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LEADERSHIP
Management is doing the things right, leadership is doing the right thing.
Great leaders do not set out to be a leader……..they set out to make a difference. It is never about the role but always about the goal.
Often it is believed that a good manager is always a good leader. However, that is not true because behaviors that make a person a good manager are often not in favor of innovation.
In simple words leadership is the action of leading a group of people or an organization. It is about taking risks and challenging the status bar. Leaders motivate others to achieve something new and better. They measure success by looking at the team’s achievements, learning and doing what they do to pursue innovation, not as an obligation.
In contrast, management is about delegating responsibilities and getting people to follow the rules to reduce risk and deliver outcomes. A manager is responsible for completing critical functions like planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Unlike leaders, managers do not challenge the status quo, instead they strive to maintain it and evaluate success by seeing if the team has achieved what was expected.
Leadership is the ability of an individual or a group of people to influence and guide followers of members of an organization, society or team. It is often an attribute tied to a person’s title, seniority of ranking in a hierarchy. However, it is an attribute anyone can have or attain, even those without leadership positions. It is a developable skill that can be improved overtime.
Leaders are found and required in most aspects of society, including business, politics, religion and social and community based organizations. They are seen as people who make sound and decisions. They articulate a clear vision, establish achievable goals and provide followers with the knowledge and tools necessary to achieve those goals.
An effective leader has the following characteristics. Self-confidence, strong communication and management skills, creative and innovative thinking, perseverance, willingness to take risks, open to change, level headed and reactivates in times of crisis.
Leadership is essentially a continuous process of influencing behavior. It may be considered in the context of mutual relations between a leader and his followers. The leader tries to influence the behavior of individuals or groups of individuals around him to achieve desired goals.
Leadership is a dynamic process, which deserves study. It is a relational process involving interactions among leaders, members and sometimes outside constituencies. Good leaders are not born. If you have the desire and will power, you can become an effective leader. Leadership development is an important and a recent issue in the field of management practices.
Leadership captures the essentials of being able and prepared to inspire others. Effective leadership is based on ideas that are communicated to others in a way that engages them enough to act as the leader wants them to act. A leader inspires others to act while simultaneously directing the way that they act. They must be personable enough for others to follow their lead and they must have the critical thinking skills to know the best way to use the resources at an organization’s disposal. In business, leadership is linked to performance and any leadership definition has to take that into account. Therefore, while leadership isn’t intrinsically linked to profit, those who are viewed as effective leaders in corporate contexts are the ones who increase their company’s bottom line. If an individual in a leadership role does not meet profit expectations set by board, higher management or shareholders, they may be terminated.
While there are people who seem to be naturally endowed with more leadership abilities than others, anyone can learn to become a leader by improving particular skills.
History is full of people who, while having no previous leadership experience have stepped to the fore in crisis and persuaded others to follow their suggested course of action. They possessed traits and qualities that helped them to step into roles of leadership.
The terms leadership and management tend to be used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Leadership requires traits that extend beyond management duties. Both leaders and managers have to manage the resources at their disposal, but true leadership requires more.
Managers may or may not be described as inspiring by the people working under them, but a leader must inspire those who follow them. Another difference between leaders and managers is that leaders emphasize innovation above all else. Whereas a manager seeks to inspire their team to meet goals while following company rules, a leader may be more concerned with society and achieving lofty goals even at the expense of existing corporate structures. When a worker has a radical new idea for how to tackle an issue, a leader is likely to encourage that person to pursue the idea. Managers may be more likely to preserve existing structures because they themselves operate within that structure. They may have bosses above them, so they have less freedom to break rules in the pursuit of lofty goals. Leaders, on the other hand, often operate fairly independently. That allows them to tolerate a greater amount of chaos, so long as they believe it will be worth it in the end.
However, the leader’s devotion to innovation can sometimes come at a cost. Chaos and high pressure work environments can create interpersonal issues. When such issues arise, a manager is more likely to see it as their duty to smooth over problems between employees. Leaders can sometimes be so singularly focused on achieving lofty goals that they let interpersonal issues and employee’s welfare fall to the wayside.
Learning how to be a good leader can greatly impact the success of your team, your organization and yourself. To be an effective leader, you must understand your own motivations, strengths and weaknesses. Great leaders connect with their team by facilitating open communication, encouraging employee growth and development and giving and receiving feedback.
