, appointed, or assigned.
o It can’t be mandated. It must be earned.
o Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less.
o Shackleton was a true leader.
o He chose to influence rather than to demand.
o Maxwell writes: “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk.”

3. The Principle of First Hand Knowledge [3]
o Quality leadership means that you get out of the office and circulate among the “troops.”
o This type of contact gave Shackleton the first-hand knowledge he needed to make informed, accurate decisions without having to rely solely on the word of others.
o He learned how his people would respond in any given situation; who would have a tendency to get the job done on his own, or be more likely to procrastinate and delay, who could be counted on in an emergency and who couldn’t, who were the brighter, more able, more committed people, who shared his strong sense of ethics and values.
o He also wanted his subordinates to get to know him, so they would know how he would respond in any given situation, what he wanted, demanded, and needed. If they knew what he would do, they could make their own decisions without asking him for direction, thereby avoiding delay and inactivity.
o The principle of first hand knowledge is simply the process of stepping out and interacting with people, of establishing human contact.


4. The Principle of Empowerment [2]
o Teddy Roosevelt writes: “The best leader is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
o Shackleton assigned men certain responsibilities and rarely overruled them.
o When a leader can’t or wont’ empower others, he/she creates barriers within the organization that people cannot overcome.

5. The Principle of Persuasion [3]
o Good leaders persuade rather than coerce.
o Shackleton chose to work with and through people.
o He attempted to gain commitment from individuals through openness, empowerment, and coaching. He provided as much support as he possibly could.
o Leadership, by definition, omits the use of coercive power. When a leader begins to coerce his followers, he’s essentially abandoning leadership and embracing dictatorship.

6. The Principle of Timing [2]
o Great leaders recognize that when to lead is as important as what to do and where to go.
o Shackleton knew that the wrong action at the wrong time leads to disaster.
o Shackleton knew that the right action at the wrong time brings resistance.
o Shackleton knew that the wrong action at the right time is a mistake.
o Shackleton knew that the right action at the right time results in success.

7. The Principle of Credit [3]
o Good leaders always give credit where credit is due. Conversely, good leaders accept responsibility when things go wrong.
o When a subordinate did a good job, Shackleton praised, complimented and rewarded the individual. On the other hand, he shouldered responsibility when mistakes were made.
o Jim Collins writes: “When things are going well for typical self-serving leaders, they look in the mirror, beat their chests and tell themselves how good they are. When things go wrong, they look out the window and blame everyone else. Great leaders, on the other hand, are humble. When things go well, they look out the window and give everybody else the credit. When things go wrong, these servant leaders look in the mirror and ask: ‘What could I have done differently to allow these people to be as great as they could be.’”


Endnotes
[1] Ken Blanchard, “Lead like Jesus”
[2] John Maxwell, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”
[3] Donald Phillips, “Lincoln on Leadership”
[4] Bob Lewis, “A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology”