[Vnbiz] Leadership -- What are you looking for in your leader?

Sun Jul 22 19:43:43 PDT 2007

Thanks, that makes things somewhat clearer.  I take it your questions were
rhetorical then.  Given that, and to avoid being "stupid", i guess i don't
need to say anything about whether i love my subordinates, employees or
co-workers or not.  ;)

Though i'm interested in airing what qualities comprise a good leader,
generally and in different situations or for different types of leaders, i
still must admit i will likely still try to avoid acting as or being seen as
a leader, in terms of being someone who directly gets others to do what he
or she thinks should be done, even after considering all feedback from
"followers".

I still think i would rather remain someone who explores alternatives and
notes those that might be relevant, someone a group leader might consult if
the norms, popular opinions or even common sense still don't seem to be
solving, if even seeing, some critical issues at hand.

I find it's not sort of role that lends itself to direct group leadership
very well.  It seems to require regularly redoubting what most people tell
you and seeking the opinions of the dissenters and innovators among us.

This not to say i do not value popular or traditional beliefs or opinions.
One could not know what's new or different from common understandings
without knowing what's not.

But i still see a lot of room for improvement in the popular opinions,
beliefs and ways of living today.  And, despite ever-nagging doubts about
the net value of doing as much, i still can't seem to resist at least trying
to find and flaunt what seem like superior alternatives.  C'est la vie, du
mien.

Cheers,
Andi

On 7/23/07, Tran Dinh Hoanh <tdhoanh at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> `Dear brother Andi & CACC,
>
> Thanks for still giving lawyer some credit, Andi.  That is very
> refreshing, especially if you life in the US :-)
>
> When I talk about leadership here, I have a very clear purpose of
> providing ideas for everyone of us to be a good leader, in our current
> capacity as an older brother, a teacher, a parent, an administrator, an
> executive, a whatever.  So when I ask "What kind of leader you are?"  I mean
> we want to study leadership to work on ourselves, not to study is just to
> watch other people (leaders) and making comments about them.
>
> One of the biggest problems in management that I see is that, everyone
> seems to think that "he is the leader, not me."  When my entire staff thinks
> that way, I get nervous, because my staff will not try to act at the highest
> level of their ability and will not be able to see things with a larger
> vision that a leader would see.  I point out to each of my staff member that
> "you are a leader of someone, whether you like it or not.  So start to act
> like leader.  You have some staff under you, you are a leader.  (Even if you
> have no staff under you, do you have a younger brother at home?).   And in
> this company, I want you to think all the time like the leader of the entire
> company.  I don't want you to think like you are just a technical person
> doing this specific job.  You will not succeed in this company if you think
> that way.  I want you to think like the leader of the company and to see
> things that a leader would see."
>
> That means, each of us just has to realize that we are a leader whether we
> like it or not, and start to act like one.  That is my purpose.  Sorry if I
> was unclear on this point, Andi.
>
> About honesty, honesty is not the equivalent of stupidity,  Honesty
> doesn't mean you have to say everything to everyone.  You don't have to say
> anything to anyone.  If you don't want to say something, then don't say it.
> Honesty means that IF you say something, that will be the truth to the best
> of your knowledge and belief.
>
> I do not believe in "white lie."   White lie is a lie.  If I have to say a
> white lie to save someone life, I probably will do it.  But I still
> recognize that it is not honest.  I would try hard to think of a way to say
> something honest, before I have to resort to a so-called white lie.  We have
> to do what we have to do, as long as "we HAVE to do it" and we do not tell
> lie, including white lie or yellow lie or whatever lie, as a matter of habit
> and convenience.
>
> I believe that a good leader must stand on the honesty principle.   I go
> to court all the time and I don't lie to my opponent, although many things I
> will not tell him.
>
> Hope this clarify my previous message.  Sorry if I confuse you, brother
> Andi.  Have a great day!
>
> Hoanh
>
>
>
>
> On 7/22/07, AD Marshall <admarshall at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
> >
> >
> >
> > A Hoanh, Bro',
> >
> > On 7/21/07, you wrote, "Brother Andi, politicians, like lawyers, have a
> > bad reputation universally, although once in a while a politician or
> > lawyermay enjoy some good reputation."
> >
> > Please be assured, though i'd largely agree with the stereotype that too
> > many PROFESSIONAL politicians are weasels, i hold lawyers in general in
> > quite high regard.  While lawyers, in Commonwealth nations at least, are
> > broadly and rigorously educated and tested before qualifying for their
> > profession, as Robert Louis Stephenson writ, 105 years ago, "Politics is
> > perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary."
> > <http://www.bartleby.com/73/1427.html>  I have no negative stereotype of
> > lawyers.  I even view a few as mentors, or masters, of living optimally.
> >
> > Next, you emphasized the limits of theory compared to practice and
> > advised we each learn and build our own leadership methods, through
> > practice, from scratch, from "ground zero", advise you later clarified and
> > extended to any endeavor "in arts", in another mail to Bro' Ba Thien.
> > Please correct me if i'm misinterpreting.
> >
> > But back in your earlier mail.  You pointed out that, "leadership
> > has less to do with politician than with you youself, Andi" and asked, "What
> > kind of leader your are?  How do you act toward your children, your younger
> > siblings, your employees, your subordinates?  Are you not honest to them?
> > Are you not loving them?"
> >
> > I'm not sure whether your questions are merely rhetorical or actually
> > seeking responses.  Which are they?  In either case, could you please do me
> > the favor of providing examples of the sort of answers you're seeking,
> > yourself.  I have what i think are clear and reasonable answers to those
> > questions, but i'm not sure that i'd be addressing them from the angle you'd
> > intended.  For example, in this context, what do you mean by "love" and how
> > do "white lies" fit into it?
> >
> > Regarding the latter, for example, my own experience is that not only
> > followers but peers will not appreciate honest expressions of what may be
> > truth if it involves correcting some error in their ways or beliefs,
> > especially deeply held or deeply personal beliefs.  They'd prefer a "white
> > lie" or diversionary comment instead.  And, in fact, others may even view
> > one as impolitic if he or she persists in saying what they truly think about
> > the flaws of others in the group or even if they talk to blatantly about
> > their own flaws if they themselves are supposed to be "leaders".
> >
> > I, myself, do not view myself as much of a leader in the sense i think
> > leadership is being considered in this thread, precisely because of that
> > last observation of mine.  I have a terrible tendency to blurt out questions
> > like, "OK, but what about X, Y or Z?", when, in hindsight, i realize others
> > had really wanted signs of support from me for some notion they were
> > espousing.
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > With warm wishes,
> > Andi
> >
> >
> > --
> > Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> > Washington DC
>
>
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