situational leadership

In his play Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare wrote, "Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." I think this applies so much to the leadership qualities of a person; whether they were born leaders, work to become them, or must become one because of their situation. This week, Brother Klemme of BYUSA gave a lecture on situational leadership. The theory he presented was about choosing to lead in a style based on a particular situation one is in and considering the directive and supportive behaviors required and the maturity level of the followers. He then showed us an admittedly practical chart displaying when it would be best to lead by either supporting, delegating, coaching, or directing. I understood this fairly well (at least I think I did) and definitely see the merit in this approach, but I did have a problem with the presentation of this theory: it was all so formulaic. Especially in my journey as I am "seeking to be" as opposed to "seeking to lead" or "seeking to hide," I feel like a true leader may very well use these types of leadership and apply these techniques, but he or she doesn't use a graph to figure out which one would be best, the feel it and use the spirit to guide them. I think that this element of compassion involved was beautifully described through the character of Nelson Mandela in the clips of Invictus that Brother Klemme showed us. It would be easy to say that Mandela had a way with words and rhetoric and that's what made him such an influential leader, but it was the heart behind every syllable he uttered that made what he said worth anything.


I also must admit that despite my ranting above, for a time this week, I lost sight of what I was actually seeking. When trying to think of a leader in my life whom I admire, I was stumped and I called my mom to ask her what she thought. She offered many suggestions, as always, and as I was about to hang up the phone, I realized that hat I was trying to find as a subject was someone with a title or a position that I someday might like to have as well. I just seemed to forget that the most important job I ever want to have is a mother and eternal companion...just like my mom. So I interviewed her and I have to say that this was a new forum to be in with her and I was kind of surprised by her conversation. I first asked what leadership roles she had in her life. She rattled off mom, wife, daughter, sister, daycare provider, Relief Society secretary, and visiting teacher. As to how she prioritizes those she said that of course her family comes first (no surprise there), but that they all seem to overlap and they're continual, so its important that each day, certain amounts of time are dedicated to each one. It seems like my mom always likes to talk about back when she was my age and especially about when she did work in management when my sisters and I were still young. Although I of course thought how impersonal it seemed at first, she said that that experience with managing employees really does translate to managing her family, but the difference is that this time her job is not on the line, but rather her heart and the salvation of her and her family and is changes so much about the way she sees life and its tasks. Yes, my mom was seeking to be a wife and a mother, but she was not seeking to be a leader...that was, as Shakespeare would say, "thrust upon her." I think that it is out of those situations that we are just put into, when we have to rely solely on the spirit to make up for our lack of preparation and inevitable shortcomings, that we truly become the leaders that Heavenly Father wants us to be.