Leadership and priorities

Some years ago, the boss and I were signed up for a college extension class on leadership. The class was not my idea, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

To me, leadership is so important whether in business, the military, and quite frankly in everyday life. We need a collective direction. My view has not changed over the years. If you don’t agree with the leader, you have discussed the differences of view, on different pages, can’t agree, then you need to make a decision or leave. Leadership is a priority.

In this class, we were asked to fill in the blanks on a number of sentences. Can’t remember all of them for this column, but one I do remember was: “What is the highest requisite of a leader?” 

I remember saying, “On time, decisive, decision making”. Put a lot of important factors into that answer. Making a decision, sticking to it after proper reflection, and making sure it is timely was what I would be looking for in a leader. 

My boss’s answer: “Charisma”. His thought was that any communication has to be accepted and carried forward by those he/she is leading so that charisma becomes extremely important. 

You can imagine the discussion on the ride home. I felt “charisma” was a very flippant answer; he felt mine was very technical and was foundational to be a leader in the first place.

We came from very different backgrounds, which added to the divergence of our answers. He had trouble communicating effectively with our employees; and I was constantly aware of his procrastination in making decisions in order to do my job.   

He was a good decision maker. Well thought out reasoning, but always at the last minute. That made my job – the guy that carried things out (or as my title in the organization – “The Guy That Got Things Done – TGTGTD) really tough.

So, our priorities collided – and ultimately our employer-employee relationship within a year or so ended. And as they say – “it is what it is”. Priorities.