|
Leadership is about inspiring, stimulating, and influencing others to have a more satisfying life through what we stand for, what we say, and what we do.
“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” Ralph Waldo Emerson Here are three secrets that will make you stand out as a leader. #1 Learn to Express Love Now this is something that we are not use to saying. One of my posts garnered several looks when I first published the word love as something that needs to be expressed in the workplace. The truth is you cannot influence others if they can’t relate to you or if they don’t like you. This is the number one rule in any relationship. If you want to develop a relationship love is at the root. Now we are not talking about romantic love here: we are referring to the love of your work, the love of serving or helping others, and the love of self, for unless we love self if is extremely difficult to love others. To lead others we need to connect with them. We have to show that we care for them as individuals and as a team. This means leaders have to be vulnerable and show that they trust their followers. If people feel safe with their leader it has to come from the heart. And often when we operate from the heart we feel vulnerable. Expressing the love of a leader means that you are extending yourself to others and they understand that those expressions come from a genuine place. They know, deep down, that the leader’s intention is to help them succeed in life and that he or she will be available to them in their time of need. “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.” Eleanor Roosevelt #2. Excellence Leaders will have difficulty in influencing others if they are mediocre in what they do. Leaders need a vision to bring others to a place beyond the present. A leader may not have arrived at that place yet, but they know where they are going and can bring others to a new and exciting end. “Martin Luther King Jr got a C in public speaking, but that didn’t discourage him because he had dream.” Ljupka Cvetanova, the New Land. In their quest to bring people along they become role models. To be excellent is to do things where people say to themselves, “This man or women is great. I want to be like him or her.” This means that in order to excel leaders need to become the best versions of themselves. It is through the leader’s behavior that they are known and followed. To excel means to rise above the norm in work, family and with others. People of excellence are looked up to and followed. But this is not easy, in fact it can be one of the most challenging aspects for the leader. Why? Because this is self-growth and developmental work. A leader must work on him/herself to be the type of person people want to follow. #3. Support Excellence Strong leaders are not selfish. They want people to succeed in a way that gives them self-satisfaction. A satisfaction that enables them to give of themselves toward the end where the leader is taking them. In the process the leader is helping them grow and become the best that they can be. A leader does this through their mentorship with them. Love, the pursuit of excellence and supporting excellence in others are foundational to becoming not a good leader but a great leader. How would you rate yourself in these three areas on a scale of 1-10. And when you rate yourself make room for continued growth and development. It is rare that we have reached the top rung of the leadership ladder. If you want to learn more about leadership there are two resources in the Storefront, "Love Serves" and "Leader/Manager Masterclass." Just click the links opposite. You can also consider joining Fortis Membership where more you will find several more resources on Leadership and Management. “Remember people who have helped you along the way, and don’t forget to lift someone up.” Roy T. Bennett Thanks for reading and always remember Be Safe, Take Care, Stay Healthy and become the Best Version Of Yourself. Richard Fontanie
0 Comments
All leaders reflect a certain style or behavioural profile from which others begin to describe them. Some are directive and take bold action, others are charismatic and engaging collaborators, others are more methodical and circumspect, while others are agreeable and people focused. Spring is as a good time as any to revisit your leadership style and review how you may be projecting your leadership behaviors.
A leader is involved in three broad areas of work: crafting a vision, influencing others to align with that vision, and championing its execution. Understanding the link between your leadership style and the work you do as a leader will help you adjust to the differing circumstances each of these three areas bring. Let's take a brief look at the four leadership styles. The Directive Leader: The directive leader is action oriented and moves people to get things done. The danger signs exhibited by an overly directive leader is impatience, insensitivity and lack of concern for others. In their haste in getting things done this type of leader may tend to override others, and blame others because things are not going fast enough. Directive leaders may also push people to the extent that they feel high levels of anxiety and stress which may result in a reduction of overall productivity. Directive leaders can craft bold and dynamic visions but may have difficulty in bringing others in alignment with that vision and miss the nuances that are important when working with people as they execute the vision. The Analytical Leader: These leaders like to delve into detail, and sometimes have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees. They may have a hard time articulating a vision because they see too many options and as a result may have a tendency to constantly change direction. Analytical leaders are usually cautious and like to think things through. However, their tendency to be methodical and attention to detail may give the impression that their vision is the 'only one" and the "right" one. They enjoy the intellectual challenge of crafting a vision and engaging others in aligning the vision. However, they may fall short in overseeing the execution of the plan because they may pay too much attention to detail or procrastinate too long. The Fitting-in Leader: A third leadership profile sees leaders wanting to fit in with the group or team. They are usually friendly, supportive, collaborative and prone to build stable environments. Their vision is one of a calm organization where people are collaboratively working together in a cooperative environment. Alignment around the vision is key for them and they work hard to harmonize differing points of view so that there is a consistent and an aligned direction. They also seek a collaborative and coordinated effort in the execution of the plan. The watch-phrases for these types of leaders are over accommodating, maintaining stability when flexibility is required and fearing ambiguity and risk when action is necessary. The Outgoing Leader: This type of leader is one who is outgoing, relational and highly communicative. This leader likes to network, work the phone, bring people together both socially and corporately. They are usually excellent at influencing others and selling ideas. They have a certain charm and enthusiasm about them and exhibit a sense of optimism. They can also be impulsive and disorganized. They are expansive visionaries, and tend to enthusiastically influence others to buy into their vision and excel in keeping others abreast as the plan moves to execution. Their strength ensures high levels of communication but their weaker tendencies could cause disorganization especially if they act impulsively. Can you identify the leadership tendencies in Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, George W Bush, Pope Francis, Angela Merkel, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton? Each has a predominate style that reflects the profiles outlined above. If you can pick out the style of these leaders you can see it in others as well as your own. There is no right or wrong leadership style. The leader goes amiss when he or she pushes the extremities of the style as when the directive leader becomes over dictatorial, the analytical leader becomes paralyzed in analysis, the fit-in leader becomes part of the group rather than the leader of the group, or the out-going leader becomes too friendly or overly impulsive. The good news is that most leaders have qualities which reflect several of the behaviors identified in each of the profiles above. They are a composite, yet a predominant profile emerges whether that be directive and dictatorial, relational and communicative, quiet and collaborative, or cautious and analytical. All strong leaders have a sense of confidence, know themselves well and use their strengths to advance their vision, align others around that vision and execute the vision through others while exercising their predominant profile. Questions to Ponder: As you move into spring is it time to think about your approach to leadership; how do you tend to lead? Can you identify with one of the profiles above? What strengths and weaknesses do you bring to your organization? What quirks do you need to watch out for? What modifications do you need to make in your approach? Do you use your leadership style to meet others' needs, or do you use it to meet your own needs? If you want to learn more about assessing you leadership profile let us know. |
Categories
All
Archives
January 2024
LeaderManager Master Class
|
RSS Feed
Photo from CityofStPete