TIPS FOR BEING A BETTER LEADER
Leadership can feel like a scary business. Hey, let's face it: we often make it up as we go along.
Unfortunately, for a majority of the organizations I talk to, leadership training is either a luxury or a threat. And so I hear them telling their new managers, "Sorry, spending money for a workshop--let alone freeing someone up for three days--is out of the question. Training funds are easy targets for cost-cutting measures because they're really not all that necessary, are they? But then, so are employees (which is why we're too shorthanded to send you for training)." Meanwhile, I can also hear them thinking, "What if our new managers come back from this workshop better equipped to lead than we are? They might start questioning our decisions, or even passing us by on their way up the corporate ladder."
In other words, you are on your own when it comes to developing leadership skills, and sometimes you will just have to make it up as you go along. But, luckily enough, you now have me as your guide.
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Got credibility? Prove It!
I believe that integrity is what leadership is all about. I've spent nearly three decades in leadership positions, including a nineteen-year engagement with a Fortune 500 bank. I've presided over technology workers and fry cooks, clerical staffs and sales-people, ambitious up-and-comers and working stiffs, highly paid professionals and nonprofit volunteers. I keep returning to the same conclusion: people are searching for leaders with integrity who prove their credibility continuously.But how do you prove your credibility? To help current and future leaders answer that question, I created The Leading from the Heart Workshop, a three-day program devoted to teaching values-based leadership. The workshop is a vehicle for sharing my experiences, research, ideas, and enthusiasm for the leadership craft. My book, Vital Integrities, like the workshop, focuses on six behaviors that I determined are common to values-based leaders, practices I refer to as "Vital Integrities."
At the beginning of my workshops, I ask participants to identify the leadership dilemmas they face every day. Leaders have many common problems, so I typically hear similar issues in every workshop. And because you probably have the same challenges, too, I have listed and addressed the most frequently asked questions below.
How Do You Encourage People to Take Initiative?
Start by letting your employees know that you want them to demonstrate initiative. Too many managers take for granted that their employees intuitively understand that expectation. Want your employees to make some decisions on their own? Great, but do they know that?
Next, help employees understand that failures are both inevitable and permissible. Employees who attribute their past failures to personal incompetence will be hesitant to show initiative in the future. And be sure to celebrate the failures of workers who venture outside their comfort zones. When they fall down, pick them up, dust them off, wipe away any tears, and send them back on their way--with your promise of support as they try again.
Finally, resist the urge to micromanage your empowered employees. Set high expectations for your employees and, most importantly, for yourself--have faith in your abilities to train and motivate others. Once you trust yourself, trusting your employees is easy.
How Do You Get Your Employees to Follow the Rules?
The reason some workers follow rules more closely than others is simple: everyone is at a different place in their ethical maturity journey. Those who follow every rule--and tattle on those who bend some--are still in the obedience stage. And some people never do, in fact, advance beyond the point of deferring to authority. Others are just now realizing that they have ethical choices and are beginning to test the limits of their freedom, like rebellious teenagers--or baby boomers experiencing a mid-life crisis. Still others have reached the point where they carefully consider the consequences of--and take responsibility for--their decisions.
So, as leaders, is it really our job to make employees obedient? Or should we pull them toward ethical maturity? Unfortunately, too many managers prefer obedience, reasoning that telling employees what is best for the company is easier than teaching workers how to recognize it for themselves.
The real secret to persuading employees to follow rules lies in your organization's values, and in living by the values you profess.
How Do You Promote Teamwork?
What a wonderful idea: employees cooperating with one another, placing the organization's goals before their individual interests. Why then, is it so difficult--in fact, damned near impossible--to persuade employees to work together? Because, regardless of the lip service we give to promoting teamwork, we discourage it at the same time by means of our actions.People do what you reward them to do. Yet most organizations forget to reward teamwork. Instead, they build winner-take-all compensation systems around the private interests of individual employees. Sell the most, and win that terrific cruise. Despite this obvious disparity, most leaders seem to have no clue as to why getting employees to work together is their toughest challenge.
The best approach for getting your employees to work together is to structure their rewards, and the organizational culture, all around teamwork.
About the Book
HR Magazine says Vital Integrities is "Raising leaders' awareness about their actions."This comprehensive and practical guide to leadership is designed to be every manager's long-term companion, blending research with real-life stories, and highlighting six leadership skills--called Vital Integrities--critical to inspiring today's employees. Perfect for managers, supervisors, team leaders, and professionals at all levels.
Hardcover, 272 pages
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How Do You Hold Employees Accountable?
We want our employees to take responsibility for their actions, but by definition, the word "accountability" is threatening. It underscores that management expects you to account for your actions. Just look at its synonyms: answerability, burden, culpability, fault, guilt, incrimination, and liability. And you want people to welcome the idea of accountability?
Most managers regard accountability as one-sided: they hold workers responsible for results, but fail to provide the guidance and resources needed to accomplish the job. And some managers even think giving away their authority means passing the blame downward. But if you value accountability, the best way to prove it is by setting a good example.
How Do You Improve Workplace Communication?
In their efforts to improve communication, companies feed employees the only information they know how to convey--their financial data. But workers want to see the connection between their values and interests and the company's. They understand that the company needs to make a profit. But they want to know how that profit relates to such values as quality, customer service, helping workers stay safe, or protecting the environment. So leaders must be able to communicate inspiring messages that promote the organization's values.Everything we do as leaders communicates something to our employees. The words we choose set the tone for openness, respect, and trust. The stories we tell determine how employees remember our messages. Whether we're engaged listeners, or absent ones, our listening actions convey as much to employees as what we say. Remember, it's all about our conversations. So master the art of listening and speaking with your employees.
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- The leadership tips on this lens are taken from the book, Vital Integrities: How Values-Based Leaders Acquire and Preserve Their Credibility. You can download the book's Introduction here.
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How Do You Manage Multiple Generations?
Effectively leading your multigenerational workforce means taking time to understand what each person needs to succeed. You must know who prefers working independently, and who likes belonging to a team. Who favors close supervisor interaction, and who prefers the freedom of empowerment. Who's uncomfortable with computers, and who fancies exploring technology's cutting edge. This is a good reason to "rehire" your employees every day--don't assume that everyone wants the same raises, titles, or power, and find out what truly inspires your employees.Although employees have generational interests, fears, and aspirations, they all prefer working for organizations that exhibit values which closely match their own. So while generational influences might drive what individual workers value, values-based leadership is the best way to guarantee alignment with every generation.
How Do You Handle a Micromanaging Boss?
Try to understand why your boss micromanages you--specifically. In other words, find out whether your boss mistrusts everyone, or just you. Be a risk seeker and ask your boss if you're fulfilling his or her expectations as a leader. If your performance does need improving, this kind of candid conversation with your supervisor can help position you to grow as a leader. On the other hand, because people avoid giving the boss unpleasant information, drawing attention to micromanagement behavior could actually help your manager recognize a leadership weakness.
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Adrie
Hi Posted November 25, 2007 |
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reasonablerobinson
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Contact George
To contact George Brymer, email him at george.brymer@allsquareinc.com Visit My Others Lenses
- Vital Integrities
- A lens devoted to my book, Vital Integrities.
- Leadership in the Age of Corporate Governance
- More information about my work, including free e-book downloads.
