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Tangible Means Of Developing Executive Leadership
Qualities
CHAPTER Ii
THE WORSHIPFUL MASTER'S
HANDBOOK
Grand Lodge, F.A.A.M. of the
District of Columbia
Scientists inform us that we cannot conceal the secrets
of nature. In the same manner, there are no real secrets to handling human
beings... including ourselves. The techniques cannot be concealed; and yet
some men are able to use them successfully, and others are not.
The only true key to the development of executive
leadership qualities... as all who have set out upon the path have
eventually learned... is to really want to become an executive leader.
There are many blueprints for executive success, and they can be followed
by anyone who really cares to do so; and how important they are in today’s
world when there are so many demands and drains upon our time and
efforts.
Do not think that you own time, yours or anyone else’s.
Our twenty-four inch gauge teaches us of the value of time -- that there
is none to be wasted and we should heed the lessons it teaches. We should
try to plan our time as effectively as possible; but we must also develop
the ability to incorporate interruptions and distractions into our
plans.
President Eisenhower’s comment when he viewed a wrist
deep pile of papers upon his desk awaiting his signature was a jestful, "I
wish I had a shorter name." Like every executive leader, he was aware of
the never-ending pressure for efficiency to get more accomplished in less
time.
It has often been said that "love at first sight is a
great time saver". How true this concept is when a leader can get
immediate mutual consent on basic objectives.
What is executive leadership?
Executive leadership is the influence we are able to
exert upon others by virtue of our managerial, inspirational and moral
abilities. In the business world, we can often buy a man’s time, but in
the Masonic Fraternity a brother’s loyalty and cooperation must often be
inspired. As is true, however, in so many other areas, principles which
have application to the profane world have equal application to our
Brotherhood.
We can best succeed in inspiring our brothers when
we:
1. Inspire ourselves to do and say the right things.
2. Subordinate our own desires to the good of our
brethren, our Lodge, and the Masonic Fraternity.
3. Sell Freemasonry, not ourselves.
4. Set an example that others will respect and
admire.
In so doing, we must be sincere in everything we do. The
word "sincere" comes from the Latin "sin cera", which means "without wax".
Just as we make reference to the use of untempered mortar, many Roman
sculptors used to fill in the cracks and chinks of their marble statuary
with wax. As a result, a really genuine piece of work was often advertised
as being "sin cera."
For truly successful executive leadership, our sincerity
must be "without wax." It. cannot be just a sentimental belief. There must
be a predetermined moral decision to have no chinks or cracks in our
integrity in whatever position of leadership we are asked to serve.
In a commencement message at the University of Tennessee
on June 17, 1890, Woodrow Wilson addressed himself to (1) men who think
and (2) men who act. He pointed out that leadership resolves the two
functions into one. The leader is the thinking man in action.
Classes of leaders
There have been many classifications of various kinds of
leaders, but they generally fall into two basic types:
The "master" type, who has a strong desire for
self-expression, is more interested in his personal ascendance over
others, is more extraverted, and is likely to be characterized as
egotistical.
The "educator" type, who is usually more interested in
serving others... in helping his followers develop in the directions they
wish to go, is himself more of an introvert, sometimes has a tendency
toward selfdoubt, and is often characterized as sympathetic.
The "master" strives to attract followers whose
personalities he can exploit, even though he claims that what he does is
for the benefit of those exploited.
The "educator" doesn’t find it necessary to destroy other
persons or their ideas, because he is driven to lead others to go beyond
that which is within their grasp. He not only tolerates, but encourages
successors who may explore ahead and render his own work obsolete.
General leadership functions
An executive leader must be guided by a large number of
leadership functions.
Among them, he should:
a. Set work goals or objectives with the group
b. Help the group reach these goals
c. Coordinate one worker with another
d. Help new individuals fit into and be accepted by the group
e. Work for the success of the group, rather than his own record
f. Exemplify "humanness" and consideration.
In addition, he must be a good administrator.
