A Leadership Credo for The New MillenniumThere are inexhaustible uncertainties and prospects for change with the advent of the new millennium. Cogently, it is important to indicate that effective leadership requires a functional working credo that is more appropriate for the years ahead. If better communication and empathy skills are necessary for best leadership practices, then an increased focus on a viable working credo must be evident for leaders to take an organization “where no man has gone before.”
Thus, a leadership credo for the new millennium must adhere to the following working postulates:
Practice the Golden Rule
Nothing is more sacrosanct to effective leadership than to “treat other people like you would want to be treated in a similar situation.” All attempts to negate or neglect the “Golden Rule” will prove to be unproductive.
Support the Success of Others
Effective leadership cannot avoid accountability to foster productivity. Any leader must be able to leverage the attributes of workers to ensure that objectives of the operational unit are constantly being enhanced.
Honor Your Responsibilities in a Timely Fashion
Respect for time is a key element of effective leadership. One must remain cognizant of the necessity of time constraints which, if left unattended, can create inescapable failure.
Respect Your Commitments to Ensure Integrity
Effective leadership mandates keeping your word. Utilizing only affirming words buttressed by decisive actions will always win favor for those in leadership positions.
Reserve Your Thoughts of Hopelessness
If the admonition of having known that, having tried that and having failed at that is accurate, it behooves effective leadership to fairly apply perseverance to ameliorate unresolved difficulties. The faith to “keep hope alive” is paramount to achieving the desired result.
Earn Your Wages Without Solicitation
It is axiomatic to acknowledge that “one does not always get what he pays for in life, but one will pay for everything that he will get in life.” Working hard and smart are not driven by market forces because doing the “right thing” must become standard operating procedure. By example, effective leadership must demonstrate to others that “living to work can not be the same as working to live.”
Extend Yourself to Restore Quality
Extraordinary times require people doing extraordinary work to guarantee that organizational efforts are in concert with intent.
Create Peace and Advance Harmony
Dissension lies dormant at the surface of any organization. Disagreements can and will occur at a moment’s notice. Effective leadership must always sanction harmony so as to create an atmosphere conducive to productivity.
Appreciate the Essence of Change
Change should not ever just happen because of convenience. Systemic change must not be done without proper planning, programmed preparation and purposeful design. It is incumbent for organizational leaders to exercise a realistic perspective on the dynamic nature of successful change processes. This guiding precept is a self-defeating principle that distracts from a prudent decision to “try to fix things to make things function better.”
Accept Your Value and Remain Soulful
The serendipitous challenge to self-efficacy is summoned together by a paraphrase of the time-honored quote “to grant me the courage to change the things that I can change, to accept the things that I can’t change and to have the wisdom to know the difference.” Poignantly touted, one must remember to always keep it real.
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