Anyone can sit in a corner office and delegate tasks, but there is more to effective leadership than that. Effective leaders have major impacts on not only the team members they manage, but also their company as a whole. Employees who work under great leaders tend to be happier, more productive and more connected to their organization and this has a ripple effect that reaches your business bottom line. If you look around and see that your team members have become disengaged or stagnant in their work, it may be time to reassess and reform your strategies. According to studies, the following behaviors are signs that you may have a poor leadership strategy.
No one on your team has criticized one of your ideas in the past month. You spend more time planning your own career progression than that of your team members. You haven’t had at least three completely non-work related conversations with a team member weekly. Different team members would provide different answers if asked your top three priorities for the year. Team members are afraid to fail.
A recent study showed that roughly more than half of new leaders fail within their first 18 months. Leaders can avoid becoming part of this staggering statistic by incorporating good leadership strategies that motivate their team members to accomplish their goals.
Leadership strategies and how you can incorporate them. One of the most important elements of effective leadership is creating an open line of communication with your team members. Your own honesty and transparency should serve as an example for your team members. When you are responsible for a team of people, it is important to be straight forward. Your company and its employees are a reflection of yourself and if you make honest and ethical behavior as a key value, your team will follow.
Great leaders are able to customize their interactions and communication styles to suit each situation and team member, based on individual preferences. This means they take the time to figure out which communication mode is preferred by each team member. They are also great listeners and are authentically interested in other people. Displaying active communication skills and transparency can build trust among your team and improve overall morale.
There are many leadership styles, there is no right or wrong, but there is genuine and there is fake. There is no following to fake leadership.
Maintaining honest and straightforward communication inspires your employees to reciprocate. Each team member may have a different communication style so it is important to tailor your communication based on the individual.
Leading a group of people requires a mutual sense of trust and understanding between the leader and their team members. To achieve this, leaders should learn to connect.
Being a more human leader requires positivity, purpose, empathy, compassion, humility and love. These key traits will put you on the road to genuine connections with the members of your team. Building a real, personal connection with your teammates is vital to developing the shared trust necessary to build a strong culture of accountability and exceptional performance. With that culture in place, the team can achieve a successful business, a happy team and a fulfilled leader. To build a connection with each of your team members, focus on getting to know their personality, interests, strengths, weaknesses, hobbies and preferences. This can give you insight into their goals and motivations.
Successful leaders allow their team teams to develop autonomy and add value according to their own personal strengths. Being able to recognize the strength of individuals within their team and allowing them to be responsible and accountable, not only increases employee’s confidence in themselves and their leader, but also increases their performance.
Acting as your team’s cheerleader is an important part of being an effective leader. You should be invested in their success and growth. Leaders should set aside a budget, if only a small one, to dedicate to the growth of their employees. With options as varied as on demand, virtual in person options, there is ample opportunity to continue learning new skills or further developing existing ones. Empower your employees to take the time to learn and influence that in the work they do. In addition to investing in your employee’s growth financially, you should invest emotionally.
Great leaders empower their employees to grow by giving them challenging opportunities and guiding them as needed. To motivate and inspire employees, leadership strategy is about empowering others to do their best and take on new challenges. Employees like challenges and feeling the satisfaction of overcoming them. Whether it is a tough client, a difficult sale, a hard situation or whatever the case, it is always good to let them take on these challenges. When leaders believe in their employees and give them the opportunity to learn and grow, they might be surprised how much they can accomplish. Do not be afraid to delegate tasks and encourage freedom and creativity.
As much as leaders wish their team’s day to day operations could run smoothly all the time, they are bound to run into the occasional obstacle. Whether it is a minor miscommunication or a major error, the way you handle a negative situation says a lot about your leadership skills. Look at three positive things about a problem before you identify what makes it dissatisfying. The more you look at the positives in a problem, the more positively people react with one another. In the research, it has been found that after individuals point out things they are happy within a problematic situation, they do not feel so strongly about the problem and are better able to think clearly and solve it.
The same is true when a leader needs to improve their strategy. If you or a team member notices a particular course of action you have taken that just is not working, figure out something you have done in the past that has worked. Focusing on solutions rather than problems, can help your team maintain positive engagement. A positive environment is more likely to create a more engaged and productive workforce. By displaying enthusiasm and confidence, a good leader will see the impact that they can have in their working environment.
