Harry Reeder's maxims for leaders

Effective leaders:

take risks but don't deny reality.
are innovative, but not ridiculous or novel just to gain attention.
take charge, but do not oppress people.
have high expectations that stretch others and raise the bar for all, but don't set people up for failure by demanding the impossible.
maintain a positive attitude, but stay in touch with reality.
create opportunities for success in small things that encourage others to tackle the greater challenges.
lead from the front, but stay in touch with those who are following and supporting.
give their people credit for success, but take responsibility themselves for any failure or setback.
plan their work and work their plan, and always remember that their plan and their work are people. (I am not sure that I understand that one completely...)
establish priorities in their leadership plans, and stay with them.
establish accountability for themselves and their subordinates.
raise the bar of performance for themselves.
avoid bitterness and animosity toward those who are in opposition.
avoid rationalisations and the public blaming of subordinates.
clearly communicate their objectives and methods, as well as their expectations for others.
ensure agreement and support by subordinates on vision, goals, philosophy, and tactics.
are aware of their subordinates' preferences, strengths and weaknesses.
develop thoughtful loyalty from leader to follower, as well as from follower to leader.
are courageous, yet avoid being foolhardy in the name of bravery.
develop clear objectives and overall strategy, but maintain the ability to be flexible.

It's been my privilege to work in computing for American and British companies, in the church as an assistant minister then minister, then in mission, and I have had more team leaders than I can remember. In fact a few months ago I tried to remember all their surnames and couldn't. I have had some excellent team leaders and some that have been awful. And excellence in leadership is not linked to being a Christian. The best was not a Christian. The worst was a Christian. I have also been a team leader in Honeywell and in British Telecom as well as having been a pastor.

I really think that people need training - Christians need training - if they are to lead a team.

And some of these things are basic Christlikeness. For example:

"give their people credit for success, but take responsibility themselves for any failure or setback."

This is simple Christlikeness. He gives his glory to his people, and he takes their blame himself. What could be more Christlike than that?

On the other hand, how common is it for leaders to blame their teams for problems (with one guy we used to pass the "folt" round, because whatever went wrong he would say "It's Julie's fault", etc… It happened so much we made a paper "folt"! *) or to criticise them in front of other people! No wonder there's not much loyalty in the world.

How much better the wisdom that comes from above! Matthew 18 - "if your brother sins go and show him his fault between you and him alone"!

*names changed - though since this happened a Very Long Time Ago I imagine some of the folks are now dead!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Cher Alan,

Peux-tu me traduire en français les paroles de Harry Reeder pour les responsales d'Eglise. Merci pour ton blog frais et plein d'humour trés anglais...heu gallois.
Excuse me
Patrick
Anonymous said…
I agree that good leadership can be seen in secular as well as Christian circles.
I know it must be difficlut to quantify, but does training make people better leaders? I mean the self sacrificial, Christ like leadership model. I'm not having a'dig' my question is genuine. My experience is limited and I am keen to hear someone say 'He's been such a better leader after his training'. The difficulty there is that usually people don't get put into positions of leadership until after their 'training'. Also, probably training works alongside other factors that improve a person's relationship with others.
Maturity is a great asset, especially if the person is prepared to learn from mistakes.
Perhaps the training thing is like learning to drive - you only really learn after you have passed you test. When I trained as a teacher, I only really learned when I had children around me. There's a lot to be said for experience.
However, I feel a bit 'tongue in cheek' here as I am in the throwes of two courses of study presently! So training is good for something.
The greatest life changer is the Word of God, the Bible.
Alan said…
Yes. I think what leadership training does is give an opportunity to reflect on how you relate to people and what you do. And I think it is best done when people have been serving in a leadership role for a while.

Strangely I think all the disastrous leaders I have ever had thought they were doing well! A period of teaching and reflection may have helped.
Alan said…
Je crois que Samuel est en train de traduire le livre entier. Sinon je tenterai!
Alan said…
Ooh - I ought to clarify, too, that Harry Reeder is writing from a Bible angle, not from a big business angle. I muddied the waters by talking about my team leaders from industry, but I don't think Harry Reeder would advocate business models for leadership training. He aims to get all his stuff from the Scriptures!

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