{"id":666,"date":"2015-11-03T17:39:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T01:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=666"},"modified":"2015-11-03T17:39:03","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T01:39:03","slug":"some-of-the-worst-leadership-advice-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/?p=666","title":{"rendered":"Some of the Worst Leadership Advice…Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ganesha<\/a><\/p>\n

I came across this bit of ridiculousness in a LinkedIn post, a few weeks back\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cConfidence<\/b>: Fake it till you make it! Nobody wants an insecure leader or employee. If you don\u2019t know what you are doing, act like you know what you\u2019re doing until you know what you are doing. Preparation is key because when you prepare, you feel genuinely confident and others trust that you know what you are doing because\u2026well, you do. Attitude is\u00a0everything, and the mind achieves what the mind believes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFake it till you make it!\u201d What a load of bunk.<\/p>\n

This is what got Wall Street into trouble; this is a gung-ho \u201cSales Team of the \u201970’s\u201d attitude that undermines credibility and depletes integrity from any environment. A leader who \u201cfakes\u201d knowledge and experience – in any industry and specifically in production, show and entertainment – is not a Leader at all.<\/p>\n

S\/he is a Fake: and that fakery will show up in the quality of the Product and be reflected in the attitude of the Team.<\/p>\n

The second sentence is true, actually; nobody wants an insecure leader\u2026ironically in this case, an exceptionally pithy example of insecurity is a manager or ostensible leader who is \u201cfaking it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a leader, one is much better off being secure in what one does not<\/i> know; knowing where to find and learning how to apply such knowledge sought and found. Learning alongside one\u2019s team engenders an authentic, profound respect from one\u2019s colleagues and teammates.<\/p>\n

A secure leader doesn\u2019t have to actually know everything; a leader who isn\u2019t afraid to learn will earn a far more solid position among peers, superiors and subordinates.<\/p>\n

A leader who can learn teaches humility and learning ability. A leader who \u201cfakes it\u201d teaches his team to lie. (\u2026and probably laugh behind his back at his delusion that anyone is being fooled\u2026)<\/p>\n

In my business, there are Producers who are known for acting as though they know everything about Production. These guys get in the face of Lighting Designers, Production Coodinators, Choreographers, Composers, Riggers and Stagecraft Professionals and attempt to second-guess the work and process of others who\u2019ve spent years focused on the area(s) of theatre to which they are committed\u2026committed to being the best at what they do.<\/p>\n

Those are Producers who give Producers a bad name.<\/p>\n

Then, there are the Real Producers.<\/p>\n

A Real Producer knows to stand back; to inspire his experts and let these experts do their best work\u2026knowing when good work is being done and supporting the team in doing it. A Leader Inspires; embraces learning, learns from the people on her team and keeps the team moving in the right direction; eyes focused on the ultimate vision of the show.<\/p>\n

Nobody knows Everything About Production. Everyone brings experience, knowledge and passion to their jobs. A leader learns of that experience and seeks to benefit from it; a leader appreciates the knowledge his team members bring to the table and embraces the passion with which that knowledge is applied.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean \u201cdon\u2019t talk to your technicians\u201d or anything like that. Not at all. Clear communication of vision, goals and objectives is key to success. Further, asking one\u2019s professionals how they are accomplishing the work is often appreciated by those pros\u2026when the question is based in seeking knowledge (rather than seeking some sort of \u201cadvantage\u201d).<\/p>\n

Collaboration alleviates obfuscation, nurtures and incites creativity and strengthens relationships.<\/p>\n

Likely, everyone on the team appreciates being asked about what they do and sharing their own knowledge and experience. Asking them is acknowledging their expertise. It shows appreciation for the work and focus one\u2019s team member has put in to being the best at what s\/he does.<\/p>\n

Learn from your team; the decisions you make, your artistic, logistical and even dramaturgical choices will be the better for it.<\/p>\n

So. Rather than \u201cfake it till you make it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

How about\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cLearn It and You\u2019ll Earn It\u201d? \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Just sayin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Integrity<\/b>.<\/p>\n

In closing, a note on Integrity<\/b>. This is a word often thrown around by the self-righteous when things aren\u2019t going their way. Integrity is not a casual thing, and one cannot be selective in meaning what one says and keeping one\u2019s word.<\/p>\n

Integrity is a constant discipline.<\/p>\n

One must be committed to doing what one says; committed to one’s word being always dependable. Should that which makes the keeping of a given agreement change, Integrity calls for immediate acknowledgement of that change.<\/p>\n

There is no “play” in this: the keeping of one’s word is paramount. Acknowledging one\u2019s mistakes and taking responsibility for resolution is an act of Integrity. Realizing one cannot keep one\u2019s word and taking steps to acknowledge and rectify that is Integrity. There is no escaping daily opportunities for embracing Integrity. Not always easy, actions of Integrity often result in stronger personal and professional relationships, healthier reputations, respect and credibility granted from one\u2019s peers.<\/p>\n

Once one begins to evaluate where one’s word has been given and whether or not one\u2019s word is worth keeping after the fact; one has departed the realm of Integrity and crossed into another.<\/p>\n

IMHO – Keep Your Word.<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cIMHO: Creating Compelling Experience\u201d is a free downloadable eBook on the tenets and methodologies we use to\u2026create compelling experience. Find it in the iBooks app on any Apple device or in iTunes at this link.<\/a> .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I came across this bit of ridiculousness in a LinkedIn post, a few weeks back\u2026 \u201cConfidence: Fake it till you make it! Nobody wants an insecure leader or employee. If you don\u2019t know what you are doing, act like you … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2oSuI-aK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=666"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imho.kileozier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}