Committed Leadership
By Bill Illis, Project Manager
Being an effective leader is a prized skill. Surprisingly, leaders come from all levels of an organization, and many have no managerial authority or direct reports. While some people seem to be more natural in a leadership role, leadership is something that you can continually refine and perfect through experience and learning. The truth is that developing your leadership skills can help you accomplish more and gain additional respect in your daily life.
Build Relationships
Leadership is more than just getting a crowd to follow directions. It is about building powerful and influential relationships with people, and trust is at the core of these relationships. Being genuine and truly caring about the people you work with goes a long way in establishing that trust. In turn, by supporting those who support you, you earn people’s respect and lay the groundwork for you to be their leader.
Be Open and Honest
It should not be a surprise to anyone that honesty and trust are directly related; however, being open and honest goes beyond just having integrity. It is about fostering open communication between team members. One critical aspect is the ability to deliver both praise and criticism efficiently. Recognition should be realistic and reaffirm the strengths of the individual. Providing accurate and specific instances that reinforce the positive behavior are an efficient way to build the team up. There is no limit on the amount of praise to give, but it must be truthful. If your comments are perceived as empty or shallow, the result will have the opposite effect.
While praise is a means to highlight an individual’s strengths, criticism gets a bad rap. It is more complicated because it has the potential to destroy relationships rather than build on them. Being constructive when dealing with an individual’s weakness is essential . When presenting negative feedback, you should always come from a place of caring . Be helpful, humble, not personal, and address the person directly, in private. For an excellent resource to develop the delivery of candid and direct feedback, Kim Scott’s book Radical Candor discusses in-depth ways to foster open communications and deliver all kinds of feedback.
Encourage Open Discussion
Communication and trust is a two-way street. While delivering information is essential, being receptive and open-minded to your team’s or other employees’ suggestions is vital to its success. Open discussion is not always easy to adopt as a leader when you have authority over a group of people. Establishing an environment in which people can challenge your leadership, department goals, and even organizational changes may seem counterproductive. However, by inviting open discussion on difficult topics and using collaboration as a tool, it is a great way to encourage change as well as show your coworkers that you are working for them.
Set an example, and follow through
Once trust is established, setting expectations is often a role that falls to the leader of a group, and you must set an example. It is essential to make sure your personal expectations exceed that of what you expect. For instance, if you set an expectation that people arrive on time, your own expectation should be to arrive early. By having a higher standard, it is natural for people to follow your lead by your actions, not your words.
Accountability
Accountability goes hand-in-hand with building trust and delivering feedback. Holding people responsible for missing deadlines or poor performance shows that your expectations have real meaning. While this is a “follow-through” activity, it is only half of the battle. You must also be accountable to your team for your performance. As the leader, if you drop the ball, you must own it or you will risk losing your coworkers’ trust. As the leader, it must start with you.
Conclusion
Communication and trust is the foundation for leadership. If you build skills in both areas, you will be better prepared to achieve your goals, implement a new initiative, or change the world with new ideas. Using a collaborative approach with your team and encouraging open relationships can be a means to set a new course for your organization with trust as its foundation. As General George S. Patton once said, “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.” Trusting your team to get the job done requires their trust in you.