Leadership and The Art of Intentionality

 

The Leadership Series

 

 

NOTE: This article is part 5 of a series on Leadership here at The Wealthy Ironworker

1. Leadership, Management, and The Skilled Trades
2. The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
3. Leadership and The Task-Oriented Trades
4. Situational Leadership and the Skilled Trades
5. Leadership and The Art of Intentionality
   1. Skills Developed From The Art of Intentionality
6. Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
   1. Skills Developed From Emotional Intelligence
7. Leadership and Humility
   1. Skills Developed From Humility
8. Leadership and Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
   1. Skills Developed From Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
9. Skills Developed Overall in the Leadership Process

***The above is subject to change as this series expands***

 

Ah, yes, The Art of Intentionality. Intentionality is, as has been written many times, at the heart of everything you can do optimally. You may have talent – born or learned – but it will never carry you as far as tenacity will.

And tenacity? Well, you have to be intentional about it – every step of the way.

 

Related: Read Talent vs. Tenacity – Which is Better?

 

For this article, we are expanding on our Leadership Series – this article being Leadership and The Art of Intentionality. If you haven’t, take the time to go back and read Leadership, Management, and the Skilled Trades, and then read The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader to start off. The latter forms the basis for the rest of The Leadership Series. For those who are familiar, though, let’s take a look at Leadership and the Art of Intentionality in the TL; DR version:

The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader are as follows:

1. The Art of Intentionality
2. Emotional Intelligence
3. Humility
4. Listening to Understand and Not to Respond

Working backward, you can’t listen to understand without humility. In order to try and understand someone, and not continually try to talk over them, you have to really listen to them – and that could mean you are seen as ignorant – which is going to take some humility on your part.

And, in order for you to have some humility, you have to have a measure of emotional intelligence. The more robust the emotional intelligence, the greater the potential for humility.

In order to cultivate/work on/grow your emotional intelligence, you MUST be intentional about it – hence The Art of Intentionality.

You can see how one flows from another in this short TL; DR.

 

The Art of Intentionality and The Skilled Trades

 

Building off The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, I encourage you to check out Leadership and the Task-Oriented Trades – the next one in this series. You’ll read about a case study that set me apart FROM EVERYONE ELSE in the class. I want to make a distinction from the get-go: It’s my belief that the leadership approach is different for those in the trades as opposed to the office. There are numerous reasons for this – all of which I hope to address as time goes on. I didn’t always have this belief, either; it was a difference of opinion in a leadership class where I was the ONLY one from the trades. Everyone else, without exception, was from either a nonprofit or white-collar (office) environment. That prompted me to do some thinking: Why was I the only one who thought differently? Was I right? Was I wrong? Could it just be a difference in our approach? Leadership has numerous models – maybe we were just understanding and applying different ones to the case study. Are there occasions when one leadership model is more applicable than others? And, at the heart of the issue (at least for me), are there some professions/people that make one leadership model better than others?

After some serious thought (I STILL think about this, by the way), I’ve come to conclude the answer to ALL of the answers was an astounding yes. Yes, I was right. Yes – to them – I was wrong. Yes, we had different approaches, based on our understanding of leadership models. Yes, depending on the situation, one model is preferable to another. And yes, like I said at the beginning – I believe that the office is different than the field, the people are dramatically different, as are the conditions, circumstances, and approaches used.

 

The Art of Intentionality and Associated Skills

 

It’s also worth noting that leadership has numerous approaches, too: task or relational, situational, authentic – there are numerous ways to look/view it. Overall, however, I believe some ways are superior to others – and this applies not just to the leaders but also to those who are led and their respective situations and circumstances.

When I began to map out this leadership series and expand on The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, I wrote a list of skills I thought were pertinent for leaders to embody. I listed them out, attempted to place them in their respective category, and organized them accordingly.

Here are the skills I believe accompany (or, if you prefer, you obtain/develop from) The Art of Intentionality: Focus, Resilience, Discipline, Optimism, Strategy, Decisiveness, and Innovation.

I will explore each of these skills in another article, but for the remainder of this one, we will look at all things The Art of Intentionality.

It ALL Begins With The Leader

 

Look over any leadership book or listen to any reputable leadership guru, and you’ll hear the same thing: it all begins with the leader. Since the Industrial Revolution – and, more specifically, since Frederick Taylor published “The Principles of Scientific Management” in 1909 – management has been the prime focus concerning work. How to increase productivity, perfect systems, maximize profits, and increase standardization; in short, minimizing the human element.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with management, but leadership is absolutely vital.

Why?

Because you manage a process and lead people.

And people are messy.

“Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

– John Maxwell

 

Indeed. When decisions need to be made, things have hit the fan, or direction needs to be forged, it all will ultimately depend on leaders – for good or bad.

