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One of the biggest derailment factors for early career or first-time leaders is the issue of conducting tough performance discussions. Here are 4 critical mistakes of first-time or newer leaders when it comes to dealing with tough discussions, and 6 ideas to help strengthen performance.
Leadership Dragons are the outward behaviors driven by misguided underlying beliefs that keep many in leadership roles from truly meriting the label of leader. Here are 4 examples of common Leadership Dragons and some ideas for keeping them reined in:
One of the less than pleasant surprises many first-time supervisors or managers encounter as they navigate their new roles, is a sudden immersion in the personal problems of their team members. Here are 7 ideas to help you navigate these sticky situations:
There was a time when prevailing wisdom for teaching people to swim involved chucking them in the water and letting them flail and flounder. This Sink or Swim (S. o. S.) method of teaching is likely responsible for more than a few really bad moments for the unwitting victims and a lifetime of terror-inducing flashbacks for many. Oddly, we subject a good number of first time supervisors and managers to a similar rite of passage in what I describe as S. o. S. Leadership Development. If you are on the receiving end of this method of new leaders development, here are 7 suggestions to help make the swim a bit more bearable:
It’s often politically unpopular and seemingly risky to hire for a key role outside of the boundaries of your firm’s industry. It also might be just the right thing to infuse your team or organization with fresh perspectives and new ideas.
Respect. It’s a complex concept filled, filled with nuance and subtlety and gesture, all buried in a simple word. Most of us are wired to appreciate respect and to reciprocate in kind. And vice-versa. One of the most powerful and effective ways to show respect is to extend our trust. Of course, for all of us, particularly new leaders, that feels risky and almost counter-intuitive. It's not.
Many of the most accomplished professionals and leaders I’ve encountered point not to mentors as sources of guidance and inspiration, but rather to a particular workplace peer-level partnership as having been critical to their success. Here are some important Do's and Don'ts when seeking to cultivate powerful workplace partnerships:
I always admire the exuberance of conscientious first-time leaders to jump into situations that might detract from their new team’s performance. This conscientiousness about doing things right and getting things done is likely part of what earned them a promotion to supervisor, team lead or some title that places them in a role responsible for others. However, the desire to do right and keep things moving and keep people happy, opens up a few potential leadership tripping points, including getting actively involved in “he said/she-said” or "he did/he didn't" type discussions and reacting too quickly to hearsay without checking out the facts. Here are 4 suggestions for avoiding Hearsay traps:
Just about all of us are guilty of delaying dealing with a tough topic in our professional lives. These tend to be the gut churning, stare at the ceiling at night type issues that if addressed, will force us to confront our fears, admit our mistakes, move away from the known towards the unknown and generally unsettle ourselves and potentially those around us. Here are 10 issues we love to delay and my hearty encouragement to pick yours and get going!
It’s typically good advice to “be yourself” and “be authentic” when it comes to leading others. 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. Here are 5 ideas to help you cultivate the confidence necessary to show yourself as you are:
