Obolensky (2010,
p. 3) poses 3 questions for consideration:
1. Has your own attitude to leaders changed
in your life, and if so, how?
2. If we take as a starting point the
attitude to those in authority/leaders as held by your grandparents, and then
look at those attitudes held by your parents, and then by you, and then by the
younger generation, is there a changing trend? If so, what is it?
3. Why do you think this has occurred?
My attitude
towards leaders in general has definitely changed throughout my adult life. In
my former position, I looked to my principal and assistant principal for
guidance. These people seemed to have all of the answers themselves. They
rarely looked to those they were leading for any input. It seemed more like an “us
vs. them” environment. In this environment, the leader was often too busy to
deal with situations that arose because she was too busy. Everyone respected
the principal because of her title but did not feel very connected to her. Now,
I am in an environment where leadership is very different. The CTO makes
herself available to those she leads. She wants their ideas and input on
projects for the department and frequently meets with us in small groups to
keep her finger on the pulse of the department. This has changed my views on leadership
a great deal. Leaders no longer seem unapproachable. I still think that the
leaders in my life are extremely busy and may not always have time to listen to
me , but when they do, I know they are really invested in what I have to say.
Throughout the
years, it seems to me that my elders were more submissive to leaders than my
generation. Leaders were more likely to be held up on a pedestal than they are
now. Although I cannot base this on the corporate world, I can reference personal
life. My father used to own a
business. He expected certain behaviors from his employees and not much input from
them. In other words, it was a dictatorship in his business. The employees may
not have agreed with what he decided or said but they did what he asked. It was
an interesting dynamic, however. In the late 80s, he decided to sell his
business and he was no longer the leader. He worked for the company that bought
him out, but only for a very short time. As he had been accustomed to being the
boss for so long, he was unable to stand back and let someone else take the
lead. He eventually left the company, but he always had problems after that
working for others. I think this is because the general attitude about
leadership changed from the days when he had been the leader but his attitude
about the subject had not changed. Leadership had become a group effort rather
than an individual one. Although input from the bottom up was still not totally
acceptable, decision-making was a collaborative effort at the top.
In my opinion,
the outlook change in regards to leadership happens because of society’s views
about life in general. People now are feeling more entitled and therefore,
expect that their leaders will listen to and value their opinions. Leaders, on
the other hand, understand that employees feel more valued when their
perspectives are taken into account by their leaders. When employees feel that
their opinions have been considered, they take more pride in their work and are
more productive.
I think that the
gap in the quality of our leaders comes because people do not always understand
the need to lead, listen, reflect, and learn. They may think that leadership
involves making decisions and ignore one or more of the other aspects. Today’s
successful leaders combine all of these attributes and earn the respect of
their peers and followers alike.
Reference: Obolensky,
N. (2012). Complex adaptive leadership, embracing paradox and uncertainty.
Gower Publishing Company.
