THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE
Originally published in the Spring 2001 YCC Newsletter (PDF).
Are you hoping to move into a leadership position at some point in your career? If so, now is the time to start that move! According to Kouzes and Posner, authors of The Leadership Challenge, “There is no shortage of challenging opportunities to radically alter the world in which we live and work. The opportunities for leadership are available to all of us every day.” 1 At the onset, the opportunities may not be as glamorous or as financially rewarding as you would like. The pursuit of them, however, is essential for developing the traits and skills needed to be successful at leading and offers the fringe benefit of improving the community in which they are made. Never considered yourself a leader? Not all leaders were student body president or captain of the team. It turns out that leaders have a variety of personality traits and skills. Researchers have been hard pressed to identify the characteristics of successful leaders. Goffee and Jones note that they do tend to have four rather surprising common behaviors: selectively showing their weaknesses, relying heavily on intuition to gauge the appropriate timing and course of action, managing with tough empathy, and revealing their differences. “Inspirational leaders tend to mix and match the quantities in order to find the right style for the right moment.” 2 Thus, leadership is as much an art as a collection of skills.
Opportunities to practice this art should be sought early and often. Good leaders generally have been challenged early in their careers and developed a broad knowledge base and network before moving into key positions.3 It takes time to learn how to motivate others and become familiar with the resources available to make things happen. If you feel that you don’t have time to take on extra responsibilities, look for opportunities within the scope of your regular activities. Kouzes and Posner recommend key practices when you pursue leadership opportunities, whether professionally or socially: challenge the process (not the people); inspire a shared vision; enable others to act; model the way; and encourage the heart.1
Some employers provide work environments that are very favorable for developing leaders. Organizations that are decentralized and expanding provide challenging opportunities for young employees.3 It is also important to have senior management connected to lower levels and motivated to develop leaders.3 Whether mentoring is formal or informal, it is in the one-on-one relationships with current leaders that future leaders develop.4 Opportunities to lead exist outside of the workplace, as well. Volunteer organizations can be an excellent place to practice leadership. A wide range of opportunities are available from which to choose, depending on your time and interest. Other members of the organization are generally committed to helping you succeed, and, compared with the workplace, the repercussions for projects that don’t go quite as planned are less severe!
Jodi L. Wesemann is an associate professor of chemistry at Saint Mary’s College of California. She has practiced leadership as co-chair of the Southern Indiana ACS Local Section and as a member of YCC, which she currently chairs. ***Jodi currently works for the ACS Education Division of the American Chemical Society***1 Kouzes, James M.; Posner, Barry Z. The Leadership Challenge: How To Keep Getting
Extraordinary Things Done in Organizations, 2nd ed.; Jossey-Bass Publishers: San Francisco,
1995.
2 Goffee, Robert; Jones, Gareth. Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? Harvard Business Review
Sept–Oct 2000,v 78, 62–70.
3 Kotter, John P. What Leaders Really Do. Harvard Business Review May–June 1990, v 68, 103-
111.
4 Zaleznik, Abraham. Managers and Leaders: Are They Different? Harvard Business Review
March–April 1992, v 70, 126-135.