MENTORS Magazine

34 | MENTORS MAGAZINE | EDITION 1

Friend

This next-level up the leader-

ship food chain is the first step to

real leadership, although lots of people view

this as a step back and avoid it, much to their

detriment. Employees give their leader per-

mission, allowance, a welcome to lead them,

only if a leader has earned their respect, car-

ing, and nurtured friendships. Although plen-

ty of bosses, leaders think that cultivating

fear or creating an antagonist relationship

with their people is what pushes them to suc-

cess, you’ll attract more bees (and buzzing

happy bees) with honey; friendship being the

sweetest honey of all.

When a leader is a friend to his staff,

workers, students even, he finds people fol-

lowing him or her because of affection and

respect as opposed to them kowtowing for

fear of losing their jobs or favor. The leader

working at this level isn’t protecting their po-

sition; he or she is getting to know their peo-

ple and figuring out how to get along with

them. Showing someone mutual respect and

caring feeds the need we all have, boss and

employee both, for connection.

Delivery man or woman

What a leader makes happen, the

results from his or her actions, the

implementation of a plan or vision, are sure

to leave a profound impact on a team. This is

the shut-up or put-up level; a leader can’t

fake their results as a delivery man or wom-

an.

The staff I hired as I grew my practice

saw that I was on an upwardly- mobile tra-

jectory. Sure, I was often knuckled under by

enormous stress, but I like to think my drive

was infectious, that the people who worked

for me wanted to be part of the growth of

what came to be ten dental offices. My peo-

ple looked to me as the answer-man, the

leader, because they saw how serious I was

in making things brighter, better, and bigger.

Even if a leader shoots and misses at this

stage, the team will be much more forgiving

Step

2

Step

3