[Vnbiz] Leadership -- A little more on Honesty

[Tran Dinh Hoanh]

Dear anh Shane,

I don't think the discussion is falling apart though.  That is the nature of
discussion.  More often than not, we come up with opinions so far apart that
the only final agreement we have is "We agree to disagree."    That is both
the human nature (to be different from each other here and there) and the
nature of democracy (trying to live peacefully and happily :-( with the jerk
next door :-)

Vigorous differences are a very good sign--the sign that everyone has
opinion, and is willing to contribute his/her opinion, and is strong enough
to take the stand for his/her opinion.  That is the sign of intellectual
vigor.  Agreement is good, but agreeing all the time may be a sign of
lethargy.

As long as we don't hit each other in the head, let's quarrel a bit here and
there to make life more interesting.

Have a great day!

Hoanh
___________

On 7/27/07, Shane Wall <shane.wall at translingualexpress.com> wrote:
>
> [ Vietnam Business Forum ]
>
>
> I agree Bro. Hoanh, it seems the discussion is "falling apart" and we
> are no closer to actually finding out the qualities that we, as a
> family, think are the qualities all leaders should have.
>
> To be very frank and honest, the reason that this discussion has not
> achieved its original purpose and has gone a long way off from the
> original is simply because THERE IS NO LEADER in this discussion!
>
> My CACE, I will "lead" this discussion if you would like me too, but
> please be aware that I try very, very hard to adhere to the 10
> principles/ideas I have previously posted (appended again after my
> address block).
>
> Something that nobody has mentioned yet is the willingness of a leader
> to "step-up" and voluntarily take responsibility for the situation. I
> love it when somebody does that. I work extremely hard for them because
> they have taken on the risk. Sadly, far too few people are willing to
> "take the risk" and become a Leader.
>
> This is what I said previously and what I try to encourage, enforce or
> enable in my own leadership situations:
>
> *1.  Willing to openly canvass and listen to all opinions, including
> ones the leader may disagree with.*
>     Only by listening to all views and perspectives can the correct one
> be found.
>
> *2.  Be totally committed to the welfare of the "entity" being led as a
> whole, not just elements within it.*
>    If only one section of the entity is cared for, human nature will
> quickly ensure that the entity disintegrates. This also means that
> sometimes a leader must be willing to harm part of the whole in order
> for the whole to become or remain healthy. A true example is the Ship
> Captain whose ship has an uncontrolled fire in the engineroom. He knows
> there are 4 sailors still in the engineroom and 195 others safe. He does
> not know if the 4 are still alive or dead already. He orders the
> engineroom sealed and the firefighting chemical Halon to be dumped into
> the compartment. Halon is lethally toxic when it reacts with fire
> (that's part of how it works). He knows if the 4 are alive, he has just
> killed them. He knows if he does not extinguish the fire, he places all
> 195 others in jeopardy. I know this story is FACT because it happened in
> the Royal Australian Navy when I was still serving.
>
> *3.  Not afraid to make the hard decisions, like the example above, for
> the good of the whole.*
>
> *4.  Able to be self-critical and honest about mistakes or errors.*
>    The member of a sports team who gives their all and is defeated by
> their opponent because the coach put them in the wrong position or gave
> the wrong task is not to blame for losing the game, the coach who put
> there is. The coach must then be able to exonerate the player and take
> the blame.
>
> *5.  Never asks another to do what he/she would not do themselves*,
> a.k.a. lead by example or leading from the front.
>    This does not mean the leader has to actually participate, but it
> does mean that those being led must know that when placed in the same
> position, the leader DID do exactly what he/she is now asking others to
> do, so understands their plight.
>
> *6.  Is cooperative rather than combative or manipulative.*
>
> *7.  Honest, moral, ethical and upstanding with a sense of justice and
> what is "right".*
>     Nothing loses the respect of the led faster than some misdeed by a
> leader. Nonetheless, this does not mean the leader cannot have made
> mistakes, (See 4. above), but just how they handle them. Another true
> story. On learning that their team leader was simply writing his own
> reports based on his own presumptions and perceptions and not analyzing
> and compiling their results and reports as he should have done, the team
> simply stopped collecting the information and writing the reports - not
> a healthy situation for intelligence operators. When I took over the
> team, they were the worst, most demoralized team and the laughing stock
> of the Unit. Morale was deeper than Whale doo-doo!
>
> *8.  Openly and equitably distributes and shares the benefits and
> burdens.*
>    I've seen instances where everything is shared equally (a
> Communist-style model) and others where things are shared according to
> pre-determined criteria or systems (a Capitalist-style model). From my
> (limited) experience, it doesn't seem to matter which method is used,
> rather that it is open and mutually agreed upon (See 6. above).
>
> *9.  Deep understanding of the aspirations, wishes, needs and desires of
> the led.*
>    Without this understanding, no leader can ever hope to satisfy these
> things for their followers.
>
> *10. Willingness to delegate responsibilities, reward success and
> rectify the causes of failure.*
>     By letting people undertake important tasks, rewarding them when
> they succeed and helping rectify the reasons they may have failed, a
> leader builds trust. From mutual trust comes teamwork. From teamwork
> comes success. Any team-building guru will tell you that, or something
> similar.
>
> Finally, I don't remember where this comes from, but I remember a
> definition of "Leadership":
>
> _*"The ability to make others willingly do what they otherwise do not
> want to do."*_
>
> Let's get "back on track" here! We've wasted a lot of typing time,
> bandwidth and contemplation, let's try to get something CONCRETE out of
> this discussion!!!
>
> Shane
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Mr. Shane Wall
> Principal,
>
> Trans Lingual Express
> 120/14 Mai Thi Luu St,
> P. Dakao, Q.1, HCMC,
> Vietnam
>
> Mail: shane.wall at translingualexpress.com
> Web: www.translingualexpress.com
>
> Mbl: +84 (090) 9484 753 (Anh) - Tel: +84 (8) 820 9143 (Viet)
>
>
> --
> Tran Dinh Hoanh, LLB, JD
> Washington DC
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