Some general thoughts about leadership (Journal #2)

The beauty of organization is that it could pull resources and wisdom together and accomplish big tasks/mission that individuals could not do. An organization is just like a person: good leadership helps the organization keep healthy mentally and physically, and develop good personality (like open minded, hardworking, pleasant and kind, etc) in order to be successful and powerful. From my point of view, the first step to lead an organization is to make it clear what the organization is going to be like, including missions, future orientation and most important “personalities”. The second step is to set the rules and culture. The power system, communication system and the affection system (which Professor Coltoff mentioned last week) can all be carried out by rules and culture. Both rules and culture can be set by two ways: by force (punishment/encouragement) and by personal impact (charisma, employee’s respect/fear/trust/beliefs towards leaders). Third is staffing. Who you are looking for/ what you are looking for inside a person is highly corresponded to the first step. How to "make the best use" of the staff is set by the second step.

Leadership is a delicate art, which could be conducted in different styles. But I feel one of the most important factors is proactive, always holding to the core mission/vitality of the organization. In a group, members tend to seek for the benefit and avoid risks. Majorities may not always make the best decisions at the right time. Organizations may get trapped in ambivalence / interest conflicts/ risk taking. A proactive leader with firm belief in the mission is able to take the responsibility/ risk to make a move towards the best decision. Also, in order to reach long term goals, leaders should be able to keep the balance between organization mission (task) and staff needs (morale). In addition, a leader need to have enough self-awareness/self-discipline to separate the interest of organization and needs of him/herself (power transparency and monitor mechanisms help).