Proper administration in our Fraternity includes, among many other
things,
1. Continual "pulse taking" of your Lodge, your district,
or whatever segment you are serving
2. Successful decision making
3. Effective communication
4. Planning ... toward short and long range goals
5. Activation and implementation of your plans
6. Solving problems ... and clearing the stones out of
the road.
Each of these basic functions of administration is
interdependent upon the others.
You cannot make decisions without giving and receiving
information. You cannot hope to lay out plans without the benefit of
communication, decision making and problem solving. You cannot activate
your plans without taking the pulse of your Lodge or district, and
communicating with your members to spur them on toward the attainment of
your goals and assisting in clearing the stones out of the road.
Final responsibility for decisions must rest with
the executive leader. Some people spend hours over decisions; others make
snap decisions; and still others refuse to make decisions, failing to
realize that in so doing they have actually made a decision.
The executive leader must regularly ask himself "What are
the issues which require my decision?" Before you reach a conclusion,
study the alternatives carefully and determine to what extent they involve
(1) you and the members of your Lodge or district, (2) Freemasonry in
general, (3) things you cannot change and (4) things you can do something
about. Always try to find at least three working alternatives before
choosing one.
Some people view leadership as "marching ahead of a
group which is already going in your direction." If this were all there is
to it, you would really not be needed.
There is a great deal of difference between getting
people to do
a. What they already want to do
b. What they feel neutral about doing
c. What they do not want to do.
A key test of real leadership occurs when we have to get
men to do what they may not want to do, and at this time leaders often
fall into one or more of the following categories;
1. The ostrich.....who refuses to see the unpleasant
problems
2. The quitter.....who stops leading when people stop
following
3. The accuser....who blames everyone else for his
troubles
4. The bully........who tries to browbeat people into
following him
5. The frantic......who panics and flies into emotional
escapades
6. The leader.......who may be exhilarated by challenge
or depressed by disappointments; but who sees what needs to be done
and tries to do it by calling his powers into action, exerting his
managerial and technical abilities, setting a strong moral example,
applying his knowledge of human relations, and inspiring others to follow
his examples and precepts.
He has to remember that:
a. A brother wants to be treated as an individual
b. A brother likes to know that his leader has confidence
in him
c. Praise develops a brother more readily than
criticism
d. A leader should not generalize or be vague, but should
deal with definite points
e. A follower prefers a leader who has a positive manner
that displays self- confidence and knowledge.
Since time would never permit our consideration of all
the many facets of executive leadership, I would like to consider just one
or two of the more important tools which the wise Masonic leader should
make use of.
Delegation of work and authority
Many management experts believe today that the delegation
of work and authority is the most essential function of a leader. To them,
the effectiveness of one’s ability to delegate is a measure of his
leadership ability. If a leader is to be truly effective, he must delegate
to others, or he will get bogged down in detail and unable to perform his
duties as a leader. Furthermore, if the Masonic leader tries to do all of
his own work and also all of the interesting and important part of the
work of others, leaving them nothing but routine, then his brothers will
lose interest and enthusiasm.
The real success of a leader, therefore, is not in "doing
it all himself ", but in his ability to recognize the right person to do
it; in seeing that that person has the training and the knowledge; and
then giving him authority and responsibility for the job, and letting this
capable person do it in his own way.
For some strange reason, most leaders don’t delegate
enough. Sometimes this is because they get satisfaction only out of doing
a job themselves. Occasionally they are jealous of others, and afraid to
delegate. Often it is because of a lack of confidence in other people.
Many don’t believe that anyone else can do the job the same way they
can.
Andrew Carnegie once said "It marks a big step in a man’s
development when he comes to realize that other men can be called in to
help him do a better job than he can do alone. The secret. of success is
not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right man to do it." He
proposed the following epitaph for his gravestone... "Here lies a man who
knew how to enlist in his service better men than himself."
Real delegation calls for building up in the individuals
to whom we delegate a sense of responsibility for the jobs they are given.
