Let me count the ways

I thought I would blog on the different ways a person can lead like a sinner.  As I have written on this blog for the past two years, my focus and thoughts have evolved and I thought this might be a good exercise for me to recast what the chapters of my book might look like.  So here I go, with little preparation;

1.  A leader should be transparent with his mistakes.  This lets those he leads know that mistakes are normal.

2.  A leader should not over estimate his decision making ability and include those he leads in the decisions.  The best decision that is not bought into by the team will not yield the best results.

3.  A leader should ask for help and not be embarrassed if those he leads know more in certain areas of expertise.  This makes it normal for an organization to ask one another for help allowing the strengths of team members to be expanded and brought to bear on more than just what that one person can do.

4.  A leader should not seek to find blame, but rather seek to set up processes and checks and helps to overcome mistakes that are easy to make.

5.  A leader should not cut down the "caring tree" of his employee's, but rather find ways to give his employee's more emotional ownership in what the organization is doing.

6.  A leader should not seek to control methods so much as expect results.  As an organization grows, there is a temptation to seek more control since you no longer know the people doing the work as intimately as you once did.  This temptation should be resisted and instead a leader should begin to teach his managers how to lead like a sinner.  As middle managers learn to lead like a sinner, those that they lead will take more ownership, work together more closely, ask for help, not hide mistakes, etc.  When an organization grows, new leaders need to be developed, otherwise the organization will tip into a blaming bureaucracy.

7.  A leader should grow in humility by seeking to become aware of his own blind spots.  To find our blind spots, we need to recognize that we cannot see them without the help of others who we are in close contact with.  This group of people are often the ones that are the hardest to be transparent with. 

8.  A leader should recognize the potential in his team.  Seeking to help them learn the same principles of humility, the need to see blind spots, the power of asking for help.  A leader should begin to see the potential of a team that is knitted together and that cares.

9.  A leader should begin to recognize that different people will need to do things differently, but if a person has passion and work ethic, then many different paths will yield results.

10.  A leader should be aware of how hard it is to lead transparently, and be courageous in his effort. 

11.  A leader should recognize his need for endurance in this effort of being transparent, knowing that at first, there will only be evidence that this new path is not working.

12.  A leader should have faith that as he leads with humility and hard work, great things will happen.