Leaders and Pushers

You can learn a lot by observing others around you. God has instilled in each of us such wonderful and diverse methods by which we learn and grown. Many can learn by reading something, and it is retained within their mind forever. Others must do something, and be hands on, to learn a trait or skill. Others still learn by observing: watching and listening to others. Observation can be an extremely beneficial way to learn from others, in their successes and failures.

Observation is also a key part in developing the trait that is lost by many in our society today... common sense. I am constantly amazed at how often people, who generally seem to have a fully functioning intellectual organ, have no common sense. They don't think, or care to think, about the consequences of their actions. They don't understand how their actions will have an affect, sometimes quite dramatically, on the feelings, beliefs, and actions of others. I think that common sense also has very strong ties to something else that many in the information age are lacking quite significantly.... people skills. Many just don't know how to relate to others because they have become so individualized and introverted. Whenever I think of people skills, I can't help but remember a shouting quote from that classic film... Office Space. "Well look, I already told you! I deal with the customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the heck is wrong with you people?"

Ah, what great people skills.

As I was thinking the other day about those lacking these abilities that many take for granted, another comforting thought occurred to me. Too often those who lack common sense are the very people who are leading corporations, school boards, committees, businesses, and other organized groups within society. This is where the light clicked for a second, so let me drop the obvious for a second. Often times, those who are in positions of leadership are not good leaders.

Okay, just let that settle. Profound, not really.... but true, absolutely! Just watch an interview every now and then on TV, and you can spot them. They are the heads of corporations and boards, and you can just sense that a light bulb is missing upstairs... I've got a point to all this, really.

This is when I realized that there is a distinct type of leader that often isn't talked about, mainly because people are either afraid of them or ignore them. Rather than call them leaders (for they are truly not inspiring anyone to follow them), there is a better, more fitting name... pushers. Some people, often who lack common sense or people skills, are very capable at getting things done, not because they are visionaries, or good leaders, but because they are pushers. They have the ability to motivate others by such wonderful methods as fear, desperation, and other negative emotive devices. They don't inspire or encourage their "people", they push them. Now, the outcome may be just as effective on the bottom line, but what about the concern for quality? When did corporations stop treating people like people, and start treating them like machines... or sometimes even animals!?

I was watching Donny Deutsch the other day (who I love, by the way), and they had a great dialog with several business leaders (one or two with a missing light bulb) about motivation and leadership. They were talking about the power of nice. Amazing, yes I know. Many business leaders today are catching on to the benefits of being good leaders and not good pushers. What a difference it makes in a workplace when employees respect one another, and are respected by their leaders. This allows for a great exchange of ideas where people aren't afraid to speak up because they are made to feel inferior. When people are happy, they work harder. "Gruntled" employees (c.o. Michael Scott) will be motivated to produce a higher quality of product or service than those who feel neglected, ignored or abused.

So, the moral of the story I guess is let's stop pushing others to get things done, and use the power of nice and positive motivation to be a leader and not a pusher!