Dr. David Rafeedie

You know the old saying, “perspective is reality.” I have used it myself from time to time. When I use that phrase, I am not saying a person’s perspective becomes some cosmic reality, of course. I am saying that for that person, the way they are viewing a situation or person is a reality for them. They might be completely wrong, but for them, it is their reality.

For example, my wife believes I put too much butter on my popcorn when I make it. That is her view. For her, that is a reality. She sincerely believes that I put too much butter on my popcorn. Therefore, she will not eat the popcorn I make. Works out nicely for me. But just because it is her reality does not make what she thinks right. The cosmic reality, as sure as there is gravity, is it is impossible to put too much butter on popcorn. That is my perspective, and I am sure I am correct. You get the idea.

When we are talking about popcorn, different perspectives on butter does no harm. In fact, from my perspective, there is some good to be found. When you are a leader of an organization or a team, your perspective on leadership is critical to how your team views you and their work. Your perspective impacts others. I am not talking about leadership style such as authoritarian, collaborative, paternalistic, or laisse-faire. Perspective is not the style of leadership. It is an attitude.

The dictionary defines perspective this way: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

What I mean about perspective is your view of leadership. If you are a leader of an organization or a team, your view of leadership will determine how you interact with others. Here are a couple of examples.

The Commander and Chief Attitude

If your attitude about leadership is you are on a pedestal and are better than the people you lead, you will interact with your team in that way. That will come across loud and clear. Guess what, your team will not agree with you, and you will lose their respect. Also, if that is your attitude, you probably will not appreciate it when they question you. They will realize that and not question you. Then you will have deprived yourself of valuable insight and input. Your team will begin to resent you, and you will not be a respected leader regardless of your leadership style. That will impact performance and the organization suffers. When the organization begins to suffer, there are usually negative consequences for the leader.

The Paternalistic Attitude

No one likes to be patronized. Leaders with a paternalistic perspective feel they treat their employees well. Sometimes they do. But they expect a return on that treatment that reflects how they feel about their team or employees. Most leaders with a paternalistic viewpoint view the people in their organization as inferiors to be taken care of, rather than valuable team members contributing to the health of the team or organization. They see them as replaceable cogs. A paternalistic attitude would say, “You are lucky to have a leader like me who gives you a job.”  But each member of your organization is bringing value. If they don’t, why are they there? Success is not a “one man or woman show.”

If your perspective on leadership is a healthy one, that too will impact the team and organization but in a healthy way. A healthy perspective will be evident in the way a leader interacts with the team and others in the organization. A healthy attitude recognizes the value of individuals in the organization. A healthy leadership perspective recognizes every team needs a coach or manager who will strive to get the best out of his team. The team responds to this kind of attitude by producing because they see the leader recognizes their worth to the organization.

The right leadership perspective can turn a team or organization around. The wrong leadership perspective can sink a team and impact the organization negatively.

Perspective alignment

The right perspective is also important for a member of a team. You can have different ideas and have good idea debate on a team. You should! But if a member of a team has a different perspective about the team or the leader, than the rest of the team has, the team will never function as a Performing team. Perspective needs to be aligned. Perspective alignment is critical for a healthy, Performing team. Check out this article to see what I mean by a Performing team: https://davidthecoach.com/blog-1/2018/1/18/team-building-moving-your-team-to-maximum-effectiveness.

There are a lot of factors that impact perspective. But the core of perspective is found internally and has been developed over the course of time. But perspective changes and can be changed, for good or for bad. The internal factors that contribute to your leadership perspective can be identified, measured, and changed where change is needed.

Take some time to answer these questions. What is your leadership perspective? How is your perspective impacting your team and organization? In what ways would you like to change.

Contact me at info@davidthecoach.com, and let’s explore your answers together through a coaching relationship.

This article was first published on my website blog. If you are reading this on social media, check out my website www.davidthecoach.com for more information on leadership, teams, and other success factors.