Attitude reflects leadership

Leaders set the tone. It’s their actions and their words that either ring true and inspirational or disingenuous and deflating to those who would follow. Employees and team members want to run through walls for them or are satisfied to give less than their best effort. Apple’s Steve Jobs, GE’s Jack Welch, and CVS’s Karen Lynch, and Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee and Vince Lombardi of Green Bay Packers lore in sports are names that spring to mind when discussing the leadership pantheon.

Leaders help us see the bigger picture or drive us into a selfish corner. Attitude is the tell, as a heated discussion between Julius Campbell and Gerry Bertier, two of the stars of the football team depicted in the 2000 movie Remember the Titans, remind us.

Julius: You been doin’ your job?

Gerry: I’ve been doin’ my job.

Julius: Then why don’t you tell your white buddies to block for Rev better? ’Cause they have not blocked for him worth a blood nickel, and you know it! Nobody plays! Yourself included! I’m supposed to wear myself out for the team? What team?! No, No. What I’m gonna do is, I’m gonna look out for myself, and I’m gonna get mine.

Gerry: See, man? That’s the worst attitude I ever heard.

Julius: Attitude reflects leadership, Captain.

There’s no question that your attitude influences others and their perception of your leadership. That’s why, when the days grow long and hot, and pressure for top results reaches a fever pitch at your course, the quality of your leadership becomes evident.

To help their teams see the best of their leadership abilities, superintendents should ask themselves three questions:

• How capable is my team? Some people have a nose for talent and are a good judge of the team they assemble. Knowing how to read people and understand their potential while evaluating their weaknesses is a valuable gift. But people who are capable talent evaluators sometimes lean too heavily on their own assumptions and fail to listen closely to their team members. As a result, slow starters or quiet, less expressive people may be overlooked. Be alert for all types because it’s impossible to stereotype top performers.

  Close behind choosing the right talent is the need to provide the training, guidance, and example that lifts people to the top of their abilities. Excellent line leaders:

  • Make time for training equipment operators and set-up crew members. This requires face-to-face training of assistant superintendents and crew leaders to clearly communicate what meets the desired standards — and what doesn’t. Photographs and schematic examples can optimize understanding.
  • Go into the field to observe, compliment and coach.
  • Get to know your team members as people.

• How can I help them to achieve our goals? The time of command, control, and “do it because I told you to” has passed. Your team needs and deserves to understand what is expected. Make sure they understand how you evaluate their work. Compliment in public and criticize in private. The dignity of every worker is sacred … honor it.

  When we understand the tasks and the people performing the tasks, great things can happen. Ask yourself:

  • Does each member of the team have what he or she needs to outperform our shared expectations?
  • Is there more that I can do to teach them?
  • Have we set goals high enough that everyone can be proud of the finished work?

• Have I put my best people in position to succeed? When the supervisor creates a climate in which people want to do their best, he or she has put people in a place where they will say the leader “is worth working for,” where the staff is empowered (and knows it) and where the leader invites and seriously considers input from everyone.

Being in position to succeed is also a function of being adequately supplied and equipped, suitably trained and motivated, and knowing exactly what work must be done and how the work should be performed.

Julius was correct in his knowledge that attitude reflects leadership. When you see your crew performing the tasks and pursuing the objectives that you have set out for them, do you see an attitude that reflects your great hopes and ambitions? It’s a question that begs a look in the mirror.