The challenge of leadership

The challenge of leadership is just that. A challenge.  If you are privileged enough to lead a team then you know that you must work harder than everyone else and do it with the highest sense of motivation and morality. You know that to lead you must play to the strengths of those on your team. And look past their weaknesses. You commit to treating everyone fairly and to making sure the vision of what is to be achieved shines like a beacon in every dark corner.

I have been thinking about leadership recently. In the next two months I am set to happily relinquish the presidency of International Association of Business Communicators, Trinidad and Tobago and pass the baton to someone else. My colleague on the board, Dawn Marie Gill De Four, commented: “We are going to need someone with your energy and passion. Those words became even more meaningful when the Executive Vice President decided she would not assume the leadership title. Others called upon me to reconsider my decision. I did and I came back with the same answer, no.

I am no fool. I know that the quality of individual leadership matters. I only have to look at the metrics. As a board, IABC T&T has increased membership by over 200%. We have held close to 18 professional development sessions, at a recent conference we increased our Chapter’s working capital by over 1000%. Most importantly we gelled as a board despite the differing personalities and levels of commitments and I have had the privilege to lead a great team for two successful two years.

So I understood the fears fully. Who will lead? It’s a question that lies solely in the sphere of succession planning. And it is critical priority. In case after case, in organizations and in society at large, when the single individual at the top is replaced, everything else changes — either for the better or for the worse.

In IABC T&T’s case, I know it will be for the better. Most of the leadership team have indicated that they will be back albeit in differing capacities and as we turn our attention to who will lead, the knowledge that there is a strong team in place brings with it great satisfaction and  I admit, great comfort.

I have given much to IABC T&T. And much has been received: great friends, a stronger network, big lessons. I now know that beyond the shadow of any grey cloud, the effectiveness of a leader depends, more than is generally realized, on the context around them. During the 2 years at IABC this included these inalienable facts: IABC is a volunteer board, paying work would more often than not take precedence over the non-paying work, and volunteering can be tiring, bothersome even once it starts interfering with your weekends and with your family life.

Those facts caused me to pay a great deal of attention how I designed key elements around my leadership over the past 24 months. I always tried to articulate a lucid sense of purpose, I knew when to push the board and when to back off. I prioritised and sequenced our work initiatives carefully. I worked closely with the leadership to make their execution of the work easier, and, most importantly, I tried to integrate all these tactics into one coherent strategy.

Often I succeeded, sometimes I failed. But always, always, I learnt.