A leader who says he can’t delegate... who would rather do the job himself
than go through the difficulties and frustrations of getting another to do
it... is really admitting that he is not a leader.
Greater efficiency is far from the only motive for
delegation. It develops morale...and vitality. It can build your Lodge or
district into a team, and there is nothing more important to the
whole concept of Freemasonry than teamwork among the fellowship of
those who are brothers. It will develop in your brother a greater sense of
responsibility to his Lodge, by enlarging his general understanding of its work and meaning and thereby
increasing his interest and participation in its affairs.
The Masonic leader can make no greater contribution to
the precepts of our Fraternity than by constantly coaching, guiding and
motivating that portion of the Craft entrusted to his care toward the
achievement of organization and teamwork.
Definitions
Let’s take a minute to define some of the words we have
been using:
Delegation has been defined as giving others the
authority to act in your behalf, accompanied with responsibility and
accountability for results.
Responsibility has been defined as the duties of the
position you occupy in carrying out the job you are expected to do.
Authority includes the right to make decisions,
give orders, and take action.
Accountability is your liability to your
superior... and your obligation to accept responsibilities and to use
authority.
Delegation, therefore, is not merely enlisting others to
do errands and chores for you, It must be coupled with responsibility and
authority, which develops human resources.
To properly delegate, we must first have the proper
attitude. We must be willing to (1) entrust others with responsibilities,
(2) give freedom of action, (3) delegate to strengthen our organization,
by utilizing latent talent, (4) proceed in easy steps and stages, and (5)
let those to whom we delegate make more of the decisions.
Guides for Delegation
The objectives of the task delegated must be clearly
understood and sharply defined. Have all essential activities covered by
the delegating, but try to state the goals in terms of results rather than
activities; and be sure the nature and scope of the delegation are clearly
enumerated.
Recognize that there is a great difference between
assigning and delegating. Provide clear responsibility for the task, set a
target date for completion, and let the person do his own thinking, seeing
that others cooperate.
Since in the final analysis, responsibility still remains
with the leader, it is vital that effective controls be maintained and a
system set up for proper follow-up reporting. You must still "keep a
string" on the job, and see that standards and deadlines are met.
Finally, be prepared for blunders, try to plan so that a
mistake can be made without causing serious consequences.
When should you delegate?
a. Anytime there are things you do not have to do
yourself
b. Delegate when you are overburdened
c. Delegate in emergencies
d. Delegate when you must be absent
What should you delegate?
a. Routine details that recur
b. Tasks that others can handle as well or better...
using specialized skills of others
c. Activities that will lead to the development of others
for leadership and will test their abilities.
When not to delegate
There are certain things you should not delegate. For
example, you alone should appraise, reward or admonish those who follow
you and do those jobs requiring your status and position. Do not
delegate:
a. Responsibilities for maintaining morale
b. The power of discipline
c. A duplicate of your job
d. Policy making power
e. Over-all control
f. The "hot potato"...just to take yourself off the
spot
g. Anything too technical
h. Duties involving personal trust or confidence in
you
It is worth repeating that responsibility clings, even if
delegated. The leader may hold his delegate accountable to him, but he in turn
is accountable to those whom he serves. You cannot side-step the
responsibility by passing the buck to the person to whom you have
delegated.
To whom should you delegate?
Delegate to your immediate subordinates...not to those
under them
Where possible, delegate to those persons with the most
unused time
Consider delegating to persons who need experience...
with care
Delegate to those whose ability you wish to test
Do not give in to the temptation to delegate to the
person who is always the most capable
Finally, you may sometimes, with care, want to delegate
to the lowest person in whom you believe performance capability
exists.
Motivation and persuasion
Delegation can never be effectively carried out without
an understanding of motivation and the use of some degree of
persuasion.
In the aforementioned commencement address, Woodrow
Wilson said:
"That the leader of men must have such sympathetic
insight as shall enable him to know quite unerringly the motives which
move other men in the mass is of course self-evident; but this insight
which he must have is not the Shakespearean insight. It need not pierce
the particular secrets of individual men: it need only know what it is
that lies waiting to be stirred in the minds and purposes of groups and
masses of men."
