The Power of Cooperation

 

Source: http://www.strategies.com

What helps a person become a true leader, one that would be respected by his or her team? Nowadays we see many different kinds of leaders, ranging from strict supervisors to relaxed and “chill” business masters. However, the amount of success the person will have as a leader depends not only on the leadership style he or she chooses, but also on the amount of interaction that is formed between the leading person and the rest of the team. 

As the article “4 Simple Things You Can Do To Be A Better Leader” published in Forbes website in 2014 points out, usually the most- respected leaders “have the ability to combine leading from the front and working in the trenches alongside their team.” The Forbes websites serves as a reliable source of information as it has achieved great popularity because of its current articles on vIn other words, if a person expects to become a true and respected leader, he needs to understand that working “above” everyone else won’t help at all, that is, he will have to get his hands “dirty” while trying to figure out how to lead the business successfully. Therefore, in this brief essay, I argue that in order for a person to become a well- respected leader, one needs to communicate with his or her team, listen to their own views and opinions and, most importantly, work together in order to succeed in the future and achieve as many goals as possible.

• To start with, as the article emphasizes, “leading by example involves an element of servant leadership.” In other words, one cannot be a true leader without having all of the respect coming from the members of the team who, as already known, are the main parts of the machine that run the entire company. The author incorporates the example from the Navy SEAL teams, where the philosophy of servant leadership and the need of respect is ingrained in each candidate from day one of training, especially for the officers. As the author points out, “as a SEAL you are taught to lead and be led”,  you “train with your team and fight with your team.” This example shows that good leaders do not simply take their position as a “stronger” one and, on the other hand, work together, hand in hand, with the team members through any kind of obstacles they might encounter. Also, “any good leader will make a point to acquire the best possible talent they can”, the leaders’ talents will thrive only if they give their talents the necessary resources to succeed. The most important thing while being a leader, in my opinion, is to understand that if you work together with all of the team members and understand what they do every day, they will give you the proper respect you deserve. The most rewarding part of earning team’s respect is that the relationship formed on the basis of this value will go a long way for fueling company growth.

• To add, another factor that will determine the level of success one will have as a leader is the ability to learn from one’s team members. It is apparent that sometimes people who receive the leadership positions tend to become arrogant and “fueled” with pride. However, if the leader wants his or her company to move forward and make a lot of progress, he or she should never assume to know everything. This is because, as the article points out, “the minute you do, you’ve already failed.” The author of the article uses the example of Navy Seal Team once more to explain that when “fresh” officers arrive to a Seal Team, the good leaders know when to take charge and when to let the more experienced senior SEAL lead the way. This example emphasizes once again how important it is to not only lead the team, but to also listen to their experiences, as there always are things that one has never heard before and that knowledge might help him or her to finally pave the so-wanted path to successful business career.

• In addition, is it crucial for leaders to understand that they should “always learn as much as they can from others who have paved the way for them.” It is known that professional development for any leader is critical, so why not consider the talent you’ve hired and learn from them? This is quite well illustrated by new companies where weekly “knowledge sharing” sessions and constant collaboration are held across all departments. In other words, if an individual wants to lead the team, he needs to get involved and “soak up as much knowledge as he can.”

• Lastly, when leaders devote more time “working directly with their teams on various projects”, they acquire a better understanding “of what each person’s skill sets are.” In this way, good leaders will be able to identify gaps, ensure people are doing what they are supposed to do and know when there’s a need to adjust “certain systems and processes.” It is difficult to expect to be able to provide a meaningful direction to the reports if one doesn’t fully understand how the entire business machine works and looks like.

All in all, great leaders know that becoming the most important person in the entire machine means much more than just filling in a lot of papers and signing hundreds of different contracts. On the other hand, great leaders are able to realize that the progress and achievements will come only when the entire team functions properly through respect, trust and, most importantly, cooperation.

Questions that I will be trying to answer in the future research:

1. What are the “outside” factors that could influence the person and make him a better leader?
2. Does the country the person lives in influence the level of success he or she can have as a leader?