“This may sound crazy, but it’s hard for us when someone
turns down a raise,”
That was a recent comment from the Board President at
the University of Cincinnati.
Not only that, but it’s the third year in a row the university chief, President Santa Ono,
has donated his bonus.
Since 2013, he has turned down his six-figure bonus and
declined a raise. His reasoning is that he donates it to various funds and to
help the college students.
What does leadership
look like?
There are off-sites for leadership development. Business
schools and their professors have gotten in on the game. My mailbox is hit at
least a few times a week on some new technique for being a leader.
The flawed leadership model that was idolized years ago is
flawed, in my opinion. Dr. Santa Ono exhibited leadership in such a compelling
way that it says more about a real leader than any course could ever teach.
I have always felt that leadership is about caring for the
people around you. Anything you can do to further their hopes and dreams
enables the organization to move forward. As my friend Peter
Makowski, CEO of American Hospital here in Dubai says so eloquently, “My
job is to care for the people who care for the people.”
Making the connection
“Having a child is a life-changing experience and this
policy means our employees have the opportunity to enjoy time with their
families and have a great career,” said Richard Branson, Founder of
the Virgin Group.
The policy he referred to was one
year of maternity leave with full pay that Virgin announced to their
employees.
“If you take care of your employees they will take care of
your business. That is a philosophy that has served us well for more than four
decades, and is the foundation of everything we do at Virgin,” Branson
said.
I am a sucker for these types of initiatives because they
show exactly what real leadership is about.
You can’t program
genuine leadership
This real type leadership can’t be programmed. I wrote an
article a while back about a CEO who extolled the values of leadership and how
he runs his organization. Only later did I find out that this is the same guy
who walks in every morning and walks past numerous desk on the way to his
office without the most common morning courtesy of “Good Morning.” But,
he calls himself a real leader.
Leadership is about the small things that you do. Big
pronouncements and chest thumping does not means leadership.
Another former CEO who I had the honor of knowing would
gladly stop by the mail room on the way to her office. She would hold her own
in spirited discussions on last night’s games.
What this showed was a real person connecting to the lowest
level on our organizational chart. To them she was just Sharon, not the
founding CEO of this company.
The real power in
your organization
This is what real authentic leadership is about. It is about
connecting to the people throughout the organization
In order to get your employees excited about working for
your organization, leadership has to connect. If you want problems solved,
expressing new ideas, and taking care of customers, you can’t do it without
this connection.
The strength in your organization is not your leadership
team, but, where the majority of your workers sit. Leadership is only a small
percentage of your workforce
Companies need this not just from top performers and leaders
but from every employee every day. The only distinction
between organizations today, and this is true more than ever, is their
people and the effort they exert each and every day.
A connection can be an unlimited sources of energy. When
that level of trust is built between all connecting parties, bright days will
follow.
So forget the next new thing in leadership development. If
your leader can’t connect on a personal level, there is no course or
development opportunity that will make them the leader that you need.
No comments:
Post a Comment