He went on to say: "Men are not led by being told what
they don’t know. Persuasion is a force, but not information; and
persuasion is accomplished by creeping into the confidence of those you
would lead. Their confidence is gained by qualities which they can
recognize, by arguments which they can assimilate, by the things which
find easy entrance into their minds and are easily transmitted to the
palms of their hands....."
Persuasion has been described as "Getting someone to do
something that you want done... because he wants to do it." Compare the
results this may accomplish with what you may get if you exercise your
authority to force agreement.
To be a valuable leader we must be able to motivate those
whom we lead, and in order to motivate, we must learn to recognize and use
the dominant drives in people.
Controlling human behavior consists in arranging
conditions in such a way that people will do the things you want them to
do. It is imperative, therefore, that a leader understand the conditions
underlying human motivation insofar as science has been able to determine
them. There is motivation in everything we do. Even in the most deliberate
of voluntary acts, we are probably only rarely aware of all the forces at
work within us compelling us toward a particular course of action.
In order to understand why a person fails or succeeds at
a task which confronts him, we must. know two things:
(1) How much ability has he for the task in question?
(2) How strongly motivated is he?
Failure may be due to a lack of either; and although a
low degree of one may be compensated for to some extent by a high degree
of the other, complete success requires a high degree of ability working
with a high degree of motivation.
In each of us, there are certain internal conditions or
forces, without which there would be no activity. These conditions, which
direct our responses to external stimuli are called "drives" or
"motives".
Early psychologists believed that man had three needs...
food, sex and shelter; but some more recent psychologists have divided our
basic drives into five very broad classes:
1. Biological
2. Security or safety needs
3. Prestige needs
4. The need to belong ... sociability or group needs
5. The drive for self-development and self-growth
The biological needs stem from our strongest drive for
self-preservation and comfort, and most of the people with whom we have to
deal are rarely controlled by these desires today.
Few of those with whom we contact today are dominantly
motivated by the safety or security need. We do find those, however, whose
main goal is to stay out of trouble, to play it safe; who do not like
anything new or unfamiliar, or anything that implies change; and who will frantically cover up
their mistakes and pass the buck in any direction in order to avoid
personal blame. Our approach in leading these people must be to assure
them that there is no threat to their "safe" positions.
Our brother’s need for esteem is almost without end.
There are none of us who do not find satisfaction in a job well done; and
this is felt many fold when our efforts are recognized and appreciated by
others. Our desire for status among our fellow men is a powerful
stimulation. This desire can work to make both good and bad leaders, and
also both good and bad followers. We must learn to control it in
ourselves...and utilize it in motivating others.
All of us want to feel that we belong to some group or
team, want to feel affection and friendship, want to be liked by those we
know and respect and trust. If this drive becomes too dominant, we may
become a (1) popularity seeker, whose primary concern is to be liked
regardless of what he does; (2) an approval seeker, who constantly needs
reassurance and a vote of confidence; or (3) an authoritarian, who
measures and grades all people along a scale of power and who divides them
into classes of "inferiors", to be pushed around or "superiors", whom he
worships and obeys. If we learn to recognize these drives in people, we
can often put them to use in accomplishing our goals.
The man most fitted to be a leader is the one who is not
overly dominated by any of the aforementioned drives but the one who
constantly strives to grow, develop and expand his own personality and who
recognizes that he can never completely realize his own growth potential.
He constantly looks for what is best for all the members of his Lodge. He
is steady and democratic, without being a popularity seeker. He has a
sense of humor, and enjoys creativity; and is not distressed when others
do not do things exactly as he would have done them. He constantly looks
toward the long range goals of his Lodge and of Freemasonry, recognizing
that he is a valuable stepping stone in a never ending process of Masonic
evolution. He learns to use the basic drives of those whom he leads. To
put it briefly, when he recognizes a "safety first" person, he does not
try to put him to work with an appeal to be daring and creative.
