In leadership, every leader has his/her own leadership agenda. Some start out with the desire to make massive changes in a short time. Others have the leadership agenda to ease into their new role and not rock the boat. Knowing and understanding your leadership agenda is very important because it helps you to have a strategy when you approach your leadership.
Survivor and Leadership Agenda
Last night, my wife and I watched the reality show Survivor. Survivor is a game where around 24 (sometimes more) people that are complete strangers are put into a remote area where they have to survive for 38 days. During that time, they all live together in a small group or tribe as they call it.
Almost every day they play some type of game where the tribes or individuals compete against each other for either a reward or immunity. At the immunity competitions, the tribe that loses goes to tribal council where one person gets sent home by their tribe members.
At the end of it all, there are usually two or three people that remain. Their peers then vote for who they want to be the winner of a $1 million prize. As we watched tonight, it was very interesting to see how everyone had their own leadership agenda.
They each decided where they wanted and didn’t want the tribe to go. Some people wanted to be liked, while others wanted immunity at the next tribal council. At the same time, there were others that just wanted to coast under the radar, so they could make to the end. They all had their own leadership and personal agenda for how they would make it to the end.
Just as with Survivor, every leader has their own leadership agenda. When they set their leadership agenda, it may be thought out or it may just be how they evolved. Their agendas are based on their backgrounds and views of leadership. Once we understand some of the leadership agendas, we can better prepare our own leadership agendas. The two leadership agendas shown below are examples that I have seen in the workforce.
The Self Interested Leadership Agenda
Some leaders are only in leadership so they can make more money, gain more power, have more influence, or be more popular. Those leaders forget about their employees because they are always concerned with their own self interests. They want what’s best for them even if it comes at the sacrifice of their team. These leaders are the “Me Monsters”.
The Team Centered Leadership Agenda
There are other leaders that focus completely on the success of the team. They lead with passion because they love what they do. They don’t care about themselves or how others view them because they have one purpose: make the team better. These leaders constantly try to improve because they know their efforts will effect the team. In their minds, if the team fails, they are failed leaders.
There are also leadership agendas that fall somewhere in between the self interested and team centered agendas. Leadership agendas vary in range just like a light spectrum. What is your leadership agenda? Have you seen different leadership agendas? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below!
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