Mar/Apr 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

channel management Leading a group of people can be accom- plished several different ways, and the act of lead- ing is a journey one must go on to accomplish the highest levels of leadership. Those levels start with leadership by title and end with the leader who leads because others willingly follow (as defined in John Maxwell’s “5 Levels of Leader- ship”). Two critical components in leadership are the qualities and values of trust and respect. Once leaders are able to develop trust and respect, they can build their culture and provide a vision for success that people are willing to follow. I started my journey in leadership in 2010 when I accepted my first leadership role of sales supervisor at Telesystem. I had no clue where this journey would take me but was excited to begin. Being new to the management world, I knew one thing: I was the boss. A common misconception of beginners to the management world is that their title gives them respect and trust. Under my supervision, the people I led didn’t really have a choice; I was the boss and in my mind that was the equivalent to having trust and respect. I modeled what I had observed from life experiences on how to be “a boss” and neglected the basics of how to be “a leader.” We held weekly status meet- ings, required active updates on major accounts, Thoughts on Leadership B y definition, leadership is the action of leading a group of people that are part of an organization. By Robert Martin 94 Channel Vision | March - April, 2019