Page 34 - july 2019

LOVE LETTERS
Good Leaders are LOVED
Dottie Love, DTM
“Speaking like that you need to consider a
remedial English class. If you want to move up
in the organization and manage others like I’m
doing, then consider that class because you won’t
cut it speaking like that,” said my boss.
That comment was the first thing out of
my manager’s mouth after I had finished my
presentation on how I single-handedly identified
and rectified a data programming issue that
had plagued our department for months. My
manager was holding in her hands the proof
that I was smart enough to fix the problem when
no one else had. But instead of “Good job!” or
“Way to go, Dottie”, I was insulted, because of
my thick accent.
In all fairness, she had recently transferred
from our New York office to one in the deep-
south. And Southern slang could be challenging
for Northerners. Apparently, my manager didn’t
speak Southern.
But she was the department’s leader. And
in that moment had unfortunately defined the
lens in which I saw and experienced her. That
encounter happened over 25 years ago and I
34 ONE COMMUNITY
still can remember where we were, the outfit she
wore, and how awful she made the situation. To
me, she went down in history on the side of Bad
leadership.
When you think about good leadership, does
the list below comes to mind?
• Leaders provide direction and clarity
• Leaders give us confidence
• Leaders help us improve our skills
• Leaders support us
Whenever I ask someone to describe someone
who they believed to be a good leader, I never
get responses like: They have a Master’s Degree.
Love those Armani suits they wear. Or, she/he
is an amazing brown-noser! Not at all. Typical
responses aren’t about the person’s skills and
possessions, but rather what the leader has done
to support and encourage.
When leaders ensure the interactions with
others are engaging, constructive and supportive;
we honor them. When they don’t; we suffer…
and we remember. So I ask you, what leadership
impression do you want to leave on others? One
who is weak willed, ineffective, or a tyrant? Or