Lessons on Leadership I learned in 2008

In 2008 I met people who I worked with, as any other year. The only difference was some of them created very particular situations. I had some of them in a high esteem, either professionally and/or personally.Some showed a deep lack of leadership, some showed some leadership, some showed no interest at all.

I was expecting a show of technical knowledge from some, and I had no expectations from others. In the end there were no major problems on the technical side although it required some time, but in all cases having specific goals was an issue and being led in a direction other than expected or in many directions at the same time complicated working or made it clearly easier (which was suspicious).

Another issue (at least I consider it an issue) was having in mind the rewards before the results. Some decided to run away leaving a mess in their search for higher rewards, others whined for lower rewards. There's nothing wrong in having high expectations as long as they are realistic.

Finally, whining constantly doesn't work as a motivational tool. On the contrary, it weakens the moral of the coworkers and even worse weakens the moral of those you are in charge of.

Summary:

1. Be responsible for the mess you create! or even better, don't create a mess!

2. Do not be a drama queen (Otherwise, shut the f*ck up!)

3. Have clear goals and remind your team about them (You better have at least a clear goal!)