Lasting Impression Teams - We exist to create a welcoming experience thru serving with excellence

I am currently reading Gifted to Lead by Nancy Beach. I wanted to read this before attending her conference on Monday in Chicago. Normally I like to finish the book, then blog about it; however I was struck by the chapter on finding your leadership style and voice, and needed to mull it over. Since the Summit I have been wrestling with the direction LIT should be going. The points Nancy made about leadership style and voice got me thinking that I need to work on defining my style. Nancy mentioned that during an interview it was pointed out to her that she had different communication styles based on the audience. Thinking about my voice and style I realized that I have different styles depending upon whether I am at work or church.

It was much easier to define my leadership style and voice in my paying leadership job, then my volunteer leadership job. In my paying job, I have a job description, as do my direct reports. Expectations are very clear and there is daily feedback as well as an annual review. My direct reports know that I would never ask them to do something I am not willing to do myself (Bill Hybels refers to this concept as "Speed of the Leader, Speed of the Team) ; they know that I will stand by their decisions and support them if they acted with the best intentions for the patient; I know just enough about their personal lives so they know I care, but not so much involved that I can't council them on an area that needs improvement; I never eat lunch with them in order to give them a space to be themselves with their coworkers/friends; I allow them flexibility with their schedules and they in turn give extra when necessary; we have affectionate nicknames for each other and an environment that is fun despite the serious nature of medicine; they know very well that if expectations are not met, there are consequences.

I have been able to develop this style by trial and error, as well as great mentoring from an awesome manager. Nancy puts it this way - I learned what it meant to be myself and be willing to express myself authentically.

Although I have been volunteering for about the same amount of time as I have been in my paying job, I feel my volunteer style/voice is not quite as defined. I see now, after reading some of Nancy's book, that I followed what my predecessors did, rather than forge my own path as the leader of LIT. Nancy suggests listening to my life and listening to God and blending those to create my style.
I am sure my fellow leaders will be gracious enough over the next few months as I "trial and error" some new ways of doing things!