Leadership Is a Verb

 

by John Keyser

My wife, Leland, asked me to pick up the book, Life Is a Verb, and yesterday I jotted the title on the notepad on my car windshield to remind myself.  As I looked at that note, I began to think about the message: Life is a verb. Life is how we think and what we say and what we do. Our “being” determines much of our life.

As those thoughts resonated with me, I began to think, well, isn’t happiness a verb?  Certainly. And then isn’t appreciation a verb? Again, certainly.

And then I thought, isn’t leadership a verb?!

Leadership absolutely is a verb. It does not come from our title or position or corner office.

Management might, but not leadership. Leadership comes from our ability to influence, our ability to help others do great work and do the right things as a team.

True leadership begins with our attitude and our heart. Do we want to bring out the best in others, to see others learn, grow and succeed?

I had a recent conversation with my college classmate, Bruce Keller, an insightful management consultant, who observes that so many senior managers today are self-centered. That does not lead to happy, productive, loyal and high performing teams, which is what we should be striving for as senior executives.

High performing teams should be our goal. Our people need to want to follow us, and they need to know in their hearts that we genuinely care about them and their ideas and that their success comes before our own.

I facilitate a lot of 360 leadership assessments for companies with whom I work. I love hearing from people offering their perceptions and assessments of a person, that she or he is definitely one who cares about my growth and success and our team’s success. It’s not about her or him, it’s about us.

Leadership is being considerate, having empathy, doing the simple and little things to help people feel good about themselves. It’s coming around from behind our desk to sit side by side with someone, putting them at ease, letting them know that we do not feel superior. I love the story that Katie Coyle, V.P. of Georgetown’s Medical Center and a very accomplished advancement professional, told me. There was an issue that needed to be discussed.  She called the E.V.P. of the medical center, explained it, and they agreed they needed to meet right away. Katie said, “I’ll come right up,” to which he said, “You stay, Katie, I’ll come down to your office.” While that is such a little thing, it meant a whole lot to Katie. It made her feel important.

Yes, leadership is how we think, what we say, and how we act. Leadership definitely is a verb!