Leaders Recognize It

Are leaders born, or can you make the decision to become one? Whether your view is from the bottom up, the middle or the top – It's clear that your decisions make the difference.

Last week my design staff attended a simulcast: 360° - The Measure of a Leader, sponsored the Maximum Impact organization. Why? A good designer needs to be an effective leader anywhere within an organization.

Here are a few highlighted points that we learned:

• You have a leadership role and responsibilities, no matter where you are in an organization. You may not recognize it.


• Don't confuse leadership with a strong personality


• Wide leaders make wise decisions and then manage them (A key tenet of John Maxwell, founder of Maximum Impact.)


• A dealer needs to know how to deal with ambiguity


• A leader must be a creative thinker – anticipating needs and thinking beyond perceptions


• A leader is a steward of equipment and resources


• Behavior and performance is more important that words


• A great leader is aware of the big picture and the details (the forest and the trees)


• The most relevant: Learning to lead yourself is the place to start.

Of note: One of the presentations used posters from Despair.com. Despair.com features a series of demotivational products, and is a well-executed parody of the success posters genre. They are hilarious, and totally hit the mark.

If you look through the posters at the web site, there is a poster that addresses every major leadership point presented in the 360° simulcast. How brilliant is that!?

Don't despair. Every designer can be a leader. Now get back to work.

Tags: leadership, stewardship, performance, success