Great leadership

Two weeks ago, MOT 4ever had a board meeting. MOT 4ever is a foundation with the purpose of making sure MOT will live forever. The board consists of Odd Reitan, Hilde Undlien, Marvin Wiseth, Finn Haugan, Sigrun and myself. It is an idealistic and non-profit board with a burning passion for making young people more robust and a wish to make MOT great Worldwide. For me this board is important regarding development. At the same time the board represents a security and insurance regarding the power to make things happen in MOT in all eternity.

During our board meeting we had a sequence about what good leaders do differently from the not so good leaders. All the board members have a passion for leadership and Marvin, who used to be the mayor of Trondheim for nine years (1990-1998) had a sequence where he told us the following:

“The best leaders are self-made. They dare take advantage of their personality, act natural and are not afraid giving of themselves. They are fearless, represent something unique, deal with adversity, have self-confidence, create unity, they read and understand people, and they are well prepared.

Understanding what you are doing and having insight is more important than being intellectual or intelligent. Several leaders have plenty of experience from universities and studies but in real life they are useless and lack the understanding of important matters.

The best leaders are creative without restraint. They are curious and create enthusiasm. Enthusiastic leaders develop associates that are more than 50% more efficient and have 50% more customer loyalty. They surround themselves with people who are diverse and who dare speak out and confront.”

Marvin spoke about the importance of the leader’s “language”. “Through your language you can either build bridges or create huge distance.”

He also spoke about the importance of feelings and brand building in leadership. “Why do people buy a Mercedes? They act through their heart and their pride. There’s no use in talking to the head. It needs to go to your heart first and then to your head. We are under the control of our feelings, not the emotions.”

All of the board members are fascinated by Winston Churchill. We can sit for hours listening to Marvin talk about Churchill. I don’t know anyone in the world who knows more about Churchill than Marvin. Marvin is unique in the sense of sharing knowledge about Churchill as a leader. “Churchill was a master in creating a vision and setting the direction. He made the impossible possible. He always stayed true to his playfulness, childishness and love for life.”

Marvin finished his sequence by saying that Churchill couldn’t learn something that he was not interested in and he couldn’t care less about what others thought of him. Marvin said this also was one of his own qualities. “It’s okay that everybody doesn’tlike everything about me. I’m the same way myself – I don’t like everything about myself either.”