An effective leader knows how to show others what is required, rather than simply telling them. Leaders should coach their team members towards a more collaborative committed work environment without coaxing them.
Controlling people to do certain things in certain ways, you are not going to get the level of engagement that you are looking for.
Coaching is about helping the people you teach recognize the choices they have in front of them. People will take a great deal of ownership over the direction of the project. As opposed to simply barking orders at team members, good leaders should encourage growth by teaching. People would not grow if leaders never taught them anything. Leaders need to be teaching so they can grow new leaders to take their place.
Setting clear goals and employee expectations for your team is key to employee success. When setting these objectives, encourage employee questions and feedback. Including them in the process can increase engagement. Good leaders will also explain the company vision and how team member goals fit into their equation.
For a leader to motivate and inspire, they need to keep their team in the know about their vision. This helps employees understand the end result they are working towards as a wait. When goals are clearly set, everyone can track progress and identify achievements in a tangible manner. Regardless of seniority level every employee should be able to articulate how the work they do supports the success of the company. Do not let team member goals go static. Periodically revisit goals to modify or rearrange them as needed. This will let your team members know that you are present and aware of what they are working on.
Direct and honest feedback is the best way to guide your team in the right direction. You also need to know exactly where your business is headed so you can give them the right advice. If you are not direct, people would not know what you truly think about them and their world, and they will never be able to improve. If you do not know the precise direction your company is headed, no matter how much you have communicated to your employees and leadership team regarding their individual performance, they will flounder when it comes to making decisions and taking actions. Once those basic principles are in place, performance reviews, structure and processes can easily be put into place.
In addition to providing constructive feedback and performance reviews, highlight employee’s accomplishments. If a team member does something great let them know. Celebrate their wins and thank them for their hard work. Positive recognition will create an environment of productivity.
Acknowledging successes by outlining how it impacts the business, rather than with vague pats on the back is not only encouraging but also helps a person work better in the long run.
Your team members are not the only ones who can benefit from honest feedback. A true self-assessment of your leadership can be difficult, so mentors, fellow professionals and even your own staff are invaluable in evaluating your effectiveness. Talking to friends and peers can give you a necessary perspective on your leadership style and approach. Leadership coaching can also help you discover areas where you need improvement.
A professional, who helps you develop a plan to achieve your leadership goals, can be more motivational than books and seminars alone.
Coaching allows leaders to make the connection and apply changes in real life. You need time to integrate process and reflect, and unless you go through those steps, you would not have sustainable change. Noting that your team can give you critical insight into what is working, what is not working and what obstructions you must overcome to achieve success.
Good leaders have the emotional intelligence to understand and accept that change is inevitable. Instead of trying to maintain a status quo just for the sake of consistency, embrace change and innovation. Be open to new ideas and alternative ways of thinking. Everyone brings a unique perspective to the table and that is something to take advantage of, not discourage. When you are open to hearing the thoughts of the talent around you, is when you truly embrace every possibility and potential. See things through till the end. Understand that there will be errors along the way, but if something does not work try to figure out why and how before scraping it. When solving a problem, encourage team members to provide their insights. When employee’s feel like they can openly bring new ideas to the table, true innovation, engagement and success can prevail.
If a person in a leadership position views their role as just a job, it is going to show. To be an effective leader, you need the right motivation.
Is it the money or the prestige you care about or do you sincerely want to inspire people to do their best? If, in your heart, you feel leadership is your destiny and how you will make a difference in this world, then you are certainly starting from the right place. In addition to what motivates you, it is important to know what decreases your energy. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses help you diversify your team and get a well-sounded portfolio of skills. It helps you not hire carbon copies of yourself and surround yourself with others who are not like you.
Your leadership style plays a role in how you interact with employees and should be evaluated as well. There are nine different leadership styles and the best leaders are able to adopt each style to their situations and employees. If you are currently in a leadership role and are not sure where you stand on some of these qualities, you can take a quick leadership self-assessment quiz to assess your leadership abilities.
Remember that being a good leader takes time. Although some individuals are naturally inclined to have good leadership skills, it is something anyone can learn and improve upon. With hard work, dedication and strategic planning, you can lead your team to success.
Men make history and not the other way around. In periods, where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.
The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas happen.