Just before I left Texas, I wrote my thoughts on leadership and what I had learned over the past few years. Many people know how much respect I have for a man by the name of Richard Winters. Some may recognize his name from the HBO show called "Band of Brothers"; others may have heard his name if discussing leadership with me. He developed leadership principles which he called "Leadership at the Point of a Bayonet" which really resonates with me. After my work experience here in Australia, I thought it would be time to revisit Winters' principles as well as my thoughts on them from when I was still at Texas A&M. This was addressed to the team of staff I was leaving behind.
Leadership
at the Point of a Bayonet
1. Strive to be a leader of character,
competence, and courage.
Regarding character, I feel that I am pretty sound in
this now but I certainly had to work on this over the years. Just like the
students we work with every day, when I arrived in this office I was still
asking myself “what do I want to be when I grow up?” “What are my life goals?”
“Who am I, and who am I going to be?” What I learned within the first year of
working with the Regents’ Scholars Program helped me start to solidify my
character. I am guided by my core values and my belief system. I am guided
every day to get up and come to work because I want to make a difference in the
lives of students. I never considered myself to be good at anything in
particular. But when I came here and was able to tie these beliefs with a
career, I feel that I was able to define my character and who I wanted to be.
Competence was to follow my character development. Again, I never felt good at
anything I had done. But as I grew in my identity and learned more about
retention and student development. I had the knowledge and just had to put it
to work. I spent countless hours in committee meetings where people with many
more degrees than me discussed theory. I had no need to discuss the theory-
what should be and what the research shows. I was LIVING it. I had anecdotal
stories to solidify the qualitative data. Soon people started asking my opinion
on things. I gave it. This was a sign that someone thought I was competent.
What I had to really work on however was courage. During
the early days of my employment within this office we started the Regents’
Scholars Coordination Committee. I was incredibly timid about the situation. I
was incredibly intimidated about the situation. I was facing my own personal
giants. And the only way I knew to deal with them was to focus on my beliefs
and what I knew in my heart was the right thing. I had one quote that would get
me through the days- and it is from a song by Casting Crowns and it states: “Oh
what I would to do have the kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant,
with just a sling and a stone. Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
shaking in their armor, wishing they’d have had the strength to stand. But the
giant’s calling out my name and he laughs at me, reminding me of all the times
I’ve tried before and failed. The giant keeps on telling me time and time
again, boy you’ll never win. You’ll never win. But the voice of truth, tells me
a different story. The voice of truth says do not be afraid. And the voice of
truth says this is for my glory. Out of all the voices calling out to me, I
will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.” Everyone faces
giants in their own way, and each of us has to find the courage to face those
giants. I faced mine by focusing on my beliefs- I truly believed that I would
be able to make the difference in the lives of individuals if I continued to
work hard. This is where my courage came from and over the years it has been
made stronger by those who continued to entrust me to work with the students.
2. Lead from the front. Say, “Follow me!” and
then lead the way.
I learned this concept through trial and error- and not by my own but
by observing others. I believe that every moment is a learning opportunity-
sometimes you learn what you like and sometimes you learn what you don’t like.
I had work for a boss who did not “lead from the front.” She was not in the
trenches with us, and she did not say “follow me.” Fast forward to SFAID where
I had the privilege to work for Joe and Delisa. BOTH lead from the front. BOTH
told me to “follow me.” Delisa specifically did this through the RSSC. She did
not leave me alone to deal with the politics, but stepped in and lead the way.
Joe always had my back to. When he was around I felt like I could not do wrong
because I knew that he believed in me. I tried to model these two individuals
every day in leading my students and eventually my staff and team. I always
say that I would follow General Rudder and Dr. Gates off a cliff if they
instructed me to. I would trust them (even though I never met Rudder) and
follow them anywhere. I feel the same with Joe and Delisa. When you are
leading, I also have learned that you will fail and you must learn to be humble
when you do so. You will have critics when you are a leader. You will not make
everyone happy. You will not be everyone’s friends. Learn from the experience
and know that the pain will not last. The quote that inspired me to mimic this
concept is from Franklin D Roosevelt:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the
strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes
short again and again, because there is no effort without error and
shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best
knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he
fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be
with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
3. Stay in top physical
shape -
physical stamina is the root of mental toughness. Not much to say here. Get
exercise. Go for a walk.
