Published by Scott Neilson on 17 Dec 2009 at 02:08 pm
Are you a leader?
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.
Cheryl Howard on 17 Dec 2009 at 2:34 pm #
You raise excellent points! But you’re preaching to the choir in my case. I worked for a company that minimized managers of people and emphasized Individual Contributors. What that meant is that I had to find and motivate volunteers for projects or learn how to do everything myself. I did both–and it was far harder to work with people who wanted to help but worked 50+ hours a week themselves. My experiences taught me how to 1) inspire others, 2) reward them adequately if not monetarily, and 3) work with the group instead of giving orders.
I have raised this subject whenever I apply for a manager job and HR asks, “How many people did you have on your staff?” My answer now is “It varied depending on the project and the deadline.” Conducting annual performance reviews is one of the least important aspects of managing a team in my view.
Scott Neilson on 17 Dec 2009 at 3:02 pm #
Thanks for your comment Cheryl. Sounds like you have had it even tougher than most. But, it also sounds like you have devised a very effective way of making it happen anyway. Great survival tactics! Good for you. I am surprised though that you had difficulty motivating volunteers. Tell me more about that…I usually find that volunteers are highly self-motivated. Also, I would be interested to hear what has been the reward that has worked for you and how you inspire others.
Christine Davidson on 17 Dec 2009 at 8:53 pm #
Thank you for your insightful words. I could not agree with you more. Too many companies wait far too long to begin leadership training, and as you pointed out, too late is a very dangerous thing. It then becomes a domino effect. I also think that without this very important training, there are leaders who are not capable of recognizing leadership qualities in the individuals on their teams. Again, very dangerous, as without this recognition and subsequent training for those talented individuals the strength of the departments and the entire operational structure is then diluted.
My daughter, who is currently in college, has just finished her second semester. When she was signing up for her courses back in September, I encouraged her to take a Leadership course. She has now just finished the course and informed me that the Leadership course was “the biggest waste of time” that she has had so far. I think that importance, or lack thereof, of good leadership training starts very early. What could have been an excellent learning experience for her has been useless and unproductive. What do you see as an effective way to change this attitude?
I look forward to your next posting…..
Scott Neilson on 18 Dec 2009 at 9:40 am #
Unfortunately, a lot of leadership training is conducted by academics, not leaders. They have studied a lot, and they know a lot, but most have never applied it. It is like having a soccer coach who has never played the game teaching a team how to play based on what he or she has read about it. So, the focus tends to be on concepts. The actual skill of leading requires a lot of interpretation of specific situations in applying those concepts. Those concepts are hard to apply even for those with leadership experience. It is often far out of the realm of understanding for students who have had little or no leadership experience. In the seminars I conduct at universities the most common feedback I get is that they want to hear more actual examples of what I have done in specific situations…I am guessing that what they need is a context within which to understand how to apply the concepts we are talking about.
The other thing is that most leadership training talks about specific skills. If you go to the bookstore and look in the leadership section there is book after book on this skill, that skill, the top 50 skills, the indispensible skills, etc. All these skills are right…and all are wrong…depending on the situation. Where leadership training tends to fall short is in telling people how to apply these concepts…when to use any given skill. In all honesty, I do not think that most university level instructors can do this effectively because, again, they are academics, not business leaders…they haven’t done it, they have only read about it.
Alberto Grignolo on 30 Jan 2010 at 12:57 pm #
Your piece is thought-provoking, and it provokes the following thoughts from me, Scott:
1) Some of us are blessed by being in the position of working for effective leaders. I take your point that at times “leaders” are not leaders except by title. But when we are able to observe and work for individuals who effect positive change (collecting the pertinent data, diagnosing the problem correctly, and then taking action, as you point out) we learn and have a chance to emulate good leadership behaviors. How do we know that we have the right leaders? Well, in a capitalist system, earnings/share is an important metric. In volunteerism, it is any sort of measurable results that matters. As you suggest, at the end of the day, leadership must produce results that are relevant to the stated mission of the organization. As I look at my leaders (role models), they have done exactly that, and ethically so, and that’s good enough for me.
2) Leaders should not be defined by the size of the organization that they are responsible for running, but rather by their impact. For example, I can think of some excellent leaders who have few or no direct reports. The concept of “influence without authority” comes to mind; some individuals are influential through their thinking, their ideas, their modeling certain behaviors, their gravitas, their track record. Another relevant concept is “thought leadership”, which can change the world through the power of one person’s ideas, generated by candlelight. When people are motivated into positive action and personal growth by the thoughts and words of someone they do not report to, I would submit that we are witnessing the fine work and direct impact of a leader.