Notes on Leadership
When I was waiting tables, I had a manager (not any manager, the General Manager) who would get his hands dirty and bus tables with the rest of us. He would take orders, make beers, serve food. If our dishwasher was out, he would wash dishes instead. Anything to keep the place running.
Fast-forward to my corporate career, I encountered another manager who would spend the entire 60 minutes (or more) of each regularly-scheduled meeting talking at me. I still don't know whether she was using that time to avoid discussing issues that might challenge her skills as a new manager, or was driven by some incessant need to impress her superiority, but I perpetually felt unheard, unappreciated, underdeveloped, and left that company. After moving into managerial responsibilities of my own, I've sometimes found myself guilty of the former - rattling on to delay the inevitable - and have to remind myself of these examples.
While there are many ways to work your way up in a given industry, the qualities of great leadership are universal. I learned early on that I would bust my ass for the GM who rolled up his sleeves to work alongside me. His role was inspirational as well as aspirational. This becomes more nuanced in corporate, where it might look like humility, transparency, and collaboration. I love the opportunity to mentor, because I often get asked questions I can't answer - then we learn something new together. As a leader, I'm only as good as the people, processes, and information around me, so tackling challenges as a team with the right subject-matter experts in the room gets problems solved faster, the first time. Even when things go wrong, everyone appreciates a well-informed honest answer over some bullshit.
From influencers to badged officers to Presidents, leadership comes with more visibility and thus, a social responsibility to be managed with integrity and grace. Most importantly, and my GM exemplified this - we all win together. A happy team is a high-functioning team, and there's always more room at the top.
What Ghandi actually said: “We but mirror the world. All the tendencies in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a person changes their own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards them. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”
Editorials are attributed exclusively to Hype Girl Media and may not be reproduced without prior authorization nor associated with unnamed individuals or entities.