While serving in the Military for 8 years and then while being in business for the last 26 years, I’ve witnessed a lot of leadership styles, and most of them can be boiled down to 2 types: Those who wanted to feel good and those who wanted to do good.
During my military days, Staff Sergeant Johnson was a Feel Good Leader. All of his leadership decisions came out of “Good Intentions.” This meant he wanted to be liked, be popular and be one of the team. Johnson had great intentions for the team, and his ideas looked great on paper, but it never quite turned out like he envisioned.
At first everyone loved SGT Johnson. He was fun, never expected too much, did not hold us accountable and pretty much let us do what we wanted. He did this because it made him Feel Good – like he was making the lives easier of the men and women he led.
His leadership ended when our Flight failed a major inspection. We didn’t just fail; we BOMBED! In the end, the team was worse off then before Johnson took over. We had become disrespectful, disillusioned, disengaged and had a terrible case of the Entitlement Mentality.
Master SGT Terry took over the flight, and he was a Do Good Leader. All of his decisions came out of “Good Results.” This meant he did not care if he was liked or popular because he wanted the team to get the job done – results not intentions. He had our future in mind, not our FEELINGS!
SGT Terry demanded accountability and responsibility. He believed we were so much better and stronger than what we were producing. Terry did not accept excuses, nor did he allow us to do what we wanted to do. He expected greatness and excellence. He expected us to get results and if we did not, he drilled and trained us until we did.
In the beginning, we loved Johnson and hated Terry, but by the end of experiencing the 2 leadership styles, we hated Johnson’s style and loved Terry! Master SGT Terry gave us what we needed NOT what we wanted, and Staff SGT Johnson gave us what we wanted NOT what we needed. In the end, what we needed made us better.
I will not lie to you; in the beginning, it is easier with the leader who wants to be liked and leads with good intentions than with the leader who leads with good results. The problem is you will never grow and become the man or woman you were created to be. We need Leaders who will push us beyond our perceived limits and believe in us more than we believe in ourselves.
We have enough Leaders right now who want to Feel Good and be Popular BUT we NEED Leaders who want Good Results… if we want to be Great!
Find Your Passion and You Will Find Your Life!