New Leader Tuesday at Management Excellence
The New Leader Tuesday series is dedicated to the proposition that one of the most critical tasks we have is developing the next generation of leaders. If you are new to leading or if you are charged with the development of new leaders on your team, please join the discussion, ask questions and share your insights! Join our mailing list for our forthcoming New-Leaders e-News.
It’s typically good advice to “be yourself” and “be authentic” when it comes to leading others. Most of us have pretty accurate BS detectors when it comes to sniffing out leadership posers and we don’t necessarily trust people who we perceive are trying to impress us by being someone they’re not.
Unfortunately, for many starting out as leaders, it takes time and experience to develop the confidence necessary to let the world see us as in our leadership skins au naturel.
Early in our careers, we’re preoccupied with finding our way and concerned about not showing our inexperience. We struggle and flail as we look for our leadership voice and our leadership style. Getting there sooner allows an individual to focus on what truly matters…serving others, helping people grow and of course, supporting the organization by catalyzing individual and group achievement.
5 Ideas to Help You Build Confidence and Show Your Authentic Self:
1. Know your role. Make certain that you understand your role is about others and promoting results with and through others and not about you as boss. Let this philosophy guide your behavior.
2. Leverage your mistakes. Your mistakes are visible to all. Instead of hiding them, the point in time when your mistake becomes visible is an opportunity to showcase your authentic self and to teach. Humility supports authenticity.
3. Get over yourself. Accept that it’s good to not have to let everyone know you are the smartest person in the room (even if you are)…but rather, it’s your job to fill the room with smart people. Provide others the opportunity to showcase their skills.
4. Give the people what they want and need. People want opportunity and some want recognition when deserved. Provide ample helpings of both.
5. Publicize your agenda. Talk openly about your own professional development goals and solicit input. It’s hard as the boss to get good feedback, but it’s impossible if you don’t try.
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Some never cross the authenticity chasm and they find a way to perpetuate some persona they perceive is optimal for their leadership success. From long observation, these less than authentic leaders tend to be more about themselves and less about their teams and their firms. Some enjoy success in terms of title and trappings, however, I suspect they gain little of the psychic rewards that come from a lifetime of serving as an effective leader. Nonetheless, leadership style is a personal choice.
The Bottom-Line:
Since trust is a prerequisite for leadership success, if you’re the one in charge, acting anything but authentically is risky business. Of course, if the authentic you doesn’t garner respect and earn trust, that’s another issue altogether.
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The concept of leadership and how we develop it is interesting. I am particularly interested in how expectations of leaders in orgnaizations. When I meet with CEOs about deploying new strategies or initiatives, I always ask about the capability of their leaders to deploy and sustain the changes needed to achieve those initiatives. The most common reply is this: “They’re leaders. They should already know how to do that!” They should? Based on what?
Although this may be conventional corporate thinking, it puzzles me. In most organizations, leaders are people who were once great individual contributors, and as a result, have been “rewarded” with a “promotion” that is focused on leading others. The vast majority are not trained, equipped, or prepared to lead teams or deliver results through other people. They’re great employees who have now been promoted to “leader.” They are then left alone to define what being a leader means. Is it any wonder that if an organization has 20 leaders, there may be 20 different definitions of “leader”?
Although promoting an outstanding individual contributor to leader is a common step in the business world, it’s not a natural progression in terms of skill and ability. As a matter of fact, what’s required of a leader is often diametrically opposed to what’s required of an employee! As a great employee, your job is to give the best you have to offer. As a Great Leader, in addition to giving the best you have to offer, your job is to bring out the best that others have to offer.
Great Leaders believe that coaching and developing their people is their number one job. I always find it interesting, then, that when leaders are asked to prioritize their staff members, they list “employees” last. For any business to succeed and for leaders to triumph, they need to rely on their teams to deliver the desired results. At the same time, employees rely on Great Leaders to inform, coach, and develop them. The execution of this unspoken contract between a leader and an employee is what sets Great Leaders apart.
Gary, there are a great number of good issues in your thoughtful comment. I share your curiosity. Compounding the problem…many leaders promote valued individual contributors and then disappear, leaving them to sink or swim. As you so eloquently state, “the vast majority are not trained, equipped or prepared.” Part of why I write is to help eradicate this problem one person and why new leader at a time. Truly appreciate your detailed comment! -Art
Art,
This is a great summary of what new leaders really need to look for. Thanks! Although I have held several different types of leadership positions in the past, the key is that the different types are often so different. Some are business related, others are civic or community based – they each bring different roles and responsibility.
Your list here is helpful to me now as I am always transitioning into different layers of leadership, so I find them universal in a sense.
Looking forward to your new series!
-Mark
Mark, I do agree with your thought that they are universal. Much of what I’ll share through the “New Leader series certainly fits that definition. These tend to come from my store of “things I wish someone would have told me before I learned the hard way” lessons. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on your leadership journey. Best, -Art