YOU CANNOT LEAD IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FOLLOW

IF YOU ARE A BAD FOLLOWER, FOR SURE YOU WILL BE A BAD LEADER

A Theory of Leadership - By Daryl D. Frey

Introduction
Thoughtful leaders have developed a theoretical basis for their approach to
management and apply it every day. It is based on their experiences, beliefs, instincts,
and educational preparation. In this paper, I discuss the approaches I employ as a
leadership practitioner.

The Core Principle

The core principle that guides leadership is trust. Implementing and protecting an
environment of trust within the organization is at the beginning of a long continuum that
leads toward leadership. With trust as the foundation, leadership efforts to improve
quality and enhance performance have a chance to succeed. But a work environment
without trust is the breeding ground of fear, a powerful, destructive influence in an
organization.
Trust, once broken, is nearly impossible to restore and so it must be protected at all
costs. The loss of trust diminishes the leader’s stature in the organization and
correspondingly, the leader’s influence. The group withdraws the advantages granted
the leader, as a trusted member of the organization, when trust is lost. Sustainable
leadership requires the maintenance of a trusting environment.

Stages Toward Leadership

Leaders are not born but made. Leaders invent themselves by making a commitment to
the highest standards of trust, which they must earn through service to those with whom
they work.

For discussion purposes, the development of leadership in a supervisory capacity is

examined. To aid the discussion, distinctions are made among supervisors, managers
and leaders, which follow.
The Supervisor. Generally, supervisors share core functions. The supervisor is
accountable for the performance of specific duties that are delegated to subordinates.
The supervisor directs the work, monitors performance and evaluates results. Provided
all tasks are completed to acceptable standards, and within acceptable time frames, the
supervisor has been successful, but is not necessarily a leader.
The Manager. To advance towards leadership, the supervisor must become a manager.
A manager performs all of the duties of a supervisor but with notable additions. A
manager identifies the forces that are external to the assigned tasks and controls those
forces to the benefit of the organization and the work group. External forces may include
operational, technological and budgetary issues among many others.
For example, operational forces may include directives from the manager’s superiors,
which change the scope of work. Changes in technology may require that the work
group learn new procedures for service delivery. Changes in the budget may change
how services are delivered, when services are delivered and who delivers them. When
budgetary changes infringe on the work unit’s ability to complete its tasks, a manager
identifies needs, establishes priorities, redirects resources or acquires additional
resources, redesigning service delivery procedures to maximize efficiency and
productivity.
Managers implement new programs, hire new employees, make reassignments,
allocate resources and balance the budget. Successful managers understand that these
actions are not performed in a vacuum but rather occur within the framework of the
existing work unit who are directly impacted by the changes he or she make. Therefore,
the managerial role requires broader skills of a technical and political nature. At this
point in the manager’s development, the manager has taken an important step towards
leadership.
The Leader. Most supervisors become managers, but not all managers become
leaders. Managers have the potential to lead if they possess the respect of the work
group and most importantly, if they are trusted. But having the potential to lead does not
guarantee the manager will become a leader. To become a leader, the manager must
view the employees not as a work group but as a team, working together towards a
common goal.
But simply viewing the work group as a team does not create one. Team building is an
art form. A committee can be created by edict, but the creation of a team requires an
attitudinal transformation occurring over time.
But how is it done? How does this transformation take place? How do employees come
to view themselves as a team working toward common goals rather than as individuals
slotted to perform specific tasks? First of all, we must understand that trust and respect
for each other bind teams to the organization, and to their leader. Teams do not develop
in a leaderless environment. A high performance team cannot develop without
leadership, nor will it perform as a team in an environment of distrust and fear. To
transform a work group into a high performing team, it is essential that trust and respect
for each other dominate a workplace that is free of fear, and it starts with the leader.
The leader controls the work environment and it must be free of fear. The work group
must know the leader can be trusted, absolutely. Therefore, the leader must tell the
truth, always. The leader must demand respect, not of himself but respect of each other.
If the leader treats all employees with respect, the leader will be respected. The leader
must be consistently intolerant of those who disrespect others. Respect cannot be
commanded; it must be earned by being respectful. The leader must criticize privately
and praise publicly. It is the leader’s responsibility to foster creativity not stifle it. A
leader’s management philosophy that incorporates these principles has transformed an
environment where teams can flourish.
When a manager can do these things, leadership is within reach.

Serve to Lead
I am convinced from experience that employees emulate the characteristics of their
boss. If the boss appreciates the value of humor in the workplace, laughter is
commonplace. Smiles replace frowns. If the boss is in a bad mood, a pall hangs over
the workplace that day. When he opens the door for another, a door will be opened for
him. When the boss sincerely demonstrates concern for the well being of an employee’s
family member, the employee will return concern in kind. If the boss celebrates the
employee’s milestones, his will be celebrated too. When the boss shares an employee’s
grief, his grief will be shared as well.
Little things make a leader. Supervisors and managers know they have the authority to
assign work and expect it to be done. So do leaders, but leaders help. Leaders not only
help, they sincerely want to help, because they know it is important to be viewed as a
member of a team, not the ruler of a work group. They understand it is consistent with
the goals and objectives of the organization to run an effective and efficient operation
and recognize that everyone, working together, have a much better chance of
succeeding than does a group of employees slotted to perform specific tasks.
Help can take many forms from working side-by-side with subordinates to acquiring and
applying resources for use by the team to advocating for the team with superiors.
Leaders help by accepting the responsibility of the team’s failures and giving credit to
the team for all successes.
Strong and effective leaders understand the value of loyalty, not only to superiors but to
the team as well and strive to assure that loyalty to one is not disloyal to the other.
Leaders must have the ability to anticipate a potential clash between incongruent
loyalties and assure that the clash never occurs. In doing so, leaders help their teams.
Recognizing accomplishments, achievements, no matter how small, make a leader.
Leaders routinely perform random acts of kindness. They recognize that no one is better
than any other, that everyone is important and has something to add.
In many ways, it is ironic that leadership, as important as it is, can be acquired through
little things, but these little things add up. When trust, respect, loyalty, tolerance,
truthfulness, generosity, kindness, patience, humor, morality, ethics and a host of other
like characteristics are sincerely and skillfully applied to the work place, a transformation
occurs. That transformation makes everything possible, all goals attainable, and all
objectives within reach. In this environment, teams can be built because a leader has
emerged.
Leadership cannot be purchased and cannot be assigned. It is a gift that must be
earned, but it is no ordinary gift. The gift of leadership comes with a lease, extended by
the members of the team but with a cancellation clause, no notice required. When the
team loses confidence in their leader, due to a violation of trust, betrayal, immoral or
unethical conduct or any other legitimate reason, the leader’s standing is lost, the gift
withdrawn. A leader can reach full potential when the team grants the right of leadership,
which will be granted only by establishing and maintaining an environment of absolute
trust.
Trust In The End
The road to leadership is paved with service and built on trust. It begins when the
manager is trusted. It ends when he is not. It is nurtured through service and fueled by
the conviction that the workplace is an ideal location to apply the best of human nature
to the benefit of the organization and those who work for it.
Leadership, therefore, is a set of convictions that guide the leader through the
challenges of public administration. The concept is simple but its implementation is not.
For those of us who have employed these practices and reaped the benefits for our
organizations and for ourselves, we recognize this leadership philosophy as
fundamental for optimal organizational performance. Despite the difficulties, the end
result is worth it, every time.