My friend Grant Fritchey recently posted in response to a quiz and at the end of that mentioned that he'd be interested in hearing about my thoughts on the topic. It's an interesting topic, so I'll see what I can come up with. I'll start by saying that I definitely see a difference between leaders and managers. Definitely they share some skills, and many people are more one than the other, not often to find people who can do both really well.
I had to think on this some and ended up defining 'great' as those that had a large impact on me. The first was Jody Gresham, my second leader in the military and we almost started off on the wrong foot. I had been in long enough to get established and earn some trust, when I moved to work for him he would constantly check my work. Finally asked why, and his answer was that he was responsible for what I did, and I had to earn that trust with him, even though he was pretty comfortable with my skills. If you think about it, that's really a good answer! Maybe more so when you factor it was working with explosives, not waxing a car. As time progressed we did a lot of stuff that was beyond what I was used to doing with my first leader, and it didn't take long to see that doing that extra work made things easier down the road, but it also made us better at what we did than the rest, and because of that approach he had earned a lot of trust (and freedom). I was never lazy, but it was a great lesson to learn early in my career.
A few years later it was Bill Reid, a career military guy who was the seasoned version of Jody. Well rounded, calm, tons of experience, and the patience to mentor a young man that had a lot of ability but not always the experience to exercise patience. I can't say I mastered the lessons then (or now), but many years later I'm a lot closer than I was. He played by the rules, built relationships, and was just one hundred percent dependable, because in that line of work you don't make commitments you can't keep. Bill also brought me into training, taking me with him to teach at the NCO Academy, and somehow I'm doing that for a living today.
On the tech side my favorite leader has been Tina Rourk. Tina took the time to show me what the business needed beyond pure technology and later when I was on track to stay a more focused technologist/consultant, persuaded me to take a position as a manager and there's no doubt that step just five years ago changed and challenged me in ways that were probably overdue, and again, lead directly to where I am today. One of the great lessons I learned from her was that it's not always about blame; mistakes happen, just keep them from happening again.
Now that I've written this I'm not sure that great leaders is the right title, and mentor doesn't quite fit either. Role model perhaps? Guide? I've worked for a lot of different leaders, a few that were terrible, most were decent, and honestly very few that were just stellar. I do think that great leaders care about people, and they see past the obvious to find and grow people with potential. I also think that working for those kinds of people shows you what is possible, and that's something we need more of in our business (and others as well I imagine).
Finally, it reminds me why I'm driven to give back. It's part of who I am now, but it's definitely part of the deal that there's a debt to pay forward in return for the help you receive early in your career.
