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Writer's pictureRob Hicks
May 5, 20204 min read

Leadership

What makes a good leader? What makes a leader great?

Some Back Story

Yes, the back story is back for this article.


This story goes back a long way, well maybe 8 or so years ago. I knew nothing about leadership, and maybe I still don't. I would like to think that since then I have learned a fair amount about leading and what I feel would make for great leadership.


My friends Tara, Kurtis, Paula, Brenda, and Gary all got me looking more at leadership and how to become a leader. I never realized it would really lead me to write about it at some point. I had a plan to do so at some point, but with everything going in the world it felt like a really good time to do so.


Learning from great leaders in our world has really helped shape my vision of what great modern leaders should do and how they should act. Do they slip up from time to time? Yes, I am sure they do as they are only human like us. do they let that stop them? No, of course not they keep growing and learning.


I never really ever thought myself as a leader; however, being a father I am a leader, and having read Robin Sharma's "The Leader Who Had No Title" I further realized that I could be the leader from any position that I find myself in.


The more information I consumed about leadership the more I realized the type of leaders I wanted to be surrounded by and the type of leader I want to become and grow. The more I discovered the deeper the well became and the more I realized that there is more to being a leader than just a fancy title and success in an industry.


As a leader, you need to build trust, compassion, respect, kindness, service for others, patience and empathy. The world can be a cold hard place and leaders do not need to be cold to their people. They need to garner respect and trust above all else for their followers. Trust and Respect do not come easily but they are taken quickly and harshly.


What Kind of Leader are You?

Do you know what kind of leader you want to be? Have you looked at what you are doing with people who look up to you in your life now?


Being down in the trenches of the frontline and seeing what people are going through can help a tremendous amount in determining what kind of leadership is required for people. The funny thing is though each person requires a different type of leadership approach and you will have to adapt to them not them to you.


One thing about leadership I find important is the willingness to go ahead of the team to show them what can be down and that you are willing to sacrifice further than you are asking them to. Being first to the frontline and taking on more than you ask will help you build trust and respect amongst those whom you lead so later they will be willing to volunteer to go first to help the team and prove that they too have what it takes to be leaders.


If you start off first by putting your people ahead of yourself you are not going to get the trust or respect you feel you deserve, and rightfully so as you have just sent them out into battle and have asked them to sacrifice for you and what have you done to prove your name and loyalty to your team? The time you as a leader should be going last is when it comes to some kind of sustenance. Thank you Simon Sinek author of "Leaders Eat Last."


A term I came across which is Leadership Equity I do believe is what it is basically stated that you have a certain amount of equity you can spend with your people and how you decide to spend it will determine your leadership trustability. You can choose to spend it on small frivolous things like dress code violations or you can spend it on more important things like disciplinary action or asking them to take on extra work. The more you spend on small things the less you'll have to spend on bigger things.


Am I a leader? I would like to think so. Do I falter? that's a big yes. Do I admit defeat no, I pick my battles where necessary, and move on. Some times you win and some times you learn, actually you learn all the time. John Maxwell taught me that.


So look for the next while on my social media sites as I will be posting more about leadership as time goes on. It's something I really think is needed more of in the world from everyone and for everyone.


I hope you enjoyed this article as much as I did, and I look forward to writing more for you.


Ride Hard and Live Long.


Sincerely,

Rob HIcks


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