LEADERSHIP -Part 1
For this newsletter, I turned to ‘Great Ted Talks – Leadership’ by Harriet Minter. In it, I identified four key traits that great leaders possess; Authenticity, Empathy, Vision and Resilience.
My suggestion is you treat this as a workbook and use it as a planning tool for your upcoming year. The questions following will guide you in this process.
Some of you may be leading teams, others may have only one employee. Either way, I suggest these concepts to improve your leadership performance.
1) Authenticity –
Be true both to yourself and to your employees. Be accountable to yourself and to your employees. Stand steadfast in your values and ideals.
Probably the most important cornerstones of leadership are openness and honesty. Don’t hide the bruises we’ve gotten on the way to the top. Share them with your staff and earn greater buy-in. In times of crisis or uncertainty, it is critical to communicate honestly. As a leader, your team looks to you to provide accurate information, connection with others, guidance and unification.
Authenticity may mean having difficult conversations with an individual or the whole team. It may even be looking at a difficult future for your industry or organization. A true leader will confront the worst possible scenarios head on with their team, and then plan for them.
Question: What message do you need to communicate right now?
Question: What are the bruises you have to share?
Question: What steps can you take to build trust and encourage authenticity amongst your team?
2) Empathy –
This is a new buzzword in leadership. Gone are the days of command and control. Empathy is a skill that can be learnt. Where do you begin…by asking questions! Ask about your employees, talk less, listen more. You will see the difference it makes to your leadership.
It is possible to feel empathy and kindness toward someone even when you disagree. Empathy gives both parties the chance to see the other side and sort through differences, even if challenging.
Often people won’t say they need help; you should look for signs. Are they behaving differently? What help do they need? As a leader, you want your team members to know you care. In the ‘authentic’ trait, you’ve learned how to communicate. Here you listen and hear their authentic selves. Best to provide an environment where your staff feels safe, to be open and honest.
As leaders, allow staff to bare their soul without prejudice. This is how to build trust in your organization.
True leadership is not only telling people what to do, but also empowering them to make their own decisions. By tuning in to the people you lead, you can develop a workplace that inspires all. This is ’empathy’.
Question: Have you noticed a change in behaviour in any of your team members?
Question: What must you do to foster a safe environment to encourage interaction and openness?
Question: How can you empower your employees?
Question: What authority can you delegate to them?
3)Vision-
You don’t need an MBA to be a visionary. If you believe in your vision, you have the opportunity to bring your people on board and change all your lives. However, you need to ‘sell’ your vision to gain engagement!
Vision isn’t based on what or how, but on why. It’s this ‘why’ that gets you out of bed every day and this ‘why’ must compel your team to go along for the ride. Simon Sinek says “people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it”.
The key to conveying your vision is to think about the words we use. Carefully choosing the words can add depth and weight to your ideas. Think about how you can tap into your employees’ experiences and emotions. You can have the greatest vision in the world, but if you can’t bring people along with you, it will never be more than an idea. With your team, allow them to see your vision, add to it, build on it and be apart of it. An inspirational leader moves from simply having his/her vision to leading the team that helps create it.
Question: What vision do you have for your team in the coming year?
Question: What words will you choose to convey your vision to elicit buy-in?
Question: How can your team enrich the vision and make it theirs?
4) Resilience –
This is about showing up day after day for you and your team. Stay motivated, even in the face of adversity. Your team must equally stay motivated. Society pushes us to find quick fixes for tough issues. True leadership understands that ‘getting it right’ often takes time, both in the planning and execution process.
Take ownership of your failures as well as your successes. It’s when you share your weaknesses and admit your failures that we begin to build trust.
Be brave; just as fear can be contagious, so can courage. When you take bold actions, you pass the bravery on. The opposite is also true; if afraid and you show it, you run the risk of spreading that fear to your team and colleagues. In a fail situation, lift your head up, pull yourself together and try again.
Question: How can you keep yourself and your team motivated?
Question: What weaknesses and failures are you ready to share?
Question: How do you choose to lead? Through Fear or Boldness?
Stay tuned for Part two in our next newsletter.
JAN WALLACE ASE