I have experienced the leader that refused to allow his subordinates to rise to the surface in their areas of expertise while in the Army.  Perhaps that is the way of the military setting. However, within my particular unit, I was able to be recognized and helped to cause some changes within. Eventually, the leader I was referring to was sent to a different place to teach others to be just like him, and his replacement was a much better leader.

I learned from the experience. When in a directorship, I called upon the staff to use their expertise to improve their particular departments...from the lowest all the way up to the supervisory levels; my employees were allowed to make decisions that affected their own performance in a positive way.

Hi Jon,

Your points demonstrate the true character of a leader. I would like to add my sentiments from a team player viewpoint. We should also expect that I leaders do not have all of the answers and not criticize them when they honestly do not. We should contribute our knowledge to the team not to belittle our leaders but to add value to the team and show appreciation to our leaders who are there to cultivate our professional development with their leadership ability. By doing so there is a win-win for our team. Always remember that though we have an area of expertise our leaders have perhaps mastered several areas and have years of experience and have the character of leadership. Leadership is not just about what you are an expert in but how you motivate, coach, develop, and get others to follow.

Wanda

I think being an effective leader means that you need to realize you don't have all the right answers. It is important to listen to everyone's suggestions. I am constantly amazed at the creativity of the team that I am in charge of. It is because of them that we are as successful as we are.

Respecting that there are experts on a team that you manage and that you could learn from contributes to the leader's effectiveness. The time management course had me reflect on my effectiveness in classroom leadership of students into teams as well as how I am being lead by superiors in the work place. The idea that the employee should analyze time wasters and take their findings to their boss with solutions, is profound. 

This discussion is so right on.  I actually had to go on voice rest for 2 weeks due to a vocal chord issue which meant I had to shut my mouth and listen to others.  What an eyeopening experience.  Amazing what we can learn from others.  The comment about putting our egos on the shelf and allowing others to shine is a win-win for all, the team as a whole, it's members, the recipiants, and the comany.  Win-win!  I am a leader of a team, but I am also part of a team and therefore have a supervisor so I get to see things from both sides.  Being allowed to share my thoughts and ideas and then being validated does feel good and it does create positive morale.  So I too must encourae my team by allowing them to shine and recognizing this.