Thanks for sharing this David.  It is good to see people like Craig Weatherup in leadership roles.  He is absolutely correct...to be an effective leader requires empathy, courage, honesty and trust and you cannot fake any of those qualities. 

Many people think that 'leading' is telling people what to do when in reality it is really about asking people to help you do what needs to be done for the betterment of an organization.  I think Mr. Weatherup's comment about trust and leadership should be added to the dictionary under the definition of leadership.

Thanks for the great post, David!  A leadership example like Mr. Weatherup's is inspiring, as well as a superb reminder that leadership is not, first and foremost, a position, but rather an activity.  An activity that one can engage in with honesty, principle and connection . . .  or as is all too frequently demonstrated, not.

I'd call it common sense.  The problem with not talking to the peons, as an executive, is that you lose touch with what's going on the "floor", and that allows the people who are between you and the floor to manage up, and thus manage you.  A good executive should have contacts at every level of his organization from the lowest grunts to the VPs who report to him.  If he doesn't he has little recourse when he's treated like a mushroom.

For those following the blog who have not totally abandoned reading books, there is an outstanding book on precisely this topic, Leadership and Self-Deception. It is inexpensive, a quick read, and eminently memorable. It is one the few books that I recommend to my client, ad it is the one that has the most impact on them in business and life.

I could not help but think of my maternal grandfather when I read the post. He retired in 1956, and he described himself as the last of a generation of management officias who worked from the lowest job in the company to a high-ranking position. He lamented that the current generation of managers had MBAs but lacked that true knowledge of what life in the trenches was about.

The company did not unionize until after he retired out of personal respect for him. He knew who drank and gambled, and he bailed out his share of employees.

He lived to 92, and he had factory workers visiting his nursing home 25 years ater he retired. The first drink at every company event involving retirees was toasted in honor of my grandfather at least through the time of his death.

Leadership like Gramps' inspired employees to give readily their discretionary efforts.

I've always remembered the words of a mentor I had in the early stages of my professiona life, "Take an interest in people, and they'll take an interest in you." I've found this tenet to be one of the foundations of the "servant leadership " and "benevolent leadership" perspectives. Too, people can readily sense when this interest is feigned, fake, phony and duplicitous.

Thanks for the post David. Leaders don't use advertising campaigns - they are too busy leading by example. I do notice leaders have a tendency to go out of their way to take an interest in others.