“Not on My Watch”

Leadership Development is a big part of me. I find this interesting because of a belief I have.

Billism on Leadership Training – “Leadership Training is an oxymoron, You are a leader or You are not” You can be trained to manage people or stuff. But Leaders are not made they are developed.
There are a number of Leadership styles they teach you, but the one that is practiced by many managers and leaders (and formally yours truly) Is the “Not on My Watch” Styles. I believe, this is the trap of the leader who “cares” or takes their role seriously. If you take over a good or bad situation, the leader can be driven by “Not on My Watch , will this place fail.” What happens when a leader takes on this mentality. They will not listen to people and the end result justifies the means. Natural allies will become enemies, and the leader has extremes throughout their organization. Some people love him/her and some hate him/her and the people on the fence are forced to take sides.
I believe any big changes have to happen in the beginning and that will change the culture of the organization, after that any changes are small and they come from others on the staff not the leader. I learned this the hard way (twice, hindsight is 20/20) I will share one of them with you now
I was elected (or selected) as President of a local Toastmasters Club, the second oldest in the state of NC and I was the First African American to hold that post (no pressure) The club was failing, big time. Low membership, was not attracting new members and very few members where coming to the weekly meetings. I was honored to lead them and needed everyone’s help , but I quickly felt the pressure to turn things around. I would make suggestions, that would be shot down, and I would ask for suggestions and would not get any. Not one, a member said to me, “If we had the answers we would not be failing.” Really. I had to do something, “I am the President”. So the “Not on My Watch , will this place fail.” Kicked in with that was “If you want something done, you do it yourself.” (Not good in any situation, but in a volunteer situation, people we let you do it all) I stated making edicts, “We are doing this, Your new role is that.” To be kind, let’s just say It did not go well. Members in name only started showing up voicing their concerns. There were emergency meetings, about me. And the weekly meeting was the place to be. From 4 members to 13. (to myself I would say Great attendance was up) Most of the times they were mad at me, but they were engaged, which was good. Now everyone had suggestions (Great) I got to see that the members had become indifferent, and I forced them to take sides.
I believe the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. (I learned this at St Vincent/Seton Hill College,. I will tell you later) I am proud to say the Club is now thriving, but it had taken around four years to mend relationships there. Goal accomplished. “Not on My Watch.” But at what cost.
This is what I have finally learned, that I will now share with you

Here are 10 sign of “Not on My Watch.” leadership style.

1. This leader come takes power in a difficult time, almost do or die situation
2. This leader is first seen as a breath of fresh air. Expectations are high.
3. This leader has to make big changes fast. Too fast for people to understand.
4. This leader has a communication vacuum, where rumors are the norm.
5. This leader tries to control the communication and creates enemies. An Us vs Them environment.
6. This leader is perceived as a poor listener or a “my way or the highway” leader. They truth is they are listening too everything, but driven not to make any mistakes.
7. This leader will bring people in that they trust, without input from others.
8. This leader will spend most of their time defending themselves and not leading.
9. This leader will have a love hate relationship with most of their staff.
10. This leader is a loner or seen as aloof.

Now the Solutions are not that easy, they are worked out one leader and one organization at a time.

Until later