Debunking Leadership Myths--Myth #2

by Scott Airitam
President, Scott Airitam's Leadership Systems, LLC
www.leadeshipsystemsonline.com

Ok, so somewhere along the line I was asked to be Chair-Elect of the Rowlett Chamber of Commerce.  And, logic tells me that somewhere along the line, in a moment I can't quite recall with any certainty, I said, "Yes."  Now, don't get me wrong.  I really feel like it's an honor to have been asked, and, just as much an honor to serve, but with my work schedule, my volunteer activites outside of the Chamber, and my commitment to my family and social life (big believer in balance here) I don't know how I was thinking I was going to do this.

The Chamber's situation is challenging because of the growth the city is going through and the need to change how things are done at the chamber to keep up.  It reminds me of a job I had.  I started with a company, AMX Corp., as the Director of Business Capabilities.  My job was to create a business savvy core of Leaders within the organization as it grew from a $40 million dollar company to a $100 million dollar company.  To do this, I was to create a training process, an internal consulting organization, and an on-the-job training process under the umbrella of a department called Business Capabilities.  It was a challenging job, but a great job and I had immediate success.  The real challenge came when I was asked to take over the AMX University, which was responsible for the technical training of customers, product distributors, dealers, and AMX staff.  Being a technical firm, this was a critical position because it affected the ability and desire of people to both sell and buy our product. The problem was that the AMX University had a number of deeply rooted cultural challenges when I took over--much like the Chamber.

Now, at AMX, taking over AMX University meant taking the Leadership reigns of a group of people who's skill sets were quite different from my own and who's ideas about work were vastly different than mine.  I knew the world of training and I knew how a training organization should be run, but I didn't understand the technical aspects of the programming language or the hardware, which were the very things we were training.  Because I didn't understand all of those technical aspects I also did not really get the AMX University employees or customers who lived in that world every day.  And, here I was expected to Lead them.

This brings us to a very common Leadership Myth.  Leadership Myth #2 is: To be a great Leader, one must be competent in every aspect of the work the followers are asked to do.  I will admit, that it helps to have that competence.  It is not a requirement, though.  

In truth, great leaders understand the mission and how to influence their people.  Great leaders command respect.  I gained the respect of my high-tech staff at AMX University because I was willing to go the extra mile to ensure the mission was accomplished.  When I demanded the same of them, it was difficult for that group to avoid accountability for working to the standards I set. An example of this is when a trainer quit on a Friday and we had a programming class starting on a Monday.  All Friday I worked in vain to find someone qualified to teach the session.  I tried rearranging schedules and I tried borrowing people from other departments.  When none of it worked out, what do you think I spent all day Saturday and all day Sunday doing?  Making myself qualified to lead the session.  The session was three days long and people flew in from all over the world to take it.  I led the session.  It wasn't perfect, but it was successful and my team recognized that I was willing to do whatever it took to make sure we achieved our goals--even when the situation seemed impossible.  Within a year of me taking over the AMX University, it was a department that people wanted to transfer to, not the other way around.

So, now I look to Lead the Chamber of Commerce for my home city, Rowlett.  I do not have all of the skills the 18-person board of directors will bring to the table for us to meet our goals.  I can't claim all of those competencies.  I can be a great Leader to them, though, allowing them to do work they can be proud of and work that is meaningful.  I can lean on them, creating value in what each brings to the table.  This creates commitment.  This creates the want to do in followers and it allows me to completely refrain from trying to be a dictator telling them what they have to do.  With that, I look forward to Leading a Chamber of Commerce that achieves great things.