“The task of the leader is to get their people from where they are to where they have not been.” –Henry Kissinger.

DLA Leadership

So, how does DLA define leadership? Very simply . . .

Leadership is using your influence to move yourself or others from the point where you currently are to the point where you want to be, or from point A to point B.  Leadership is all about progress, going from where you are to a new, improved destination.   Now there are many ways to use your influence and many things that impact your influence, they will be covered later in DLA.  For now, let’s focus on some fundamentals you need to understand.

Leadership is a Journey, Not a Destination

I know, I know, ‘(fill the blank) is a journey’ . . . I admit this overused cliché is applied to all things in life.  Well, . . . it’s for good reason. Few things in life have a defined end or clean break.  Thank God for that!   We all have a chance to improve areas in our life and make progress.  We don’t have to be defined by our past.  Can I hear an Amen to that!  I don’t have to be defined by my first experiences as a leader, honestly, they weren’t that pretty (thank you to all those may have suffered as I learned) I now consider leadership a strength of mine, but it didn’t start that way.  And I’m not done yet, I still have areas of improvement and growth.  It truly is a journey, like most great things.  A popular theory on the Mona Lisa is that da Vinci never finished the painting.  The theory goes that he continually worked on the Mona Lisa for years, adding a brush stroke here, a new shading there.  Though the theory will remain a mystery. It’s intriguing to think this masterpiece was a work in progress by its creator, just as you are a work in progress, in your leadership and all other areas of your life.

 Leadership Is a Process, Not an Event

Leadership is a process, not an event.  Is that a new one for you? Leadership is a process because life is a process. You are the cumulative effect of your daily routines and habits, or your processes.  You can’t simple read a book on leadership and practice the principles for one day and be an effective leader. Just like you cannot visit the gym once a month and be fit. Fitness requires you form habits and routines that keep you active, eating well and exercising on a regular basis, a fitness process.  Similarly, being an effective leader requires you form habits and routines that strengthen and challenge your leadership knowledge and practices, your leadership process.  What are your leadership processes? Have you ever thought that you have a leadership process?  Is it reserved for life events? The annual review process with your employees and with your boss?  Or the annual planning process at work?  Or the quarterly update process? Like it or not you have a process for everything in life.  Leadership needs to be part of your lifestyle, a part of your being, not just an event.

Leadership is a Shared Experience, Not a Life of Isolation

“It’s lonely at the top” is a common expression many leaders can relate to.  I strongly related to this expression early in my leadership career because I choose to lead alone.  Alone from other leaders that I may have learned from, alone from those I lead, alone and isolated from seeking assistance from others or resources.  I thought leadership was about being the smartest guy with the best ideas.  I didn’t engage my employees with openness or appreciation out of fear that my leadership may be challenged. I approached leadership with what Carol Dweck has famously referred to as a ‘closed mindset’, an attitude taken to protect your image or perception by closing down to new ideas, learnings and any challenges that might prove you otherwise.  At DLA we emphasis what Dweck calls the ‘growth mindset’.  This mindset not only accepts challenges but relishes them as opportunities to learn, to see where they really are, to discover what can be learned to improve their leadership.  Leadership doesn’t have to be lonely, we should seek out opportunities to learn from others, people who are further down the path than we are.  The wheel has been created, there is no need to recreate it.

Leaders Lead

Leaders lead. People need strong leadership.  So what happens in the absence of strong leadership? As many of you have experienced, lack of leadership can be devastating. It’s quite common for leaders to not lead, and for followers to not follow.  Even worse is when followers lead and leaders follow.  Sounds crazy but if you’ve lived long enough you have likely experienced this.  Where there is a leadership void, it will be filled, and what fills it rarely leads to the desired destination.  It’s the leader’s job to lead, to lead themselves and those they are responsible for from point A to point B.