Wiaan De Beer

Sleeping Giants: a Wake-up Guide for First Line Leaders of All Organizations Wiaan De Beer

If you are a: Front-Line Manager, Supervisor, Department Head, Foreman, Section Leader, Group Leader, Team Leader, Project Leader, Sergeant, Squad Leader, Teacher/Educator, Coordinator, or Senior Professional then you are a First Line Leader. You are your organization's first line of offense and defense. So what do First Line Leaders typically do? They make short-term decisions that directly impact and guide the performance of team members or subordinates. For instance, a sergeant drills his squad ahead of deployment; a store department head coordinates shift schedules; and a teacher guides a student's daily work activity. First Line Leaders provide direction or coaching to non-supervisory personnel and typically provide performance assessment and recognition of team members. You and your organization may not recognize, respect, and appreciate your significant role as a First Line Leader, and when your significance is not recognized, utilized, and reinforced -- you become a sleeping giant. It's time to ask the difficult question: Am I a sleeping giant? Organizations tolerate sleeping giants because training and development of giants requires attention, effort and money. Has your organization under-trained and under-developed you? Is your organization being shortsighted about your potential to contribute? A "yes" answer to either question is the sound of being subdued and lulled to sleep. If this is the case, you and your organization are in trouble! Sleeping giants -- THIS IS YOUR WAKE-UP CALL! Waking-up means there is a new awareness that you need to be both an effective manager and an effective leader. Do you know what "effective" truly means? Giants are looked up to because they stand out. But standing out for being an eyesore is vastly different to standing out for inspirational management and leadership.