This is sometimes at odds with people’s love of committees, distrust of power, and their misunderstanding of hierarchies. Case in point  – Peter Drucker, writing about the “end of hierarchy” in Managing In The Next Society, wrote:

 

“Well, it hasn’t happened and it isn’t about to happen, for one simple reason: When the ship is going down, you don’t call a caucus – you give a command. There has to be somebody who says, ‘Enough dithering – this is it.’ Without a decision maker, you’ll never make a decision.”

 

I believe he is right. Moreover, who can say the world hasn’t become more complex? Whether it’s the economy, geopolitical affairs, increased diversity, or the lightning speed of information – a hierarchical structure of competence is vital to producing leaders.

And leaders are what we desperately need. Which is why we say it ALL begins with the leader.

 

Related: Read Managing In The Next Society – Book Review

Be Intentional About Being A Leader

 

Starting off, an individual must be intentional about being a leader. This sounds a bit unusual, but when you consider the number of people who are in positions of leadership and dismiss their position, it’s more normal than you may think. The number of people who downplay their position and influence is fairly large.

Mark Breslin discusses this, too. In his book “Five Minute Foreman,” he notes that once you are in a leadership position, you are MORE than just a journeyman. You are more than just someone in the field, or more than an ironworker, pipefitter, electrician, or any other person in the trades. You ARE a business professional.

On the other side of this are those who WANT the position or role (presumably for the benefits), but not the accompanying burdens or responsibility. We will explore this more later, but for now, let’s acknowledge they, too, are not intentional about being a leader.

Whatever position or role you are in, stage of career, life, or hierarchy, it is imperative that you are intentional about being a leader. If you’re not, you will never reach your full potential.

Be Intentional About Identifying Your Strengths And Weaknesses

 

Once someone has committed to intentionality about being a leader, they have a good foundation to build on. That’s just the start, though. Taking the time (and intentionality) to figure out what you’re good at and what you’re not is a very important next step. Most intuitively know what they are good at – people often play to their strengths. Their weaknesses, though? They are ignored and dismissed. We naturally do not focus on what we’re weak on. The problem with that thought process is in leadership, what we are weak in is often not just necessary but important. We don’t have the luxury of simply ignoring what we are not good at; instead, we should focus on improving it.  How do we do that? We begin by identifying our strengths and weaknesses.

Lists

To start off, lists are your best friends; building a strengths and weaknesses one will help you immensely. When you’ve taken the time to write them down, you free up your mind to think about other things – like how you can best use what you’re good at and build up what you are not. It doesn’t need to be complicated or extravagant, either. A simple list works quite well.

 

Asking Other People

We can be guilty of thinking more of ourselves; believing we are good at something when we really are not and vice versa. In order to gain a more complete and robust picture of where our strengths and weaknesses are, we should also ask other people their thoughts. This includes three primary groups of people: those you work for, those who work for/with you, and those outside of work. They each see you in a different light, and their input will prove invaluable.

All of these are ways for you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. I frequently say/write you need to understand as much as possible before you can begin to address something. It’s true of problems, and it’s true of identifying these, as well. The sooner you are Self-Aware, the sooner you can begin to use them.

Be Intentional About Doing The Best You Can

 

Building off identifying your strengths and weaknesses, now you must be intentional about doing the absolute best you can with them both. This is easy when it comes to your strengths; not so much when we talk about your weaknesses. We tend to focus on what we are good at while often dismissing what we’re not – but in a position of leadership, you can’t do that.

What does that look like? What do you do? How do you deal with/overcome/build up those weaknesses? How, after acknowledging what you’re not good at, do you ensure you’re intentional about doing the best you can?

The list you compiled in the previous step is in mind, here. Take the time to research what you are not good at and see what other people do to improve.

Evaluate those who work around you, too. A leader doesn’t have to be good at everything. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of genuine leadership is the willingness to not only acknowledge your weaknesses but also delegating where possible. Sometimes doing the best you can is letting others do it, instead.

Be Intentional About Pursuing Excellence

 

The idea of pursuing excellence is not new; at The Wealthy Ironworker, we have an article dedicated to just that, which you can find here.

Being intentional about pursuing excellence has numerous benefits, but for leadership, we’ll highlight three.

First, pursuing excellence, like leadership, has the ability to impact everything in your life – not just work.

Second, pursuing excellence doesn’t just help you shore up your weaknesses, it propels you past them.

Third, pursuing excellence ultimately leads to a more robust understanding of leadership. This is a continual cycle, one that enables you to become a better leader throughout the course of your career – and in other areas of your life where you are a leader.

