Up & Coming Weekly

February 06, 2018

Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.

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FEBRUARY 7-13, 2018 UCW 21 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM D.G. MARTIN, Host of UNC's Book Watch. COMMENTS? Edi- tor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. POLITICS Good leaders and bad ones by D.G. MARTIN We need good leaders more than ever. In our local schools and businesses and churches. We need them in responsible government positions in our state and at the highest national level. So, what is good leadership? How do you find it? How do you develop it? And how do you deal with the consequences of bad leadership? I was thinking of these questions the other day when I stumbled into a meeting sponsored by Chapel Hill's Friends of Downtown organization that had invited Dr. Gerald Bell to make a presentation. Bell may be best known among North Carolina basketball fans as the author of a popular book about Coach Dean Smith's leadership lessons. But in the rest of the world, es- pecially the international business community, he is known for his organization, Bell Leadership, which develops leaders, coaches and teach- ers at the highest level. Its mission is "to help people develop their per- sonal effectiveness and leadership skills to contribute to humankind." In existence since 1972, the organization based in Chapel Hill has trained over 500,000 leaders in almost 5,000 organizations in over 30 countries. As part of its training, it has devel- oped a detailed personality profile to help its students evaluate their lead- ership styles, potentials, strengths and weaknesses. For the Friends of Downtown group, Bell summarized six charac- teristics of the most effective leaders. 1. Achievement. From childhood, Bell says, there is a drive to accom- plish. Watch the joy of a child when he or she finally succeeds in learning to walk. e drive to succeed, to cre- ate new things and to start projects is a healthy attribute of a positive and optimistic leader. 2. Self-worth. e feeling that "I am somebody" is a positive trait. Parents who encourage children's courage and dignity in dealing with others promote this value. e best leaders treat others with dignity. 3. Control. e need for control can be seen in 2-year olds and teenagers asserting independence. Gaining self-control through disci- pline, structure and clarity can signal someone who is a producer, who hates to waste time. 4. Pleasure. Content- ment and happiness can be positive traits. Parents who teach that it is okay to fail and how to recover from it are giving their children a platform for positive happiness. 5. Love. We need it. Bell said, "ere is a genetic code need for love." He said you can measure how others feel about you by a "seek-me-out-index." How many people seek you out for advice and help when they have a problem? He says that good listening skills draw people to you. 6. Play. Enjoying play is a trait of a good leader. In fact, good strategic planning is playing with ideas. What about the bad leadership characterization? 1. Performer. ey show off, self- promote and go on overdrive. 2. Attacker. ey are hostile, criti- cal and focus on getting even and are only happy when they're in a fight. ey never apologize. 3. Rigidity. An "unbender." It is all black or white for rigid people. ey order people to do things rather than working with them. Underneath, they dislike people. ey command and destroy. 4. Avoider. ey are unwilling to take risks. 5. Pleaser. ey are too focused on being nice. ey do not communi- cate directly and reflect a low degree of competitiveness. 6. Drifter. Like those, Bell says, who live in Volkswagen vans, they crave freedom but avoid responsibility. Bell asks his students to what degree they possess the six "best leader" behavior patterns and/ or the six "worst leader' patterns? Are they "more of an entrepreneur (best leader) or a performer (worst leader)? A team builder or a pleaser? A producer or a commander?" When his presentation was over, I found myself wishing that Bell could take his leadership program to the Congress and the White House. Dr. Gerald Bell

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