Leiderschap: Lessons Learned.

'Leadership. If I were teaching a course at Harvard Business School, I'd put a lot of emphasis on listening. Listening means asking good questions and taking in what people have to say. Listening also means hearing what people are not saying. What's bugging them? I worked for Edward R. Murrow at the U.S. Information Agency during the Kennedy administration. "Find out what's bugging people," he liked to say-the Arabs, the Koreans, whomever. What was bothering them about life, about their country, about us? And if we listened attentively to what they said, what would we learn, and how would we act differently?' dit zegt David McCullough, American Historian &  2 Time Pulitzer Prize Winner Author, deze maand in het HBR artikel Timeless Leadership.

Deze mening van McCullough doet me denken aan een citaat uit het boek Co-Active Coaching van Laura Whitworth c.s.: 'To be listened to is a striking experience - partly because it is so rare.' (nb: 'Dat er naar je geluisterd wordt geeft je een zeer bijzondere ervaring, vooral omdat dit nauwelijks meer gebeurt.' U kent dat wel: 'Je hoort het wel, maar je luistert niet.'.... De vertaling heb ik intussen aangepast, zoals u kunt zien.)

McCullough komt met nog meer verrassende leiderschap-inzichten. Hij komt met ervaringen, met lessons learned.

David McCullough richt zich in zijn boeken op de facetten van leiderschap en put dan vooral uit de historische ervaring van de verschillende Amerikaanse leiders, voor verschillende ogen in meer of mindere mate succesvol. Er valt véél van hen te leren zo blijkt. Daarom enkele citaten uit het artikel Timeless Leadership.

'Spotting talent is one of the essential elements of great leadership.' Het blijkt dat m.n. George Washington deze gave bezat. Sterker nog: Washington was hierin (veel) beter dan in zijn militair strategische inzichten. Maar ja, dat militaire deden dan ook de door hem gespotte talenten!

Met 'Leadership comes down to three qualities: Know your stuff, be a man, look after your men.' citeert McCullough Douglas Southall Freeman. Mooi citaat maar het vraagt toch om enige toelichting. McCullough: 'Put in present-day terms, "knowing your stuff" means having expertise and experience and knowing what you're talking about. I believe there are three essential ingredients to education: the teacher, the book, and the midnight oil. (nb: ook leuk vandaar die streep) So do the hard work necessary to know your subject. But knowing your stuff isn't just about accruing information, which has little to do with knowledge. You have to learn how to analyze problems, learn to do things by doing them. You don't learn to play the piano by reading a book about it; you learn to play the piano by playing the piano. You learn to write by writing. You learn to be a leader by leading people.'

"Be a man" dan: 'Regardless of gender, "being a man" means having the attributes of courage-backbone-resilience, and strength of character. Are you so filled up with your own ambitions and your sense of being terrific that you can't see the strengths in others? Are you someone who can be counted on when the chips are down?'

"Look after your men" means take care of your employees. Take a genuine interest in them. Be empathetic. Treat them well. I'm appalled when I'm taken to see a factory and it's clear that the people running it have seldom if ever walked among the men and women who work there.'

U ziet, de 74-jarige McCullough maakt zich nog druk! Maar dit is niet het enige 'Leiderschap' aspect waarover hij zich drukmaakt: 'I'd also warn against the insidious disease of greed. We read again and again of business leaders caught grossly feathering their own nests. It makes one wonder how they were raised. What were they taught at home and at school?' Tsja......

McCullough citeert ook nog Thomas Jefferson: 'People are more important than paper.' (nb; waar heb ik dat ook al weer meer gehoord?)

Tot slot nog een citaat dat David heeft van Harry Truman: 'An important Leadership ability is the Power of Persuasion-what Franklin Roosevelt, for one, had in such grand abundance. It's the ability to get people to do what they ought to know to do without being told.' Hoe noemen we dat ook alweer???