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Take a step into improving your personal and professional leadership skills with these bite-sized blogs.
Leaders as Role Models
We all realize that leaders play a vital role in any organization, and because they are the leaders, they are also role models. I’ve talked to several leaders over the years about their role as a role model. Some inherently understand this concept, some will warm up to it and some dismiss it outright.
Being a leader and being a role model are inseparable. If you take on the position of a leader you will be a role model to your followers. Without exception, being a role model is fundamental to being a leader. Thinking you are not a role model conjures up that old saying: do as you say and not as you do.
As a leader, you will have followers – it’s hard to be a leader without followers. These are the people in the organization that you lead and influence. You may make the plans, but they execute them. They make your plans into reality - making you, them and your organization successful.
These people are looking at you, at everything you do and say – yes, you are in the spotlight. That means emulating the things you want your people to do. If you expect your people to act with honesty, high ethics, and integrity – you must act that way too. Just as you intend to drive your plans and strategy through the organization, you are fundamentally driving your actions and behaviors through the organization as well.
People Don’t Work for Companies…
I know that sounds strange, and maybe just plain wrong. Of course people work for companies, the company hired you and the company pays you, the company has the product and/or services offered, the company is the legal entity that makes all that possible – but ultimately people work for people.
We know from several study’s (Gallup being the most extensive) that when people leave their job, they don’t leave their company, they leave their manager. Therefore, in that sense people don’t work for companies, they work for their manager. An employee’s direct manager has the most influence on them. The direct manager provides the tasks and goals the employee needs to accomplish, approves development opportunities and facilitates whatever performance management tool the company uses. The manager should provide overall and day to day direction, reinforce the companies vision and mission and can motivate the employee. In doing this the manager in every sense needs to demonstrate the qualities of leadership.
Leading in Turbulent Times 4: Revisit Goals
Update, change, adjust, delete and/or add new goals to stay current with the situation.
Most likely, goals written before these difficult times are no longer relevant. But we should all still have goals to achieve that add value to the organization. It’s time to revisit the goals.
Determine what would make sense in today’s turbulent times. Reevaluate and write new goals that reflect the current crisis. Make changes to existing goals. Write short-term goals that will have a more immediate and effective impact.
Leading in Turbulent Times 2: Communicate
Communication in these turbulent times is more critical than ever.
Be as open and transparent as possible, more communication is better than less. People fill the vacancy of information with negative thoughts.
Stay aligned with the organization's official communication and add more information specific to your team’s activities and contributions.
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Leading in Turbulent Times
Right now, leaders are faced with a crisis never before seen in the industrialized history of humanity. And consequently, now is the time for you, as a leader, to support your team even more.
Start with yourself, understand how these turbulent times affect you first. You need to resolve your personal issues before helping others. Recheck your values and stay true to yourself, don’t let the crisis take you off course. Step back and see yourself from the outside to evaluate your self-awareness and how you are perceived by others.
Leadership Starts with Leading Yourself
"If your actions inspire others to dream more learn more do more and become more, you are a leader."
This quote by John Quincy Adams is often used in leadership training – and for good reason.
The focus is on inspiring others. A leader’s actions should inspire others! This is the core of leadership – the leader can’t do it alone and can’t do it all themselves, without help or adapting diverse skills.
Emotional Intelligence and Moving On
I was recently part of a corporate downsizing that affected a large group of the workforce. The company is transitioning their overall strategy and decided to reduce headcount. Many of my colleagues have found new jobs or took this as an opportunity to retire. Some took it in stride and moved on, but others are still struggling with the situation, in part due to the challenge of finding another job and/or perhaps due to the way it was handled. I’ve spoken with many of these colleagues and found that relying on my emotional intelligence training had the biggest impact on how I handled my own experience. Let’s take a look:
Self-Awareness::
You first need to be honest with yourself and admit any negative emotions you feel. Stand back and reflect on how you really feel about these emotions. Get them out in the open. Talk about them: I wasn’t treated right. I deserved better. Etc. The list goes on. Wright them down, visualize them, find your own way to see them.
Leading in Turbulent Times 5: Accountability
Hold people accountable for their actions and results. Stay professional & act as a role model.
This is not: “Do it because I said so”. That may cause your team to get results, but they will not be engaged or motivated to do more.
Accountability starts with connecting everyone and what they do, to the big picture needs of the organization. Every job, every employee, and every goal is important to achieving overall success.
As the leader, your accountability to your team is about providing them with the training needed to maintain proficiency at their job, offering support and coaching, and removing barriers to their success.
Leading in Turbulent Times: 3 Get Personal
Speak to each person on your team individually, provide both positive and developmental feedback.
Everyone wants to hear positive feedback. Find the things each person does well and offer reinforcing feedback to both inspire and motivate.
Everyone also needs developmental feedback. Although not as easy to provide, it essential for individual growth, improvement and accountability
Leading in Turbulent Times 1: Start with Yourself
Talk to yourself and resolve your own issues with the situation before meeting with your team.
Reach out for feedback about how you react to adverse situations – listen, but don’t defend your actions, take the feedback to heart.
Understand your trigger events, these are the things that set you off without thinking about them. It’s time to take control of your triggers and manage them for positive outcomes.
Purposeful Acts of Leadership
You might have heard of random acts of kindness; let’s consider these random acts of leadership. I believe in this concept and hope you find a way to fit this into your life.
Things are different at work though. Leadership can’t be random when it comes to running a business. In any organization, effective leadership is essential to accomplishing your goals and hitting your targets.