The Golden Rules of Leadership

Over the years numerous studies have been conducted to determine what makes a good leader. Many outlines have been drawn up in the process to try and understand why some people are effective leaders and some are not. Whether it be physical characteristics like height, stature or facial features, or personality traits like good public speaking or outgoing, there are so many attributes and attitudes to consider in this exploration of leadership qualities that it can be overwhelming at times. Throughout history it has been shown that no one attribute can determine who will be an effective leader and it has also been shown that an effective leader in one situation may not be an effective leader in another situation. Different combinations of some basic qualities make a person an effective leader on a situational basis. For example, a tall, broad, direct, man, with an outgoing personality, who enjoys public speaking might make a great politician but that same combination of attributes might make him an ineffective teacher because those traits could come across as intimidating to young children. So effective leadership is situational but all leaders must demonstrate some combination of basic leadership qualities in order to be effective in any particular situation.

I have attempted to outline five basic characteristics of an effective leader that can cross many barriers and remain effective across most situations.

1. Respect everyone's time.

2. Never lose your temper.

3. Always be direct but never condescending.

4. Always be honest.

5. Say thank you.

Organizational leaders have a lot on their plate at all times, from obviously important matters like delegating tasks to seemingly tedious tasks like reviewing inventory audits. It is easy for a person on any level to get caught up in what they are doing and lose track of time or forget to spend two minutes going over guidelines for a project with a subordinate. One of the most important parts of effective leadership is time management, especially in a heavily monochromatic society such as the United States. Every task has a deadline and as a leader, your subordinates rely on their available time to complete those tasks on schedule. If a leader fails to respect the subordinates time and fails to give him or her the information gathering time needed to begin a project, the subordinate can easily fall behind schedule due to no fault of their own, however if a deadline is missed the subordinate in charge of completing the project would most likely be reprimanded for failing to complete it on time. Therefore the leader must make conscious efforts to give each subordinate the time they need to perform successfully and to their full potential.

A strong organization must have a systematic and structured approach to conducting the daily operations of the business to succeed. At the same time an effective leader must have a systematic and structured style of communication with his or her subordinates to succeed. At any time during a standard workday any number of mishaps can happen, a subordinate could forget about a deadline or a presentation could be under prepared. Any combination of trying situations could occur and action must be taken to correct the mistakes. An effective leader must be able to communicate his or her dissatisfaction with the subordinates' behavior without losing his or her temper in the process. Every person has specific nuances that can push buttons but an effective leader must be able to control raw emotions at all times and calmly and effectively communicate their stance on unacceptable performance.

Effective leadership requires continuous communication with subordinates. A leader has the everyday duties of delegating tasks, reviewing project progress, evaluating performance and many others. When performing these job functions, it is important that the leader communicate his or her point precisely and with tact. In an organization, a leader must effectively communicate with subordinates directly but to maintain the respect needed to induce productivity and satisfaction from subordinates the leader must always be respectful of the subordinates' feelings, therefore a leader must communicate directly and in a non-condescending manner.

Without authority, a leader cannot have power and without respect a leader cannot have authority. It is important in an organization that a leader commands respect from every one of his or her subordinates. Being honest in every respect is one way to positively influence subordinates' opinions. Honesty is a complex and demanding trait, it is easy for a leader to lose the respect needed to effectively manage a team if the subordinates' view of the leaders' honesty is compromised. Therefore a leader must command that respect by consciously maintaining honesty through all communications on all levels. Organizational communications travel in many ways and the "Grapevine" is a powerful cross communication method for peers in an organization. If a leader is inconsistent in his or her communication on varying levels of the organization then respect will eventually be compromised. A leader must always be honest in every encounter on every level within the organization and maintain that honesty at all times.

In business many days have a tendency to get hectic. Projects need to be completed, reviewed, presented and evaluated. Leaders need to stay on top of the progress of many projects at one time and it can be easy to take the work of subordinates for granted, after all it is their job. A leader needs respect to be effective but subordinates need to feel respected to effectively perform in their job function. The easiest way to maintain mutual levels of respect between leaders and subordinates is to appreciate one another, and from the leaders' perspective a simple way of doing this is to simply say "thank you." Those two simple little words can make a big difference in the perception a subordinate holds toward his or her leader, objectives, goals and accomplishments. A sense of self-respect can be harnessed through perceived respect from others so if a person feels appreciated they feel better and are therefore open to increased productivity.

