Friend Leadership
Why did i read this book?
I decided to read the book on the recommendation of our coach after I was chosen as the leader of our team. I wanted to find out more about how the role of a leader is perceived in the concept of the Tiimiacademy. The book helped me to understand the role and our methodology again a little bit more. The book is also a great source of books tips. For almost every idea, several books on the topic are listed.
Friend Leader?
Leadership has to be a dialogue, not a monologue.
This idea from the book is very important to me and I’m trying to apply it in the leadership of our team UniWave.
This idea confirms the importance of communication, collaboration, and engagement in effective leadership. Instead of a one way communication where the leader simply dictates decisions and expectations, the idea advocates for a two way exchange - a continuous conversation between leader and the team.
A dialogue encourages leader to actively listen to their team members. Friend leader needs to be a true listener. It brings a better understanding of concerns, insights, and suggestions of all team members. The leader should always have an overview of what is happening in the team. A dialogue driven leadership recognizes and values diversity of thought within a team. Team members also feel valued and more likely to contribute their unique skills and knowledge.
A dialogue allows the continuous change of information. And open communication is also a symbol that the leader is always open to feedback.
There is a clear difference between the authority and the power in leadership: a good leader must embrace authority (the one given by the followers) but needs to forget about applying the power (the one given by structures, fear or hierarchies). In friend leadership we’re all on the same level.
The book presents 10 principles of Friend leadership. I’m trying to keep these principles on my mind and apply them to our team. The principles are:
1) Be sensitive to people's emotions and act accordingly. As a Friend Leader,
you must remember your own humanity.
2) As a leader, always be attentive and available, a genuine listener.
3) Only actions count in Friend Leadership.
4) The basic task of Friend Leadership is the leading of a learning organisation,
and the needed basic skill is the ability to inspire others towards the common
goal.
5) You can't lead others if you can't lead yourself.
6) In Friend Leadership, it is vital to set up playing positions for all in the team
company, and to concentrate on their individual strengths. Team building skills
are the absolute prerequisite for successful team leadership.
7) Everything rises and falls on leadership, and leadership falls on lack of com
munication.
8) Friend Leadership is never an award - it must be earned every day.
9) The Friend Leader's task is to create community positive thinking in the
team company, together with its coach.
10) Friend Leadership is always setting an example. What you give your attention to, others will also.
The book is divided into five sections, according to the elements – Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and Void, which symbolize the path of FL and gradually build the elements on each other.
In this essay, I could write something for you about each element, but you can read about that in a lot of essays or read the book itself. I will focus only on the second element - water.
Mu sash I: “When the foundation has water, spirit comes like water.Water takes on the form of its container, in one it is a drop, in another an immense sea.Water is clear blue.”
In our team we are working on building deep trust, commitment, we have made great progress in finding a shared vision, we also have rules that we are going to sign in the Team contract. But I feel that we are still missing common goals.
Our team is called UniWave, uni symbolizes, among other things, unity. We are on the way to becoming a unified strong huge wave. It is difficult to define what form of water we are currently in. But I would say that we are still in the form of drops of water. Some have connected along the way to form a larger drog of water, but they are still not all connected together. Sometimes I think that everything is taking so long for us and that we should be already somewhere further on the way. But quality takes time and we are building a strong foundation. But I already feel and have hope that soon I will strike matches and our team will move into the element of fire.
