Until recently I have avoided this inevitable discussion about leadership. The reason is that there is so much crap out there in the marketplace, like 10,000 books on leadership. So, the only way I am going to talk about it is to frame the things that make sense. That make sense to me.
If leadership is who you are, then how do you become a better leader? This does not mean changing who you are. This means becoming a better you.
In his book Beneath the Armor, Ole Carlson talks about how we come into the world perfectly equipped to be a leader. We are:
- Curious (about all possibilities)
- Enthusiastic (unbridled)
- Energetic (from within)
- Inquisitive (searching)
- Explorer (turning over every rock, just to see)
- Learner (always getting better)
But through our lives, sometimes to be better managers, we learn behaviors that do not serve us well.
- Instead of Curious (we have a textbook answer)
- Instead of Enthusiasm (we become reserved)
- Instead of Energetic (we measure our excitement, look for outside stimulation, alcohol and drugs)
- Instead of Inquisitive (we know the answer)
- Instead of Explorer (we know the right and only way)
- Instead of Learner (we get good, we become learned, we become an expert)
How many options does an expert have to solve a particularly troubling problem?
Becoming a better you is a process of stripping away those behaviors that do not serve you well. Make a list. Post a comment. What behaviors and habits do you have that do not serve you well?
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Our next management program kicks off January 22 in Fort Lauderdale. Send me an email if you are interested. -TF
Most of the time I have an immediate answer to the problems that my colleagues bring to my table. This answer generally comes from my past experience, something I have read or plain observation.
What I think, I am doing wrong is that I am not trying to think different, each time the same type of question is asked. I don’t explore the alternatives and I just shoot out the first answer that comes to my mind. A leader is a guy whom the followers look for when they need answers. I think my effectiveness as a leader is not improving over time with this sort of behavior.
I think you are right, instead of being inquisitive – I know the answer and instead of being an explorer – I know the only one way.
Mukul,
You are on the right track and I want to push you one level deeper. When a team member approaches you with a problem, it is not enough to think past your first instinctive response to a second, third or fourth alternative. Leadership requires that the team member be engaged in the pursuit of the resolution. One brilliant leadership response is, “I don’t know, what do you think?”
Now we are certainly not going to allow the team member to wander aimlessly, but through questions and exploration, move them to an effective resolution and course of action. Yes, this does take time, but what are the benefits gained?
Tom, I am about three weeks new to the leadership circle. One behavior that doesn’t serve me well, and I recently engaged in, is that I occassionally talk bad about people. It’s something that I don’t do often, but it has come out before when I have been frustrated; especially frustrating when someone isn’t receptive of the advice I give to them.
To me this behavior is unacceptable, because I believe that my thoughts and feelings can be sensed, even if I try to hide them.
In fact, one recent incident has placed me to rethink my own integrity. I’m in an environment where instant messaging is a norm, but I sent a very rude comment about a woman to another supervisor. In this case though, that supervisor didn’t get the comment, instead she did because I placed it an instant message window we were communicating in earlier.
In a way, I see how I can learn from this experience, but in another, I’m positive that I’ve killed whatever account of trust I had with her.
I would have to say that that is an ugly behavior.
I once read that in order to be a great leader you must have great followers.
“Leading from Front” – Wierd? OK so the reason I say that it doesnt serve me well is that my nature wantes me to be involved (Inquisitive is the right word), I want to be there for my collegues, peers or to that matter anyone who is facing problems. I do this though I am not an expert in that area. e.g. I have a habit to sit beside and pair with the developer to fix the issue if they are sorta urgent/critical etc… not often but I stay late or work weekends with them almost always…
Somewhere I think that this is casuing a lot of dependency on me which probably is not allowing the growth of the resources…
and that I should slowly get away from this(Ultimate Delegation?). I also think that this imposes my thoughts on the resource and his power to think is chopped somewhere…
what do you think?
Regards
Sameer
How about:
risky (willing to take challenges)
risk averse (fear of failure/criticism)
Moving into management stresses these characteristics because you have more resposibility and more at stake. No longer “I fail”, but rather, “the team fails”. It becomes easier to take less and less risk. But how can you lead if there is no risk worth taking?
I know my fears of failure grew substantially when suddenly, for the first time, I had people working for me. The result was paralysis. The situation luckily was not business critical and my career was not impacted but it certainly was a learning experience.
Cheers
Sean