A steamy delicious entrée ordered at my favorite Chinese food restaurant? There is nothing better! I’m just pondering the mouth-watering spices in my favorite dishes at Yank Sing in San Francisco and Meiwah in Washington, DC. The rich flavors blend and make for a memorable dining experience.
In the same way I think of a favorite dish, I also think of the special ingredients that make a superb blend of quality leadership. You know the kind I am talking about. These leaders are both kind and sophisticated.
Leaders are expected to have a degree of thoughtfulness in order for others to readily follow. Taking time to do this includes simple gratitude or acknowledgment. Putting out a “thank you” or just being mindful of others takes no time at all but it goes a long way. It is the extra special effort or style that makes someone remain in the minds of others. Someone who goes the extra mile is a revered leader.
Also, the leader who is a cut above the rest, a class act, is the one with whom we want to work with, for, and around. It is the person who we will readily follow behind. These are the ones committed to conducting themselves with a degree of caution and attentiveness to protocol. How many times do we see a leader who is doing something less than appropriate? Too often! That behavior just makes us shudder and turn to alternatives.
To have a new order of leaders, we must approach our selection of leaders as we would our favorite dining experiences and menu entrées. When we take time to have these expectations we will usher in a new level of the finest leadership.
-Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success
