“Thump!” If you are ever out watching Bald Eagles learn to fly, (which I am sure you do quite often) you hope not to hear a “Thump!” When a bird is learning to fly there are only two results. If you hear a “Thump,” you know what the result was. Only 50% of American Bald Eagles survive into adulthood. I don’t know how many succumb due to sudden deceleration trauma, but I do know that learning to fly is a requisite for Bald Eagle adulthood. “Thump” is not an acceptable result.
When Bald Eagles spread their wings and catch the first strong wind that pulls them into the blue yonder; it’s now or never! Success is the only viable option. Take a look at your leaders. Take a look at your own level of leadership. Is success the only option? What are the results?
Remember the words of Greg Jones: “No one who ever bought a hammer wanted a hammer, they wanted a hole.” Leaders pay close attention to process, but any leader worth their salt knows that they are responsible for the results. They are allowed to delegate everything except final responsibility. As a leader, you are not allowed to delegate final responsibility either. Don’t forget that this is 4 The Leader in YOU!
I recently heard a colleague say, “The results of your life are public.” The same applies to your life as a leader. Even as we could all tell if the eagle was successful in learning to fly, all we have to do is take a good look at your agency, your company, your credit rating, your organization, or your family. The results are public. Fortunately, leadership is not always a zero-sum proposition. Poor stewardship along the way does not mean that we wind up like the eagle that didn’t make it; at least not yet.
The journey to effective leadership begins with approach. Leaders are looking to take responsibility for the results…all of them. Leaders are neither interested in finding fault, nor assigning blame. They already understand that they have final responsibility. Leaders may search to find who might have been responsible to ensure a particular outcome in order to provide more instruction, technical assistance, or even discipline when necessary. But leaders do not blame.
Blame entails taking responsibility off one place and putting it someplace else. If you notice, when people blame others, they will make sure that the blame is as far away from them as humanly possible. Mark Wahlberg had a great line in the Movie “The Departed” that really brings it home. A law enforcement agent from another agency of his was frustrated about a project that was not going as planned. The agent questioned, “Who are you!” Wahlberg responded,
“I’m the guy who does his job, you must be the other guy!”
It was a great line, but I don’t want that guy leading my team. I’m not trying to be harsh, but if you are going to be the kind of leader your people deserve, you must feel responsible, you must be responsible, you must take responsibility for the results. This was:
4 The Leader In YOU!
