Monday Morning Leadership – Week 1

I am currently reading the book Monday Morning Leadership by David Cottrell. It's a short concise book with 8 chapters or mentoring sessions which was recommended to me by a fellow manager. As I am going to go through the book a chapter a week, I will be summarizing what it's about and what I think of it. And since the book is titled Monday Morning Leadership, I think Monday's will be a good day to post.

Aren't you excited? Here we go.

Drivers and Passengers

The difference between a driver and a passenger is that the passenger has no responsibility for the road, its conditions, the other drivers or the rest of the passengers in his vehicle, while the driver is responsible for all of the things. Relating this to a working environment, the difference between an employee and a successful leader is that the leader is responsible for the employees and their work instead of just their own position.

The key word in all of this is responsibility. In order to be a leader you must take responsibility and not make excuses. You have to back your upper management and their decisions and be willing to make adjustments to reach your goals. Blaming people and/or situations for your short-comings is no longer acceptable. When you utilize blame, then you are still looking behind you, in the past. When you utilize responsibility, you are making plans for future successes.

So, are you a driver or a passenger?