4. Develop your team. If you know your
people, are fair in setting realistic goals and expectations, and lead by
example, you will develop teamwork.
This one I truly take to heart. I have tried my best to hire hard and
manage easy. When we have hired staff on the team, I have tried to invest time
in them to get them trained and developed, and then I set goals and
expectations and make clear that I expect them to manage their tasks and
responsibilities. I was never here to babysit staff (I do lack empathy when it
comes to projects), but rather ensure that as a team we are achieving the
larger goal of which they are play a part. Trust is key. If you lose trust in
an employee, they begin to feel alienated. Alienated employees become
disgruntled and un-invested and then typically leave. I have learned that if I
set realistic goals and expectations, the teamwork follows naturally. This
hopefully helps people from feeling alienated and keeps everyone moving forward
together.
5. Delegate responsibility to your subordinates and
let them do their job. You can’t do a good job if you don’t have a chance to
use your imagination and creativity.
Sometimes I feel like I delegate too much. But honestly this is what helps
to motivate staff I believe (I trust them so I delegate) and we actually get to
work together more than if I did not delegate. Also, I find that with staff and
with students if you take a calculated risk and delegate the work, they often
times come back with a much more creative solution than I ever would have
thought. I recognize my strengths and my weaknesses and realize that some of
the staff I work with are much better at certain tasks than I am. I tell them
this when I delegate and I feel it gives them confidence.
6. Anticipate problems and prepare to overcome
obstacles. Don’t wait until you get to the top of the ridge and then make
up your mind.
I strongly dislike procrastination and I strongly dislike feeling as
though a process is spiraling out of control. I most like it when I can think
about possible obstacles and make decisions on how I would react in certain
situations if they did arise. I have tried my best to implement this with the
team. This is mostly done through discussion and I believe it actually allows
the team members to feel that they play a larger role than they originally
perceived. If you engage team members in the discussion of anticipated problems
and potential solutions in advance, it helps them feel more in control, helps
them feel better if things don’t go as planned, and helps them work well
together.
7. Remain humble. Don’t worry about who
receives the credit. Never let power or authority go to your head.
This I really learned from Delisa and Joe. They were quick to give
credit where credit was due. I am not big on receiving credit myself, but I did
appreciate the private conversations and notes directed towards me and my work.
This meant the most to me.
8. Take a moment of self-reflection.
Look at yourself in the mirror every night and ask yourself if you did your
best.
I always have this dialogue with myself as I would think most leaders
do. I never want to be the one who thinks I am always perfect in a role, or who
has no room for improvement. I recognize that each day when I ask myself this
question, sometimes the answer was no. There were days that I left here
thinking I did not work and do my best for the staff today. But, I would learn
from those mistakes or educational moments and then be able to attack the next
day with a new attitude.
9. True satisfaction comes
from getting the job done. They key to a successful leader is to earn
respect - not because of rank or position, but because you are a leader of
character.
Everyone on this team should feel as though they are contributors to
the larger picture. I have tried to not demand respect, but work very hard to
earn it. Sometimes I had to make tough decisions or unpopular decisions, but I
always felt at the end of the day that you all supported me. It is through your
trust that I found my strength as a leader.
10. Hang Tough! - Never, ever, give up.
I hope that each one of you takes this to heart. Change is always hard
and this team has been through a lot in the past few years. I believe however,
that I am leaving behind the best group of people this office could ask for in
a scholarship team. Each one of you has your own strengths and you all
compliment each other so well. Delisa often told me what a good job I was
doing, and I just kept telling her that I was just the one riding the bike, but
that you all were the ones making the wheels go around. I truly believe this. I
value each of you and I hope that you all know that you play a very important
role in the success of the scholarship team.
