Last time we talked about staying focused - getting those distractions out of
way that keep us from accomplishing what we want to. We agreed that life is full of distractions-pleasures and obligations-that can pull us off task. We studied painting "Ulysses," by Draper ( http://www15.tok2.com/home/dorian/Greek/Sirens/draper.jpg )as an example of Intentionality, an emotional intelligence competency. I ntentionality means doing what needs to be done to accomplish what you set out to do. It's meaning what you say, and saying what you mean, and then taking action steps that will bring intention to fruition.
We focused on sailor at bottom of painting, who's rowing with a Siren right in his face, so to speak. He's a member of crew, a member of team.
To reiterate, this is a painting of adventures of Ulysses. It's his adventure! He's man in charge. When warned of effect of song of Sirens, he put wax in his men's ears, but not in his own. He had himself tied to masthead, and there he is in painting with that crazed look in his eyes.
THE LEADER
Now Siren's Song is a metaphor for "distraction". In this case it's verbal. What's going to stop these men from doing their job (singular, because now we're going to talk about a team on a mission with Ulysses as their leader) is something they will HEAR. So question to ask is - why did Ulysses plug up his men's ears, but leave his own open, while having himself tied to masthead?
I think this painting is a good analogy of workplace. The leader is part of team, but he's also apart from team. Whatever current paradigm is for leadership, one fact remains: leader has authority, and responsibility for whole enterprise.
Whatever leadership style is in fashion, if you've worked on a team project or assignment you know that someone has to be in charge.
A good leader does and is many things, but ultimately definition of position is that he or she is one responsible for making it happen, and to do this, he or she needs as much information about whole picture as possible.
The leader, Ulysses has got to keep BIG picture, WHOLE picture in his head. Different members of team have their own unique missions - in today's world let's say you have marketing person at table, CFO, HR professional and outside Sales Rep. Each of these people has a key piece of information and expertise, but it's only a part of whole, and what they bring to table will be from their point-of-view.
As you know, if you've done committee or team work, this is where clashes occur.
The marketing person says you must change out all signage and redo company brochure. The HR person says if you don't raise salaries for support staff, company's going to go under. The outside Sales Rep says customers don't care about signage, they want better service of product after sale. The CFO generally says "there isn't any money."
