Leadership: The Eight Paths to Virtue
Leadership: The Eight Paths to Virtue
The Greeks had a proverb that read: "When Aschines speaks, the people say, 'How well he speaks,' but when Demosthenes speaks, the people say, 'Let's march against Philip!'" .
After you say, "Let's march!" your followers should be saying it in some form or another for you to be an effective leader.
In a leadership setting, the most important thing is not what you say but rather what your followers do in response to what you say. Furthermore, you are belittling your leadership, your followers' faith in you, and their willingness to act on your behalf if you are unable to ensure that they perform the appropriate actions under your guidance.
Here are the eight correct courses of action to rally the troops in the proper direction at the right moment for the right reason.
Things need to be done:
1 Physique. Behaviour is not the same as audience sentiment or thought. This is what people in the crowd really do. Typically, members of the audience participate by using their feet, hands, and even tools. To keep on track with the kind of physical activity you want your audience to do, see them actually executing it. If you want your audience to do the right thing, you have to challenge them to do something. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" was a command that Ronald Reagan delivered at the Berlin Wall during his address, marking a watershed moment in the Cold War. Even though you may not be facing as monumental a task as winning a war in your day-to-day leadership responsibilities, you may still apply the idea to significantly enhance your leadership effectiveness.
2. INTENDED. Organizations can do without action-takers. Only individuals who actually do something to improve things are really helpful. Give them a reason to do what they're doing. Staying committed to your goals is the key to achieving success. If you want your audience to take action, make sure they understand what it is they're doing and why. There are three facets to purpose in leadership discourse: logic, emotion, and self-awareness. It is important for people to be aware that they are acting, to feel emotionally invested in the action, and to know why they are acting.
3. Sincere. The foundation of any incentive is trust, therefore it's not a good idea to lie or manipulate somebody into doing something they don't want to do. After that, you can give them orders, but they won't be motivated to execute the work. Developing your call to action requires self-awareness. The Roman Emperor remarked, "Never esteem anything as an advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect." Tell them the truth when you ask them to do something. I am not just giving my recommendation based on trustworthiness; there are also very practical reasons for it. The only way to gauge our leadership abilities is to push our followers to beyond their own expectations. And if they believe we are fooling them or that you are fooling yourself, they will not be swayed to take that challenge.
four, significant. Your audience's emotions can be better understood through the use of action. Feelings are not enough to achieve success. What really matters is taking action. Acts give credence to feelings, and feelings to actions.
Leaders who aren't fulfilled by their work or by the outcomes they produce should either step down from their positions or find something else to do. A majority of leaders are aware of this. But few leaders realize that meaning also includes the work their employees do, how they feel about it, and the outcomes they hope to achieve.
The individuals who will be responsible for implementing your cause should care about it. Their efforts will be for naught if your cause is the only one they care about. When the steps they take to address the issues of your cause also help them with their own needs, then your cause will truly mean something to them. Determine their requirements and the steps to resolve the issue before you issue a challenge to them.
5 RELATED TO REQUIREMENT. The necessities of the people are their reality. You obviously do not need to be aware of their demands if you are an order leader. The mentality of "my way or the highway" is all you're displaying. Realizing this is essential if you wish to inspire them to act. Because their drive is something they've chosen, not you. Your job is to convey information, and theirs is to inspire others—and themselves. It's up to them. Take it or leave it. Therefore, in terms of the leadership equation, their requirements are the sole reality, and not just their needs. They are indifferent to your requirements. Your reality is irrelevant to them. All that matters to them is their own world. The behavior you desire from them should be based on what is best for THEM, not you. Which necessitates, of course, pinpointing exactly what they require.
Sixth, pay close attention: patience is both a virtue and a tender trap. Time is a powerful outcome multiplier. A Roman centurion once yelled, "hit them." That was all it took to make the soldiers feel like they needed to act quickly. Not in a literal but more significant psychological sense, his credo is still with us today in the order leader. But getting people to feel a sense of urgency by trying to "hit them" is a lot less effective than inspiring them to feel urgency on their own. Here's a method to motivate individuals to act quickly: Find out what they need, figure out what's wrong with it, and then have them take action to fix it.
As an example, a teacher at a police academy once entered a classroom and yelled out, "CLEAR OUT THIS ROOM IMMEDIATELY." Colleagues were expelled by the first cadet. Few cadets departed, but the majority remained. A second cadet begged his fellow students to disperse as the teacher passed the note to him. Still, the majority remained. The instructor passed the memo on to a third cadet at the end. This cadet had a natural knack for seeing problems and motivating others to do something about them. The room fell silent as he uttered just two words. "Lunch break!"
When faced with a crisis, people will always do what it takes to get their demands met. Finding out what those needs are is the key. You will have achieved half of your goal in persuading them to do so once you do this.
(7) MATCHED DATE: A due date should be attached to every task that you assign to others. If they aren't really encouraged to take it, it may fall to the wayside and become unimportant to them. When you're trying to get other people to do something, keep an eye on yourself and ask, "Have I a set a deadline to this action?" Really, you should.
(8) FED BACK: Other people's actions aren't necessarily indicative of their genuine motivation. What happens when they're out of your sight is what really motivates them. A common tactic used by subordinates under their supervision is the "head fake," in which the follower appears to agree with the leader in front of them but secretly feels differently. When you're not around, kids act independently of you. To ensure that both you and the person you're challenging are aware of what they're doing, it's a good idea to have some kind of feedback system in place.
To be a leader is to get results, and the only way to obtain results is for people to take action.
The problem is that most leaders fail to fully realize the potential of their followers because they erroneously define action and then employ it inappropriately.
In order to get the desired outcomes from your interactions with others, it's important to remember the eight ways of correct action.
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