Effective leadership is often a result of a leader straddling a fine line between taking “gutsy” needed actions and emphasizing people skills. Far too many ineffective leaders fail to realize that without the support of members (or constituents), a leader can’t be effective or productive. Some believe they do, and in their attempt to “please everyone” do very little, and thus make themselves ineffectual. A simple and primary rule that all great leaders have come to understand is that leaders must both praise and thank others for their help, suggestions, guidance, and suggestions, regardless of how useful that advice actually ends up being.
1. When organizing and overseeing an event, the leader almost always needs the assistance and commitment of several volunteers. Only through valuable experience can these volunteers be truly useful in the future, in assuming larger leadership roles in events that come later. The reality is that any relatively new volunteer will not do everything perfectly, and how the leader handles this individual, will often determine how motivated and positive the individual becomes. Small gestures of kindness, appreciation, etc., go a very long way to enhance this process. Truly expert leaders realize that experience, in and of itself, does not make one an expert, and thus the guidance, and how any flaws are handled are meaningful. That person has the option of either using the imperfection or error and creating a “teaching moment,” or taking the more common approach, which is condemnation and blame. Only when praise and thanks are combined with teaching will the other person feel good about the experience, and want to get involved in the future. The mishandling and lack of consideration that often exists in these circumstances is one of the major contributing factors to why so few volunteer on more than one or two occasions. If someone feels a sense of accomplishment, and achievement, the probability of desiring future involvement increases exponentially.
2. The main leader of an organization, whether that is the President or Chairman, etc., must work effectively with others, and dependent on their cooperation, if he wishes to accomplish his goals towards his vision. This requires this individual to subjugate his ego, and replace ego with gratitude. Organizations should train their leaders that effective communication is a major necessity of leadership, and that must include the ability to communicate gratitude and thanks, as well as both public and private acknowledgement of that appreciation. Even people who claim not to care about being thanks appreciate it when someone praises them. A leader must use praise whether it is for something minor or major, and must sincerely express it. Insincerity is even worse than failure to thank.
There are so many factors that come into creating an effective leader. Some are easily trained, some are perhaps somewhat innate, and some take considerable emphasis and retraining. While you can teach and emphasize the need to praise and thank, you cannot train someone to be sincere. For this reason, unless organizations carefully qualify their potential leaders, there will often remain a dearth of effective leadership.