Conclusions on executive leadership
The secrets of handling people are often so much more
simple than we would believe on first thought.
a. Ask questions to win cooperation. Get people’s
opinions...to aid you and help their self-confidence. So often you can
make suggestions to them in the form of questions that will let them
talk themselves into a cooperative attitude.
b. Increase others’ self-esteem... to boost loyalty.
Make the other fellow feel important, and that he means something to you
and to his Lodge. Don’t ever hesitate to give credit, appreciation and
encouragement. Remember that whittlers are likely to let the knife slip and cut
themselves; and helping other people to increase their self-esteem makes
them better able to help you.
c. Be direct in your personal contact with people. When
you communicate, look them in the eye, and don’t beat around the
bush.
d. Be brief in conversation; don’t drag it out. If you
cannot interest others in what you have to say, you are probably taking
too long to say it. Too much talking often defeats our purpose. Einstein
gave the following formula:
X + Y + Z = success
He said that X represented hard work and Y represented
play. Someone asked him what Z stood for. "That", said the genius, "is
the ability to keep your mouth shut."
We learn by listening, not talking, and in so doing we
bolster the other person’s ego. When a situation is tense, when someone
is angry or unhappy, be brief, let him talk, and listen.
e. Be earnest and sincere in what you believe in, for
there is nothing like these attributes to win people over to your way of
thinking. Often the power of earnestness properly displayed will enable
us to hold people in the palm of our hand.
f. Search for good ... to uncover ability. A true
leader is often known by the men he develops; and our Grand Lodge
officers have certainly displayed this idea in recent years. Andrew
Carnegie, who started from scratch, developed forty three men who became
millionaires. The great industries he started are still strong today,
since these men in turn made it a practice to develop other younger men.
With the forced rapid turnover of our Masonic leadership, this rule is
much more imperative than in business.
g. Give praise ... to secure best efforts. Praise
counts most when it comes from the leader, and so often he is the one
who neglects it. If we don’t use praise when handling people, we are not
truly leading them; for this is one of the most effective tools to
assure continued and increased cooperation.
h. Use criticism... in a way to win appreciation, it
has been said that only a fool criticizes people openly... and yet, only
a fool neglects to criticize those who need it. What is important is
doing it in the right way.
1. Criticize in private, and not in the presence of others
2. Do it with a smile, in a friendly manner
3. Try to give praise first, to take the sting out.
4. Appeal to the person’s self-interest.
5. Make it truly constructive. Show how, and don’t merely find fault.
If you don’t know how, keep your mouth shut.
6. Try to end with a bit of praise and a pat on the back that is
sincere.
i. Present a confident bearing -- to help control
others. A leader must appear confident, not only in words, but also in
the firmness with which they are said. He should have a confident
handshake, always stand tall, and act as if it were impossible to
fail.
j. Be friendly...to overcome opposition. Friendliness
is catching, and a friendly manner often gets attention and cooperation
that can be attained in no other way. Assume that people will like you,
and that you will like people, and so very often your assumption will
prove to be the case.
k. Know your brothers...in order to generate harmony.
We speak of the strength and support of our institution, but we cannot
provide for this support unless we have some personal knowledge and
understanding of our brothers. Find out everything you can about those
who are working with you and those you must lead. Without some knowledge
in this direction, you cannot go about the business of generating and
maintaining harmony.
Finally, do not despair over the vast number of things
you should learn to become a leader of the Craft. The old proverb... a
journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step... is equally true along
the path to executive leadership.
Learn one thing today; perfect one skill today; take one
step today... and in a year’s time, with ample leeway, YOU can be at least
300 steps ahead. If you begin this process as Junior Deacon, you will have
ascended over 1,200 steps before you reach the pinnacle of the East.
But you must begin today to take those steps which will
prepare you for leadership in the future; ever keeping in your mind those
eight succinct words of Kuan Fei, third century Chinese poet, covering the
attempts of man to cope with the future:
The plans
Are man’s.
The odds
Are God’s.
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