The two key elements of all leadership are simply: 1) to connect everyone to the mission, and 2) to each other. Other aspects of leadership may be critical, but not as indispensable as these two. Connecting everyone to the mission takes identifying that mission. Only top leaders can do that. Only they can set the whole organisation's direction, and give it meaning.
The larger, the more important the mission, the more satisfaction people have in pursuing it. As Shakespeare says:
'O, the blood more stirs
To rouse a lion than
To start a hare.' (Henry IV, I)
People get more satisfaction from coping with a big challenge, like rousing a lion, than going after small tasks, like chasing a rabbit. It's the responsibility of top leadership to explain how and why their whole organisation is pursuing a big, important mission. Supervisors can repeat their message, and specify their unit's role in that mission.
Both elements, connecting folks to the mission, and to each other come together magnificently when Shakespeare's Henry V inspires the "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" at the Battle of Agincourt on October 25, 1415.
His St. Crispin Day's Speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fa3HFR02E) is the greatest motivational speech ever made. That's why Sir Winston Churchill adapted its approach and beauty to his powerful speeches during the British Empire's darkest days of 1940.
His St. Crispin Day's Speech (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fa3HFR02E) is the greatest motivational speech ever made. That's why Sir Winston Churchill adapted its approach and beauty to his powerful speeches during the British Empire's darkest days of 1940.
