Mother Teresa is not the first person when we ask line service, maintenance personnel or other aviation professionals “who comes to mind as an effective leader”? But the petite nun from Albania started and ran an organization that became one of the largest in the world. Today that organization:
- Conducts operations in over one hundred countries;
- Has a loyal full-time workforce of 4,000;
- Has over one million volunteer team members;
- Is one of the most recognized brands in the world; and
- Has raised and deployed billions of dollars in capital.
There are many principles that Mother Teresa lived by as a leader. There are too many principles to include in this short article. But we will focus on two of those principles.
One of the first principles Mother Teresa lived by as a leader was her VISION. She realized that she was the voice of her vision. She had to state it clearly. The vision was kept simple and she believed in it and lived it every day---in everything she did. The vision motivated her every day and she incorporated into the organization.
Another principle used consistently by Mother Teresa was to EMBRACE THE POWER OF DOUBT. She realized that doubt only has positive power in the context of vision. By embracing the power of doubt, this does not mean to doubt the vision. By asking powerful questions (and playing devil’s advocate so to say), the vision can be better illuminated. Many leaders feel that they need to be infallible and think that they should be the only ones asking the questions. This is both ineffective and unfair. By embracing others questions and ideas, improvements can be made.
*(Source: from the book Mother Teresa, CEO by Ruma Bose and Lou Faust)
