Leadership Traits: Esprit de Corps

Esprit de Corps, French for ‘Spirit of the Unit.’  Wikipedia translates the term simply as ‘moral.’  From my side of the screen, it’s much more than that.

Have you ever worked for someone who could just care less about what it was he or she was trying to accomplish.  That was demoralizing, wasn’t it?  If you are in a leadership position, you set the tone, like it or not.  If you’re not in to it, step aside.

If you want to excel in an area, embroider it on your sleeve … eat, drink, and sleep it.  Read the books, take the classes, get connected.  Be fascinated with new developments, be proud of achievements made by colleagues, talk about it.  Bore people outside of the circle.

While making these statements, I also encourage balance.  Play hard, work hard, and rest hard.  Come back to the production line every day refreshed, happy, and eager to go.  In the words of one of my mentors, David Dumas, ‘Fake it till you make it, if it comes to that.’

Till next time, keep your own moral high … your people are watching, because you are spectacular.