Going First and Taking Action

Good leaders inspire, motivate, clarify and set visions, missions and goals, however leaders also show the way by going first and inviting those to come along with them, even if the direction is uncertain or even dangerous. Leaders show courage and confidence in taking that first step, accepting responsibility for the risk of failure and providing structure to those who follow (Greenleaf, 1977a).

Leaders will listen, consult and facilitate with their teams on what direction to go and what action is required, showing patience and making sure everyone’s opinion is heard. The leader will often speak last, giving everyone adequate thinking time by taking care not to immediately fill any silent gaps with their own thoughts. However “when all is said and done, the leader needs to do one more thing and step into action or decision”. (Weinberg, 2018), (Greenleaf, 1977b)

Leading by Example

For testers, leading by example is one great approach to this where they can be a pace-setter, setting a high-bar for quality of testing work, so “even the good performers feel uncomfortable” (Greenleaf, 1977c). Others will see the work you’re doing and naturally want to follow along, be it other testers or other members of the project team, particulary developers, who may want to up their own testing game. Watch out for those who show a keen interest and invite them to test with you, or to share their questions and thoughts.

No need to practice what you preach, just practice and convert people by example slowly over time(Greenleaf, 1977d)

This approach emphases “going first, stepping into action and showing the way” and can be applied effectively by test engineers who may want to leave the motivation, facilitation and envisioning to those in test leadership positions.

Citations and Further Reading

• Greenleaf, R. (1977) Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness. 25th An. Ed., Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, pp. 29, 109 (a), 353-355 (b), 65 (c), 157 (d)
• Weinberg, G. (2018) EP1 – Software, quality, and psychology [online] Why do we need a name?. Available at: Link t.i. 11:50