Growing as a leader

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

People sometimes ask if leaders are born or made.  The right answer is yes.  Obviously, leaders are born or they wouldn't be here, and people have the ability to become leaders.  I do believe that some people are born with innate abilities that help them develop into leaders, but I also believe that anyone can learn to become a leader.  I further believe that anyone can learn to become a better leader, and more importantly, have an obligation to their company and to themselves to do so.

During my lifetime I have worked with for many different people.  In the military I served under some very good leaders and a few who somehow managed to advance in rank but who had zero leadership abilities.  In my 30 years working in a factory I worked for some excellent supervisors and some very poor ones.  My biggest disappointment was one person for whom I worked for two years.  For a number of years he had taught quality control classes for the company, and I had attended several of them.  I was excited when I heard he was transferring to our department and would be my supervisor.  Unfortunately, I soon found out he knew a lot of theory and little about real life manufacturing challenges.  More than once I had to ignore his advice to correct a quality problem. 

Each of these share something in common.  The best leaders I worked for were continually growing in their ability to lead.  The worst leaders never did anything intentional to grow as leaders.  They were content to be managers, like the boss I described above, and had no interest in being leaders.

In my book Mistakes (see the right hand column for ordering information) I admit my failures as a leader and how they led to the eventual closure of our company.  I was a fairly successful leader in ministry, but I was much less successful as a business owner.  Although I learned a lot about leading a business it turned out to be too late to save our company.  My purpose for writing Mistakes was to give the readers the benefit of my learning so they could apply that to their own situations.

You may be someone who owns a small business or you may be thinking about starting a business.  For many, that is the American dream, and it is a great dream.  Your company will bring employment to people, offer a quality product or service that people want, and enable you and your family to enjoy a better lifestyle IF you are willing to commit to growing in your leadership abilities.  I am convinced managers cannot grow a successful small business; it takes leaders.  The good news is that no matter where you are in your leadership abilities you can improve.  You can grow as a leader, and there are many resources out there to help you in that process.  One good one is an older book by John Maxwell called Developing the Leader Within You.  I really cannot overemphasize how important this book can be to someone who wants to grow as a leader.  My copy has been read several times and is filled with highlighted sections that I have reviewed even more times.  If you haven't read this book and want to grow as a leader you need to get it this week and begin to read it.