I am always surprised to find how few people realize that they are in leadership positions.  Most think that there is only one or just a few leaders in their organization, and that these are the people in the executive suite.  Not the case!

This is actually one of the reasons I conduct my leadership seminars.  Many people are in leadership positions and do not realize it, so they are unaware of the leadership actions they can and should be taking.  Another reason is because many people are put into leadership positions and are not given any training on how to be a leader.  Leadership training seems to be given only to those people who have reached the executive level.  Unfortunately, by that time they have been in leadership positions for years without any training, and they have likely learned their leadership skills by watching other people who have had no training.  They have developed bad habits and those bad habits have become routine components of their leadership behavior.  This pattern ends up perpetuating ineffectiveness among our leaders, and, unfortunately, that ineffectiveness ends up permeating the operations of the organization.

Any position in which you have people looking to you for direction or supervision is a leadership position.  What does this mean?  Does this mean that a person in a first line supervisory position is a leader?  Yes!  Does it mean that a person who is the president of a club is a leader?  Yes!  Does it mean that a person who is the captain of a team is a leader?  Yes!  There are many levels of leadership.  Now think about that question again … Are you a leader?

…the people reporting to you are looking for the same leadership from you that you are seeking from the CEO.

Let’s take the situation of a lower level supervisory or management position.  Now you realize that you are a leader – What do you do?  If you are not at the top of the ladder in your organization then you have the advantage, and the responsibility, to support the leadership efforts of your senior people.  That makes it both simple and difficult.  It makes it simple because, in a good situation, a general direction has been set and the steps to get there have been defined.  You, as the leader for your team within the larger organization, need to establish the direction for your department that is in line with the general direction of the business.  You need to to develop the plans and actions your department will take to support that direction.  You need to communicate that to your employees and make sure that they understand it and their role in it.  You need to establish an environment in your department that motivates your employees to achieve those goals.  You have to measure your progress toward those goals and take whatever corrective actions are necessary to ensure that you meet those goals.  The list goes on.

These are the SAME actions required of the senior executives, simply applied at a different level.    Remember this…the people reporting to you are looking for the same leadership from you that you are seeking from the CEO.  This does not refer to the magnitude of the decisions to be made, but rather an understanding of them.

In the case that you DO NOT endorse the general direction of the larger organization, then you have a different issue to deal with.  That is a discussion for another post.