Building Castles

Monday, 29. March 2010 by Ronald T. Brown, Ph.D.

Leadership is the art of mobilizing others toward shared aspirations. In a business enterprise, leaders must serve and care for their employees who, in turn, are responsible for serving and caring for customers, stakeholders - and outside parties, such as the government and the community.

Great leaders are visionaries whose intuition helps them to recognize, and then capitalize, on business opportunities in a timely manner. Their success is based on surrounding themselves with “like-minded” professionals who complement their leadership style by reinforcing their strengths and negating their weaknesses. They also build teams of individuals who complement each other - ensuring synergistic performance that keeps the organization growing. The mantra embodied herein is “Build grand castles in the air while ensuring they rest on solid foundations.” This is in direct contrast to mediocre leaders who surround themselves (and build teams) made up of “yes-people” who can not contribute to innovative growth.

Effective leaders place a great deal of emphasis on culture, shared values, trust and teamwork. They lead by example, earning the respect and admiration of their peers and subordinates. As a result, employees are enthusiastic about doing everything they can to help the organization succeed - for they feel valued, served, and pushed to grow and contribute at their highest level. This type of organization is both vibrant and performance driven.

By working first on the foundational elements - such as shared values, trust, healthy teamwork, authentic role modeling…, a leader will ensure that the “castle” their organization is building lasts far beyond that own leaders tenure.