Dr. Robert McTeer on Leadership

In yet another installment as we transition items from the About Leadership tool in the Leadership Toolbox to the blog, Dr. Bob McTeer weighs in on leadership during a speech to participants in the Texas Agricultural Lifetime Leadership program. In his speech titled "Leadership and the Head Butt Felt around the World" McTeer discusses the differences between managers and leaders and the concept of a natural leader.

McTeer suggests the following things that unnatural leaders can learn to make them more effective:

• Optimism trumps pessimism. Have you ever seen a statue of a pessimist?
• Go to the scene of any crisis. You might be more effective manning the phones back at headquarters, but the folks want to see you walking in the rubble.
• If you are the mayor on vacation in the tropics, and a snow storm hits your city, take the first plane back.
• Don’t expect people to do what you say and not what you do.
• Walking your talk is more important that talking your walk.
• Be action oriented.
• Show some courage if needed. To do that you need some liquid savings to think of as your go-to-hell money. Or have a farm in Australia. As in, "Well, there’s always the farm in Australia . . ."