“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and works, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
When we talk about leadership, what appears first in your mind? A prime minister? A president? Or even an employer that control everything that happen in an organization, where he is in charge of all things and no discussion allowed in making any decision? To answer this questions, let us experience the story from Dale Carnegie’s book entitle The Leaders in You.
“Fred Wilpon is the president of the New York Mets Baseball team. One afternoon, Wilpon was leading group of school children on a tour of Shea Stadium. He let them stand behind home plate. He took them into the team dugouts. He walked them through the private passage to the clubhouse. As the final stop on his tour, Wilpon wanted to take the students into the stadium bull pen, where the pitchers warm up. But right outside the bull pen gate, the group was stopped by a uniformed security guard. “The bull pen isn’t open to the public.” The guard told wilpon, obviously unaware of who he was. “I’m sorry, but you can’t go out there.”
Now, we know that Wilpon have the power to get what he wants by telling them who is he or simply show his top-level security pass to them. But Wilpon did not do that. He takes all the students to move aside and use another gate to go to the bull pen. On the late afternoon, Wilpon sent them a handwritten note. He thanks them for their concern to do their job. In your opinion, why did Wilpon do that? It is all because he does not want to embarrass the guard but make them feel appreciated and more treasure their work. Yes, the guard has done their work successfully. Although we might think that the guard was low in status but whoever they are, they also involve in leadership and maybe those higher status do not concern about their job as much as the guard did.
Now, what is the meaning of leadership? Nowadays, people assume that a leader is the one that always begins at the top. The boss is the boss and he is in charge of everything while the employees will only say ‘yes’ and do all the boss commands. However, those assumptions were definitely wrong. According to John Patrick Dolan (1988), leadership is a willingness to accept the responsibility for results. What was that mean? If we try to understand the inner meaning of leadership, we will find that the word ‘willingness’ is not just willing to do something but it is all about a positive attitude towards a better result. So, leadership is when someone who has developed the attitude of a willingness to take the responsibility for a good result. Developing the attitude of willingness is by knowing the five important elements in leadership – Psychology, Sociology, ethics, value and moral. Let us go through each of these elements.
P/s: Conclusion must conclude all; leader is not among the best or for those who begin at the top. But leadership should exist in every people coz leadership is in you. Wherever we are, we are the leader even for our family and ourselves.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
When we talk about leadership, what appears first in your mind? A prime minister? A president? Or even an employer that control everything that happen in an organization, where he is in charge of all things and no discussion allowed in making any decision? To answer this questions, let us experience the story from Dale Carnegie’s book entitle The Leaders in You.
“Fred Wilpon is the president of the New York Mets Baseball team. One afternoon, Wilpon was leading group of school children on a tour of Shea Stadium. He let them stand behind home plate. He took them into the team dugouts. He walked them through the private passage to the clubhouse. As the final stop on his tour, Wilpon wanted to take the students into the stadium bull pen, where the pitchers warm up. But right outside the bull pen gate, the group was stopped by a uniformed security guard. “The bull pen isn’t open to the public.” The guard told wilpon, obviously unaware of who he was. “I’m sorry, but you can’t go out there.”
Now, we know that Wilpon have the power to get what he wants by telling them who is he or simply show his top-level security pass to them. But Wilpon did not do that. He takes all the students to move aside and use another gate to go to the bull pen. On the late afternoon, Wilpon sent them a handwritten note. He thanks them for their concern to do their job. In your opinion, why did Wilpon do that? It is all because he does not want to embarrass the guard but make them feel appreciated and more treasure their work. Yes, the guard has done their work successfully. Although we might think that the guard was low in status but whoever they are, they also involve in leadership and maybe those higher status do not concern about their job as much as the guard did.
Now, what is the meaning of leadership? Nowadays, people assume that a leader is the one that always begins at the top. The boss is the boss and he is in charge of everything while the employees will only say ‘yes’ and do all the boss commands. However, those assumptions were definitely wrong. According to John Patrick Dolan (1988), leadership is a willingness to accept the responsibility for results. What was that mean? If we try to understand the inner meaning of leadership, we will find that the word ‘willingness’ is not just willing to do something but it is all about a positive attitude towards a better result. So, leadership is when someone who has developed the attitude of a willingness to take the responsibility for a good result. Developing the attitude of willingness is by knowing the five important elements in leadership – Psychology, Sociology, ethics, value and moral. Let us go through each of these elements.
P/s: Conclusion must conclude all; leader is not among the best or for those who begin at the top. But leadership should exist in every people coz leadership is in you. Wherever we are, we are the leader even for our family and ourselves.
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