“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” John C. Maxwell
Often times we make the assumption that leaders are only those who hold leadership titles … supervisors, managers, executives to name a few. Yet when you look around your organization is it only those leaders with titles who lead? Or can we name others who can motivate a group of people to move toward achieving a common goal?
Think about moving freight. While it is the supervisor or manager’s responsibility to ensure freight moves, it is the front line people who manage relationships. Critical relationships with customers, relationships with the warehouse, with professional drivers. They motivate entire systems to achieve the common goal … delivering freight.
Or the front line people who, as a close colleague has named their role, are your VP’s of customer service. They are the first people new and current customers connect with. Those relationships can increase business and decrease business without the right motivation.
They often fall through the cracks but you have leaders within your organization at all levels of your business. Are you able to pick them out? If yes, I encourage you to take the time to thank them for all that they do. And remind ourselves regularly that leaders do not always carry the title we expect them to.
Three key take-aways:
- Leaders wear different titles, do you recognize them?
- Celebrate and invest in all your leaders!
- Promote universal leadership within your organization.
