LEADERSHIP

A month or so ago, I was offered a management position at my full-time employment. I turned it down due to scheduling, but may look at accepting the position in the future. This, and the fact that I am in an important leadership role in kung fu has me evaluating my leadership qualities. In order to do this I have asked myself, what does leadership really look like?

Leadership has to involve a team. If a person in a leadership role doesn't recognize the team, they become a controller not a leader. Through humility and appreciation a leader learns to acknowledge the different strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team which allows them to efficiently delegate responsibilities. All great leaders recognize every team member. I see this being exemplified through Master Brinker. He knows, understands, recognizes and values everyone on his team, and listens as much as he speaks.

One of the first conscious steps to becoming an effective leader is attitude. Kung fu has taught me a lot about attitude, and how it can determine the outcome of a task. I must have a positive attitude in all areas of my life. A positive attitude will give me a positive outcome, no matter what. I know that a negative attitude will give me a negative outcome, because negativity tends to act like blinders that blur my vision of what really is. A positive attitude will spread like ripples from a dropped stone. Negative ones can do the same. Along with having a positive attitude, a strong leader will be sure to surround themselves with others having a positive attitude as well.

Humility is a very important element of leadership. From humility evolves respect. A humble heart is one with appreciation and gratitude. Anyone who feels appreciated grows to respect the person the appreciation came from. In my eyes, a person who always thinks they are better than everyone fails to see individual worth in others. When we as leaders earn respect, we also start to earn trust. I respect and trust Master Brinker. When he promotes a student, I trust his judgement because I know his abilities as a leader. As for me, I strive to earn the trust of my students by showing them respect and allowing them to all feel noticed and appreciated. If my students trust my judgement they will be happier with their own progression through the ranks, as well as the progression of their fellow students. This in turn builds unity within the class - the team.

To me being a leader in kung fu is a huge responsibility and one that I take seriously. This brings to mind leading by example. If I am truly passionate about what I do and what I believe in, being a good example of these things should be easy, and to me they are. If I am faced with a decision that involves taking a look at my personal values, then the decision should already be preconceived; I shouldn't even have to think about it. A true leader that leads by example attracts followers, without even pursuing them. Being a good example also means I don't have the right as a leader to push my students to practice daily, set training goals and attend their classes if I am not doing these things myself. When I am doing these things, it is because I am very passionate about them and this will shine through to my students. A leader who says "My life is really busy right now and my kung fu training will have to wait" says what to the student who expresses the same feelings. Being a good example involves integrity. This means that the person's words and life match.

Initiative is a huge part of leadership. A leader doesn't sit around waiting for someone else to do a task, they do it themselves. I do have initiative, but I am often blind when it comes to recognizing the oportunities to take it. Along with this has to be commitment. A leader can't take on responsibilities, and then continually pass the buck to someone else. If you want to do something, do it, don't look to others to do it for you.

I've always struggled with the idea that your leaders can't be your friends. An incident at work rectified this struggle. An associate came up to me one day with a problem on her paycheck. One that I myself couldn't fix. I told her to go speak to the Human Resource Manager. "No way" she said, "she's too grumpy." I told the associate that the HR Manager has excellent communication skills and is actually quite easy to talk to. Again, the employee said "she's not very friendly". I thought about this and remembered some things taught to me in kung fu. My response to my fellow employee was "If you were the HR manager, how easy would it be for you to reprimand or even fire your friend. She's not here to be your friend. She's here to be your HR manager." As those words came out of me, years of struggling with a concept of leadership suddenly became clear. There's a time and a place to be a leader; there's a time and a place to be a friend.

Often times when things go wrong we have a natural tendency to look for someone to blame. People who blame others for their mistakes or failures never overcome them. A leader doesn't even believe in failure, only in lessons learned. In order to reach my full potential, I need to continually improve myself. I can't do that if I don't take responsibility for my actions and learn from my mistakes.

A sense of purpose is a strong quality in leaders. From a sense of purpose comes motivation, developed potential, evaluation of progress and the ability to keep priorities straight. I need to remember this when I set training goals. I also need to remember this when I am thinking of my vision for the future. I see this as a weakness on my part; being able to visualize where I want to be, or where I want my team to go. I need to be able to see my vision of the future, and see it clearly. Clarity will bring understanding. Having a vision with a sense of purpose will bring it direction. Put this together with passion, challenge, honesty, strategy, and a connection between past, present and future, and my vision will take me to where I want to go. As I share my vision with others, we can go places together as long as I share it in a way that will allow them to see, as well as know, what I want them to do.

Another weakness of mine is communication. I marvel at the communication skills of my store manager, and the HR manager. My position allows me to uphold a lot of confidentiality, and see and hear situations most employees don't. I love to witness situations between these managers and other employees because I learn so much from them. I took a communications course at Grant MacEwan, and all that I learned and more, I see demonstrated through these two managers. They can turn a not so positive situation into a very positive one. They are leaders that know how to listen and know exactly what kind of questions to ask to get the information clarified by all involved. I would like to strengthen my qualities as a leader in this area.

A strong leader needs to have passion. Without passion, there is no reason to lead, because we will fail to see the benefits of what we are doing. I have learned that my passion for something brings me a conviction to stand, confidence to speak and the compassion to share and teach. I have just recently begun to notice a huge difference in my abilities when teaching kung fu or a lesson at church. When I am truly passionate about a topic, my knowledge on that topic is greater, which in turn makes my confidence much higher, and this makes me a much better teacher. When I feel this, my love for teaching shines through, and it becomes such an enjoyable and uplifting experience for me and my students.

As a leader in kung fu part of my role is to help build others to be future leaders as well. I need to do more than believe in emerging leaders. I need to give them the tools that they need to rise and become the leaders they have the potential to be. I can remember where I was as a white belt, and how far I have come. I look at what helped me to get where I am and try to pass that on to my students. Looking at the past, and struggles I have overcome, help me to have empathy for those following a similar journey.

I constantly notice similarities every day between life at home, at work, at church and at kung fu. (A whole other blog). It is no different when it comes to leadership. Leadership is universal. It is in our small communities, and the countries of the world. It is in our professional lives, and even in our homes. There are many levels of it in kung fu. Qualities of leadership are the same no matter where you see it. It takes understanding of strength, and weaknesses, humility, trust, respect, delegation, assertiveness, direction, values, and exemplifying of oneself what we want from others. As a leader I am serving others, and I must possess the confidence to serve. I know that the extent of my influence will depend on how deep my concern is for others.