“The biggest problem with some leaders? In brief terms: Ready, Fire, Aim. There’s a lot wrapped up in that old saw, including anger, impulsiveness, and over-confidence. It is so easy when you have been in charge to see some idiotic thing happen that you don’t know the background of but let fire any way. And that is more often than not the wrong thing to do.”
Another Sage leader was faced with an even greater challenge–the continuing existence of his organization. How does one serve as mentor and observant monitor while facing a stressful crisis that is likely to precipitate the kind of Ready, Fire, Aim decision making described above?
“Two years ago, when I would wake up some mornings, I was not sure we were going to keep our doors open. We were short on providers and our bills had mounted due to some mismanagement by one employee. So, we had to make some changes in personnel. We really bit the bullet and tightened our finances. We had to hope for about six months that our one medical provider could survive the increased patient caseload until we were able to successfully recruit, hire and train new people. We weathered those problems and made a successful turnaround, which has been very satisfying.”
It seems that successful monitoring requires a balanced ego when helping to engage and resolve a conflict-filled issue. The Generativity Two monitor is doing hard work that often is not acknowledged or even appreciated by many people in an organization or community. The monitor is likely to be less visible—unlike the mediator who is often recognized for the role she is playing. The monitor usually doesn’t get a plaque in the city park.
Mobilizer
Like the activist/monitor, the mobilizer is involved in providing active generativity in a collaborative, mentoring manner. This exemplifies yet again the delicate balancing act in which effective Generativity Two leaders must engage:
“I think my strength is as a mobilizer. In all of the day-to-day things that I go through, it’s really not me who’s doing anything. It’s more me knowing the people and having the knowledge to mobilize them in the direction we want to go. It’s asking. “Why can’t we do that?” or “How can we make that happen?” “Who do we need at the table?” The most important function is getting the train going down the tracks.”
At the heart of the matter, mobilizers who are generative in their role find themselves finding and activating the energy of people with whom they work; in this way they are acting like the mechanical “generators” we identified in the previous essay. They are translating desire and vision into action:
Motivator
The last of the four M’s often seems to involve leading by example, as well as providing a compelling vision that excites other people and leads them to collaboration:
“I’m good at motivating and helping others to have passion in what they are doing. If you lose motivation and passion, everything gets lost in details and turns into one big frustrating mess. So, I never lose sight of what I am doing. Everything is tied together in my personality.”
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