Be Intentional About Accepting Responsibility

Shifting the blame stops here -YOU are ultimately responsible

 

There’s no way to sugarcoat this, so let’s get right to the point: the number of people who do not take responsibility is massive. Most of us know this to be true – and the reason? Because if we’re honest, we often can be found among this group.

Once you are a leader, though, your influence has grown, and so does your responsibility. This runs against the grain for most since we seek to shift blame to others. I didn’t do it. I am not to blame. It’s someone else’s fault. In the end, however, when a leader understands – and lives by – President Truman’s words,

 

“The buck stops here”

 

they are farther along their leadership journey than most. Couple the intentionality we’re talking about with authenticity and situational leadership, and you have a POWERFUL combination.

Responsibility may not be first on many people’s minds, but for the leader, it should be front and center. You can delegate tasks but you cannot delegate responsibility. YOU are ultimately responsible.

Be Intentional About Mentoring

 

There is a systemic problem plaguing this country: the lack of mentoring. This author believes one of the prominent reasons for this is our obsession with higher education and belief we can outsource ANY and ALL training to college or a third party.

The result?

We have record tuition debt, reduced educational quality, AND a crisis in mentoring that, in the next 10 to 15 years, will show itself in a MASSIVE way. What’s more, this will be in numerous industries – including construction/skilled trades.

In just about every industry out there today, companies want someone with 20 years of experience – but those people are working. You have to be intentional about bringing up the next generation, about training them, and looking at them as an investment. This is counterintuitive to current thinking of today – where we outsource EVERYTHING – but it needs to be challenged.

And changed.

When you, the leader, are intentional about mentoring, you are pouring into someone else. You are raising up the next generation. You are investing in others. You are giving to someone who cannot give back to you. You are intentional – and you are a trendsetter.

What’s more, with your influence, you could affect how others approach mentoring, too. As a leader, others watch what you do. They see when you are authentic and intentional about mentoring. Who knows? Mentoring might increase significantly in your field just because you were intentional about it. Light one match and watch the others ignite, too.

Be Intentional About EVERYTHING You Do

Do it now with intentionality

 

Within the realm of leadership, there are numerous topics we cannot cover, but leaders are sure to face. That is to be expected. Moreover, this is also why it’s recommended you be intentional with EVERYTHING you do. When you are, you have the best possible mindset and approach to research, problems, solutions, creativity – there is nothing that cannot be improved upon when being intentional about it.

For that reason alone, being intentional about what you do is worth it. Whether you have a one-off problem, something unforeseen, known and expected, recurring, or even something so bizarre, it makes you say, “Real life is stranger than fiction,” be intentional in ALL you do.

 

Related: Read The Art of Intentionality in Your Life

 

When you adopt a mindset of being intentional in not just leadership but life overall, you will find that you’ve become resilient. You’ve become focused. You’ve become disciplined in your life, optimistic in your outlook, strategic and innovative with your approach, and decisive in your decisions.

Therefore, be intentional about all and everything you do.

Be Intentional About Developing Your Emotional Intelligence

 

The Art of Intentionality, however, ultimately allows a leader to develop their emotional intelligence more fully. This is crucial because, without emotional intelligence, your leadership capacity will be severely limited. Emotional intelligence is the vessel that allows the leader to grow.

To that end, you MUST be intentional about growing your emotional intelligence. You may be naturally talented or gifted, able to read the room, read people’s body language, and even excel at managing people in emotional states, but talent will ONLY take you as far as you’re intentional about it. Even then, you will need to work at growing it because talent will only take you so far. Tenacity will carry the day – IF you are intentional.

We will explore this in greater detail in another article, but overall, it is imperative you are intentional about this. Only then will you be able to fully develop a measure of emotional intelligence worthy of being a leader.

 

Conclusion

Time to end this article

 

In the end, it ALL starts with intentionality. You may have talent; you might be naturally endowed with a specific trait; you may believe you don’t need to improve – but I can say with certainty that that will only take you so far. If you are sincere, are looking to be the best leader you can be, make effective change and do the absolute best you can. You NEED to be intentional about every single bit of it.

Those within your realm of influence will thank you for it.

And you’ll thank yourself, too.

Let’s put the effort into it, shall we?

NOTE: This article is part 5 of a series on Leadership here at The Wealthy Ironworker

1. Leadership, Management, and The Skilled Trades
2. The 4 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader
3. Leadership and The Task-Oriented Trades
4. Situational Leadership and The Skilled Trades
5. Leadership and The Art of Intentionality
   1. Skills Developed From The Art of Intentionality
6. Leadership and Emotional Intelligence
   1. Skills Developed From Emotional Intelligence
7. Leadership and Humility
   1. Skills Developed From Humility
8. Leadership and Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
   1. Skills Developed From Listening to Understand and Not to Respond
9. Skills Developed Overall in the Leadership Process