Be a Wolf Among the People

Wolves were removed from Yellowstone Valley National Park in America for more the 70 years as they were seen as threat to the eco system. But when they were reintroduced in 1995, we learnt a lot about the eco system and the animal kingdom, we also learnt a lot about modern day society.

We live in a society that tells us, don’t be curious, don’t cause trouble, don’t say too much or bad things will happen. We live in a society where the those in authority play little red riding hood as they fear leaders below them who are the wolves among us.

The ideas of how we do leadership has changed over the years. If you look back over British history, you will see so many of Monarchs leading their armies into battle. King George the 2nd was the last British monarch to do this in 1743 during the war of the Austrian Succession.

Leadership and management are different rolls, people are paid to be managers, to make decisions at the top of the chain. But a leader is not always found in the CEO office in a company or organisation, they could be the woman running that complex machine 12 hours a day, they could be the guy that cleans the offices and toilets. Managers always manage from the top, but leaders can lead from anywhere, not just on the field, but from the bench too.

It starts with communication, for some this communication just sounds like a lot of noise, like when you hear wolves howling. But like wolves, every bark, howl and adjustment to body language is how a leader convey a message to their team. A leader communicates with their team openly and often, with meaningful conversation, at the same time every team member knows they have been heard by their leader.

True leaders work hard but know how to play hard too. We are in point in our history where the standard working week in the UK is around 48 hours, many doing overtime just to make ends meet. A leader will always work hard, but they know the importance of play, both on the field and off.

Leaders celebrate team members they know that every small victory doesn’t just represent one person who achieved that goal. That goal represents every team member, every failure, every sick day, every conflict, and every minute of hour every person put into their job.

Leaders know how to make failure fuel. Now I know there’s a difference between the way men fail and the way females fail, and I do wish that females would fail as well as what men do. Failure is not always about doing something wrong, because you can do everything right and still fail. But a true leader will pick their team back up, brush them off, and say ‘let find another way and try again’.

Leaders know when to lead from back, they know the time to be quiet, letting their team do their work. They know when they need to train, coach and encourage. They know when it’s time as a leader, when they or a team member needs to step up take the reins and demand the ball. A leader knows when to say give me the job, give me the promotion, and give me the respect that I and my team have earned.

A leader will allow the weakest, the newest, the slowest to set the pace of the team. By putting these people in front encourages the rest of the team to work together, to ensure the work is completed correctly and on time. This also creates a healthy environment where people can be comfortable in owning to their mistakes. A team can make a million mistakes, but they can’t afford to waste time making the same mistakes. So, allowing the team to identify their weakest it creates a culture of learning, because nobody wants to do the same job twice. Even the weakest want to be included as part the team, so their mindset becomes about learning quickly, so they don’t hold the team back more than they need.

So, as you see, a leader will unit their pack and keep them safe, which in turn keeps them focused and encourages them to work together. You can always tell a good leader by what happens when they leave the pack. The pack will forget them, and this happens because it means the team kept moving forward, they keep taking their game to new heights, because this is how legacy works.

So, the leaders in society, our communities and our workplaces will continue to be feared by those in authority, because those are the wolves who will change the system, and just like the wolves of Yellowstone Valley National Park, they will be curious, they will cause trouble, they will say too much, but they will also be the ones to make the world a better place.