One of my fav mini-series is HBO’s 2001 war drama Band of Brothers. When it comes to a leader taking action, it always remind me a scene from episode 5.
Captain Winters was leading a charge and he literally led it by running out first to the war field. He made sure the area was safe, then the rest of the soldiers followed after. I always have thought, what a brave leader that one. One who is fearless and selfless.
That reminded me another time, we had this fraud crisis at work. We have a group of sales people manipulating the client’s system and ‘cheated’ sales. I remember I was sitting in front of my boss at that time, discussing how to manage this issue. She said, “We should call them one by one and confront.” Then she said, “Give me one of their numbers now.” And on the spot, she called up the employee and confronted him that we have evidence he was cheating sales numbers, also to show us how it could be done.
That was when I learnt that getting my hands dirty is important. It keeps me in touch with the business. It also build trusts and we can get closer to the employees on the ground. Just like how my ex-boss did.
Otherwise, if we sit too long behind the desk, just delegating, we will lose our mojo.
Bimbo
