Published on my Tumblr in 2013
The greatest thing I learned in my 25+ years in education was that people long to be taught something new, but the teacher and the method matters. There must be a level of rapport and confidence in the teacher. Just a ask a school parent that doesn’t trust their child’s teacher completely how much learning they believe is taking place in that classroom. GO ahead ask! You’ll find that parent struggling to support the leader in the classroom and in turn, the student will mirror that struggle.
Method matters too! A talented teacher will survey the audience regularly and instead of allowing anyone to drift or fall away from the instruction, they’ll change it up. Not generally on the fly either. They plan for that moment because they’re passionate about the subject and they know the emotional and psychological maturity of their audience.
In business, leadership occasionally assumes the rapport necessary to impact people and successfully teach. It’s very rare simply because the adult learner/employee is “just there to work.” So business leaders must remember to use the same tool teachers use daily. Influence! It is everywhere in the daily operations of every business and if you don’t have influence you’re not using what you should have seen in elementary school.
Bottom line is simply that being in a position of authority doesn’t magically make you a leader in your workplace. You might even manage a great project and put all the pieces in place, but that does make you a leader. A leader knows their people, nurtures them, guides them and cares about their success. Everyone on your team knows it, believes in it, and chooses to follow you because they trust you and believe you will change their lives!