"12 Angry Men" (1957) is a movie about a group of jurors deciding a murder case against an eighteen-year-old kid accused of murdering his father in a fight. The main content of the move takes place inside a confined jury room around a table, where the men try to come to an agreement as to the decision in the case. When the jurors first begin their deliberation of the case they take an initial vote to see where they stand on judgement. It is widely assumed by the jurors that this is an open and shut case with a unanimous vote of "guilty." The jurors decide to take the initial vote by secret ballot as to not cause any problems in the case of a disagreement. The result is eleven to one in favor of guilty. This result causes uproar from most of the jurors, who thought they would be getting out early without having to argue over the decision. Several jurors demand to know who among them voted "not guilty" and why. This is when the conflicts begin, the main character, Davis, is the sole juror to cast a vote of "not guilty" and now he must defend his position. He starts out by explaining a single circumstance from the trial that he thought presented a reasonable doubt, which therefore prompted him to vote against the other jurors. He explained calmly what he noticed about the prosecutors' case that did not completely make sense to him. At no point yet has he tried to persuade anyone to change their minds or make any statements that he believed his opinion to be any more valid than the other jurors'. Davis makes every attempt to let the other jurors know that he understands they do not want to be in the jury room for a long time but that he must vote "not guilty" on moral principles. By doing this he is putting his standards for himself at the forefront but at the same time showing that he respects the other jurors' time. At one point he says to the other jurors that if they cannot come to an agreement of "not guilty" in approximately an hour, he will concede and vote guilty so that everyone may have the opportunity to meet any prior engagements. Davis explains his opinion in detail, careful not to leave out any important details but also making his point quickly. The movie is filled with heated arguments and outbursts from angry jurors but Davis never loses his patience or temper, always making sure to stay calm and listen to everyone's opinions and respecting them even when he disagrees. Davis is noticeably quiet and mild mannered, traits that aren't always attributed to an effective leader, but one that puts him in a good position because his personality allows him to not lose his temper. The situation could have easily turned into an ongoing argument of physical conflict if Davis had an aggressive personality like some of the other jurors. When Davis was explaining his opinions and soliciting the opinion of the other jurors he was always direct. He got his point across in an effective manner by directly saying what he was thinking and what he noticed. Many of the jurors were stubborn in there opinion and openly disagreed with Davis' opinion, many times insulting his judgement, but Davis never acted in that manner, even in retaliation to insults. Davis was careful to make his point but never judge that of the others in a condescending manner. During the film a lot of information from the trial was revealed through the jurors in the jury room. Davis and others noticed different things about the lawyers, the defendant and the witnesses throughout the trial that some of the other jurors had not noticed. Davis wanted everyone to understand why he had a reasonable doubt as to the guilt or innocence of the defendant. He carefully explained his points and opinions in an open, direct and honest manner. Davis was always careful to express that his opinion was based on a possibility or an assumption, never wording his statements in a way that could be viewed as dishonest or sneaky. In this way he gained the other jurors' trust slowly throughout the discussions. By being honest and consistent in every way and admitting that he did not know anything for sure other than his own opinion the other jurors gained a trust of him and that trust made it easier for them to see his points and realize their doubts as well. Throughout the film the jurors took several votes to keep a running tally of where everyone stood on opinion of guilt or innocence. Every vote resulted in one or two more jurors voting not guilty, along side of Davis. Without Davis' leadership, the other jurors would not have had the opportunity to realize that they too had lingering doubts about the evidence and testimonies presented in the trial. One of the golden rules identified is for an effective leader to show his appreciation for those around him, and it was pointed out that saying "thank you" could be the most effective and efficient way of getting this point across. In the film, Davis never actually says thank you to any of the other jurors for agreeing with him. Davis is a natural leader as is demonstrated in the film but in this situation his is only an opinion leader, he has no official authority over the group and is not even the jury foreman. He expresses his gratitude to the others as they join him in voting "not guilty" through facial expressions like empathetic smiles and warm soft gestures that obviously signaled thanks. So in that way Davis was able to thank each individual juror in a discreet yet compelling way.

The leadership qualities that Davis possesses over the jurors in the film "12 Angry Men" are profound and follow almost exactly the five qualities of an effective leader outlined above. Davis was able to take a group of people whom all disagreed with him and influence every single one of them to agree with him by simply following the basic rules of effective leadership. These rules are by no means concrete and every leader must use them in a way suitable to his or her personality to be considered effective. These rules may also need to be used in contingency with other qualities that are not mentioned here. Much of this depends on the leader, specifically his or her communication style and personality and also based upon the group environment. For example, blue-collar workers may need a different combination of leadership qualities than white-collar workers or women may need a different combination than men. A truly effective leader can differentiate between groups and subgroups and combine the rules of effective leadership appropriately to obtain the greatest results in any situation. Effective leadership is a complex and changing area of study, throughout time, new rules and traits and qualifications have emerged through studies and surveys and research that change the face of the communication industry. For this reason also an effective leader must stay abreast of ever changing communication styles and subordinate needs. A subordinate from the baby boomer era absolutely needs a different communication style to feel comfortable and secure than does a generation X subordinate. An effective leader will realize this and act accordingly.

The film "12 Angry Men" is an excellent example of effective leadership. For one person to take a group of differing opinions, full of hostility and engage everyone in meaningful conversation is a task in itself, but to help everyone agree with each other is a challenge in itself, on an entirely different level. The main premise of the film is that the jurors are expecting a unanimous vote for "guilty" and when one person votes against them they act out aggressively, and this is to be expected. No one wants to sit in a hot jury deliberation room for very long. The amazing thing is that Davis is able to help each individual juror agree with his opinion through their own eyes is simply an amazing feat. Every man in that room has his own opinions and biases and issues that make him vote "guilty" and by the end of the film every man in that room has changed his mind and voted "not guilty", not because they just agree with Davis but because they were able to see why they truly had doubts, even though they were initially hidden behind prejudice, bias, discrimination or preconceptions about the defendant. This film though made and set in the nineteen fifties holds true to this day. Truly effective leaders today still utilize the same strategies in organizations as Davis did in the jury room in nineteen fifty-seven. Davis knew back then the same thing that an effective leader knows now, that every one is different and as an effective leader one must tend to those differences individually while still maintaining group cooperation and respect, a challenge in any situation, be it nineteen fifty seven-jury room or two thousand and seven organization.

References

Director, D.D. Sidney Lumet

1957. 12 Angry Men. USA. Orion-Nova Productions