I have been asked to speak to a local vendor about leadership. It is very humbling and quite an honor.
I have held several positions in leadership roles, and I have been asked to lead many things in my life. I credit my parents for helping make me a leader. But I have thought about articulating a particular style.
I was asked to speak on the topic and accepted, so now I must come up with an outline of my style. I’m finding it hard to do, so I have written down a lot of notes. The next step is to make it into an outline. Then I plan to run my ideas by the people around me to ensure I am being truthful.
I understand I’m not being asked to share my style because I have perfected leadership or because I am the best leader they know. I was told the vendor has others with different styles coming to share with the group.
For that, I am thankful that it takes the pressure off me.
The first step is not to make it a talk about Willmar Electric’s foundational principles.
I want to be somebody who makes a difference in the lives of others. But, “People Making a Difference for People” is Willmar Electric’s purpose statement, and Willmar Electric is more than me.
I believe in treating others how they want to be treated, the merit shop, being thrifty, and meeting the customer’s needs, but those are Willmar Electric’s core values. I share them with my coworkers.
I seek to be on time, organized, and approachable, but that is Willmar Electric’s brand promise. But I’m not just an offshoot of Willmar Electric.
My brother Justin also holds to all those things but has an entirely different style. (He was even raised in the same environment as me by the same parents).
It also has to be more than personality traits. Otherwise, we would need to go beyond announcing our DiSC profile or Myers-Briggs results.
I use a to-do list, never letting my day end with e-mails in my inbox, and maintain a detailed calendar. But those are habits, not a style.
I tend to “kiss a lot of frogs,” “eat the frog first,” and “practice what I preach,” but those seem to be more to be catchphrases than a leadership style.
For now, I get to think about it for a while and write something up. When I am done, I will share it here. Because being transparent is part of my style.
In the meantime, I would encourage you to undertake this same exercise. It has been a great exercise to help me understand myself better. Hopefully, a better understanding will make me a better person. In theory, it certainly should.