DC Velocity - November 2015

50 DC VELOCITY NOVEMBER 2015 www.dcvelocity.com basictraining

Art van Bodegraven is, among other roles, chief design officer for the DES Leadership Academy; he can be reached at (614) 893-9414 or avan@columbus.rr.com.

His website is www.artvanbodegraven.com.

applications for results based on team maturity and stage of development

; Are authentic, genuine in all their behaviors and relationships.

THE ROAD TO MARRAKECH

Is there more? Of course. There always is. But the behaviors that constitute leadership turn out to be far more complex, subtle, and interwoven than simply being the boss, or the chief task assignment shuffler, or the first mate who can order those chained below decks to row faster.

The good news? All the listed leadership attributes are teachable and learnable.

It’s not enough to be born to lead; the chosen ones must still learn what leading means. It’s not enough to be appointed to a position of power; power without purpose, or power without lessons in its limitations, is not sustainable power. Being surrounded by an aura of charisma is not enough; the most beautiful must still learn how to be the brightest, how to push the buttons that make the machinery work.

The bad news? It’s where we began this discussion. What entity is teaching those with potential to be leaders? Where does a talented person of promise and capability go to learn what leadership is and how to exercise it? Who is Luke or Lucy Skywalker’s Yoda?

While we fight other battles in the trenches of the profession—a general talent shortage, a catastrophic shortage of truck drivers, the mere trickle of analytic capability entering the field, vicious competition, and disruptive innovations— we must also find ways to create leaders who are whole and genuine. Without them, the other challenges are likely to not get solved, or might limp along, held more or less together with the intellectual equivalent of spit and baling wire, and liberal applications of duct tape.

This is one song we must learn to sing, and soon.

oral, and nonverbal modes

; Maintain personal enthusiasm

; Develop the skills and capabilities of those around them

; Know and understand their audiences and constituencies— needs, motivators, and styles

; Collaborate with peers, subordinates, and superiors

; Recognize that leadership behavior is independent of job title

; Reach decisions, with appropriate input, and make crisp decisions at crunch time

; Manage conflict with others; mediate conflict among teams and subordinates

; Solve problems, preferably in collaboration, or independently in extremis

; Praise individual and team accomplishment publicly; correct performance issues privately, using consistent rigorous coaching processes

; Delegate intelligently, for individual development

; Establish clear accountability for all work assignments; share credit for achievement; take the heat for shortfalls

; Fight to the death to eliminate the toxic “isms” that rot organizations from within: favoritism, cronyism, nepotism, sexism, racism, ageism, egotism, pessimism, and others

; Act honestly, with integrity, in all matters

; Live core values in all activities and interactions

; Understand the principles and nuances of situational leadership, the tool kit of directing/telling, coaching/selling, supporting/partic-ipating, and delegating