Friday 5: Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

1. Among people you know, who seems to be a natural leader? Ooh, I don’t know.
2. When have you had leadership thrust upon you? I’m not sure that I have, aside from maybe years ago in school.
3. Are you most effective as the person at the front of the line motivating others to come along, the behind-the-scenes make-sure-everything-gets-done second-in-command, the enthusiastic follower, or the devil’s advocate? Definitely sort of quietly getting shit done. I’m definitely not the take-charge type, but I’m reliable and a hard worker.
4. Where did you learn most of your leadership skills? I’m still trying to determine what leadership skills I have, if any.
5. What is a most underrated leadership skill? Treating people with respect and kindness. I think so often, leadership is associated with being tough and hard-headed, and I think leaders tend to be strong personalities who can be kind of off-putting. I think when you step back and trust people, as well as treat them fairly, they’ll be pleasant, easy to work with, and get results. My dad used to work in the kitchen of a prison and, for his many flaws, was always very respectful towards the inmates. He’d talk about how other employees and guards would do things like smack trays out of inmates’ hands because the inmates couldn’t do anything about it, and he’d tell them he didn’t think it was right and treated them differently than many of the other employees–and the inmates noticed. They once told him if they rioted, he was safe. And in one of my husband’s early jobs, he had a supervisor who was adamant about being pushy and difficult towards certain departments to get results, and my husband had a much gentler approach. Guess which one of them the other guys would bend over backwards for to get shit done?

From Friday 5.