Santiago is the owner of a small sized business that grew big. When he
was asked about the secret of his success, he simply said, I am a team player I
don’t make organizational decisions by myself. I encourage everyone in my
organization to contribute their idea/s. I look at it and consider some of the
useful ones and it somehow forms part of my decision making.
There are leaders who make decisions by themselves alone and they don’t
care to solicit their subordinate’s ideas. When a leader is like this he
alienates his subordinates, he treats them as his subject and him their master.
So what normally happens to this autocratic style of leadership? After a
period of time the leader fails to effectively exercise his leadership and then
the organization that he leads becomes a failure also.
Why is there a failure of leadership? There is a failure of leadership
for the simple reason that the leader looked at his own picture alone. In other
words like a dictator he makes decisions by himself alone. His mindset was
already conditioned to consider nobody but his own ideas which at all times is
always biased to him.
A good and effective leader is someone who always looks at the big
picture hence he is a democratic leader. He considers the ideas of his subordinates
and he allows his subordinates to flourish and grow. He solicits their ideas before making
decisions. What is always in his mind is the well being of the entire
organization and not his own selfish welfare only.
Are you a leader who always looks at the big picture? – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
