31 Axioms of Leadership
by
Jack L. Mace
1.
Know well your paradigm of life, and why you
choose it.
2.
Knowing that paradigm, keep faith in it. But
more, keep faith in yourself.
3.
Bless your past else you cannot bless your
present.
5.
Learn to love that in yourself which you now
hate.
6.
Be gentle and patient with yourself.
7.
All people desire to be productive and useful.
8.
To be led is both a need and ardent desire of
all.
9.
Simply because we are asked, ofttimes we follow
with little questioning.
10.
Remember well, when Followers follow not, it is
seldom to be laid to their charge. Most often it is found that The Leader leads
not.
11.
When Followers grant loyalty to Their Leaders,
they expect that their loyalty shall be returned in kind.
12.
To the extent that tasks along The Way are
requisite to the goal, as Followers, we must require proper guidelines from Our
Leaders.
13.
All people are endowed by The Creator with
respectability.
14.
Always, we choose our Leaders.
15.
Absent a Leader, our bent is to appoint one from
among us as Leader – whether by our assignment or by someone’s assumption of
the role at our consent.
16.
As we choose our leaders, so we choose to follow.
17.
Only in the event of the most intolerable of conditions,
or egregious transgression of loyalty and trust, do Followers come to overthrow
a Leader and choose anew.
18.
Oft ignored, the responsibility and requisite
skill of Leadership lies in aiding Followers to achieve their goal – whether it
is a goal set forth from within or one accepted from without.
19.
Know where you lead.
20.
Know whom you lead.
21.
Leadership fares not before The Followers. It
travels alongside.
22.
The Chiefs Eat Last.
23.
Seek every prudent opportunity, to warm yourself
at their campfire.
24.
Every act of every man, woman and child is
rational.
25.
Carefully listen to the sounds of their world.
26.
As possible include Your Followers when planning.
27.
Delegate responsibility persistently.
28.
Let neither conventional wisdom nor faulty
opinion inform The Goal, the tasks along The Way, nor the selection of Aides
and Followers.
29.
The Leader is a mender of fences – responsible
for keeping peace among Team Members – channeling the over-exuberant;
motivating the faint of heart.
30.
Oft as possible, lavish upon your followers
timely, honest and direct thanks and praise.
31.
Trust Your Followers to accomplish the prescribed
work.
Sub paragraph under 3 Admit your mistakes of the past and do not let them govern your current or future actions or decisions.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with #5, it may very well be a noble goal in personal development, but I don't see the need for it in leadership. I'd rather see "Recognize your weaknesses, and lean on those who have a corresponding strength."
Rewrite #27 Delegate authority persistently, but occasionally remind those who need it, that with authority comes responsibility.
Sub paragraph to 31 Check on their progress as discretely as possible.
As you may guess, these axioms are little more than a schematic of my leadership style. Onto each one are hung hundreds of words; for #5, almost 1200 words, and it is followed by many more tying into it in #6. If you wish, I would be glad to send/post excerpts. Be careful what you ask for, because it is really in story form with almost 25,000 words. Of course, Hal, you have never known me to say very much. Have you? ;)
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