Steve on Leadership # 3

At the Inaugural Johnson & Johnson New Leaders Forum, Roger Allsop, then director of Johnson & Johnson Pacific, said:

“Leadership is about persuading others to act to achieve goals that represent true values, and the wants, needs, motivations, aspirations and expectation of both leaders and followers.”

Whilst Roger was “spot on”, and authentic leaders understand what is meant by true values, what is really important is identifying goals that correspond to true values, and the desires, wants, motivations, goals and hopes of both leaders and followers.

This requires both genuine leadership, and bona fide communication. We have all experienced ersatz communication, and from my observation – having worked extensively in both the public and private sectors – I think this false communication is sadly the default method of both management and trade unions.

What is desperately needed as we face the vast challenges of the 21st century and the recession is real dialogue to identifying mutual goals and the goodwill to work together to achieve synergy.

Any loser can talk...real leaders and authentic followers dialogue. If you are a leader without followers (an oxymoron), then you’re just a guy/gal going for a walk!

Steve Lourey steve@zerotcd.com.au