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Lessons Learned

'Everybody wants to be in charge on a sunny day!  Leadership is not bathing in the glory of your Team's effort.  It is not reaping the spoils of a great day on the job.  Leadership is accepting and enduring the hard and trying times.  As a leader, you must relish the tough times.  You must take control of adversity and turn it into circumstances you and your Team can live with.

The position of a leader entails the responsibilities associated with being a mentor and a role model.  You will get calls late at night.  You will have to return early from a family function to handle a blossoming problem.  You must be a leader for the duration and in every instance, because consistency is paramount to your credibility and the efficient functioning of your team.  Your fortitude and stoicism will carry the Team through the tough times.  Your example and commitment will be the life ring your people cling to in times of strife.

Moreover, the leadership role is voluntary.  You may need a job and an income, but your decision to be a leader rather than a follower was strictly your choice.  When you accepted the position, whether consciously or not, you recognized the added and daunting responsibilities associated with it (Needham, 2003, p. 128)."

What leadership lessons have you learned?

Reference:  Needham, R. (2003).  Team secrets of the navy seals: the elite military force's leadership principles for business.  Kansas City: Andrews McMeel Publishing.

Team Secrets of the Navy SEALS is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource please go to the resource search page http://140.254.85.212/winnebago/search/search.asp?lib

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Created: 2008-04-03, Updated: 2009-01-09