PRACTICE the FIVE A's of LEADERSHIP

Here are a few quick reminders that you can keep top-of-mind, each day, to remind yourself of some of the most important and appreciated traits that you can display as a leader:

Approachable

Listen to what others have to say.  Make yourself accessible to others and invite them to speak with you about whatever is on their mind.

Accepting

Keep an open mind.  Good ideas can come from everyone on your team—managers, technicians, accountants, admins.   In fact, many of the best ideas do come from hourly staff (as opposed to traditional managers) because they are the ones working on the process or making the product.

Acknowledging

Recognize the contributions of others.  Thank someone every day and let them know when they’ve done a great job.

Accountable

Be responsible for yourself and the actions of others under your charge.

Adaptable

Change is not so much an aspect of business as it is business itself.  Think about where your organization and your people need to be in the future, not where you are today, and make the adjustments necessary to get there.

Model the Best, Remember the Worst

Do you remember some of the ‘Best’ leaders you’ve worked with?  Do you remember some of the “Worst’ ones that you’ve had the unfortunate experience of working for?  Well these memories can be an outstanding blueprint for you to develop your Leadership skills. 

There’s no question you were likely exposed to some very powerful lessons on effective leadership throughout your career.  If you’ve been promoted into a leadership position, you’ve already received them well before you moved into that role.  Where did they come from?  They are courtesy of all the managers, supervisors, leaders you’ve had throughout your working career.

Think back on all of the various people you’ve worked for/with over the years.  Some you’ll remember fondly, some not so fondly.  Undoubtedly some were great leaders—or at least they displayed behaviors that many were attracted to, as well as followed.  These were leaders who showed you, through their example, what you should be doing, appropriate behaviors, etc.   Follow their lead and emulate these leaders.  When in doubt ask yourself—“What would he/she do in this circumstance?” “How would they handle this situation?”   Then move forward!

Maybe your inventory of past managers also includes one or two difficult, challenging, or some might have called them, “jerks”. ..and you’d likely just as soon forget them.  DON’T!!  You need to remember these leaders, clearly and frequently, as well—every day.  They will provide your best lessons on what NOT TO DO.  By avoiding the poor leadership behaviors exhibited by these leaders, you’ll make sure to focus on the positive leadership traits and down the road, you won’t appear on any of your team members’ lists of their worst leaders J.

“People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy after.”

—Oliver Goldsmith

LISTEN and LEARN from Others

Have you ever been in a situation where someone in authority starts talking in your workplace, and you think to yourself—“This person has no clue!”—because his/her words bear no resemblance to reality?

Well you’re not alone.  All too often we forget one of the basics of leadership:  LISTENING.  Of all the leadership attributes important for success, listening may be the most important.  You can have many leadership skills, but if you don’t listen to people, it’s all for naught.

The leader who listens knows what is happening around him or her because listening opens doors to genuine communication.  It demonstrates respect and caring for others.

But listening only gets you part of the way to better leadership. You must also LEARN from it and use that learning to guide your actions.  It’s only through learning that we are able to change, grow, and prepare for the future.

Listening and learning help make leaders credible because they compel the leader to put people first, and that’s when things can really start to happen.

Here are a few techniques to help you become a better listener…and learner:

1)       Know the difference between hearing and listening.

2)      Adopt the 2/1 Rule:  Listen twice as much as you talk.

3)      Play the concentration game—Focus on what the speaker is saying and don’t jump to conclusions.

4)      Listen to what people are NOT saying.

5)      Welcome ideas that are not your own.

Be Sharply-Pointed Rather than Well-Rounded

That sounds odd and contradictory doesn’t it?  We’ve always been taught, throughout our career to be “well-rounded”, by our mentors, managers, and coaches.  But the reality is that you can’t accomplish everything you’d like to accomplish quickly or in a fast manner.  You need to decide where your speed will count most.  Decide where your growth can make the biggest difference, then  drive your motivation in that direction.

Fast growth requires sacrifice.  It requires you to ‘steal’ from other areas in your life, to take from one area and give to another.  It requires making trade-offs and serious compromises.  You need to ration your resources—your time, your energy and your attention.

Fast growth sometimes requires ‘greediness’ and it takes a lot to satisfy and achieve fast growth.  Why do people make sacrifices to achieve this?—Because this is what you’re betting on to protect your future.

Some of the things that have been eating up your time and energy can be sacrificed or traded off, can’t they?  All of the clutter that you’ve allowed to creep into your life that really doesn’t contribute anything to your future.  The routines you follow out of habit, and the urgent, trivial gunk that nags at you for attention, yet gives you nothing to help you grow.  It’s time to push these time-wasters to the side.

Think ‘few’, concentrate only on the essentials, and decide what you can IGNORE.

Most of us have too many choices available to us, and this seriously complicates our time management.  It also causes stress and stunts our development.  To speed our growth we must simplify.  What this comes down to is deliberately managing choices out of our lives.

Instead of scattering yourself, responding rapidly to the odds and ends around you, decide what really matters and what really counts.  Downsize your daily activities.  Don’t blunt your personal development by trying to do too many things at once.  Only by sharply focusing yourself can you can you achieve the direct energy necessary to truly accelerate your development.

The fuel that is necessary for fast growth comes when energy is contained, compressed and channeled in the right direction.  Direct yourself in a focused manner.  Energy gains faster momentum when there are fewer places for it to escape.

For Fast Career Growth--Grow Towards the Sun

Plants aim themselves at the sunlight , not away from it, if they’re looking to grow.  Similarly, if you’re looking to accelerate your career growth (fast career growth), aligning yourself with the world around you (i.e. growing toward the direction of business today) will accelerate your growth.  Fast results will come easier and provide more impact when you grow your career in the direction the business market  is moving or ‘wants you to grow’.  That’s not to say you cannot differentiate yourself in an effort to forward your career…you can certainly do that, and should, in conjunction with growing towards the sun.

Your self-development and career growth efforts should be aimed at building competencies somebody really wants to buy.  In this case, we’re talking about your employer (or potential one), the outfit that pays for your services.  That is your CUSTOMER.  Your customer is the ‘sun’ that you grow towards.  Point yourself and your growth towards that sun.  Point your direction and self-development toward ways that bring your employer (customer) their key benefit/desire:  New Profits.

Accelerated growth in the career sense doesn’t automatically come from making YOURSELF better.  It comes from being able to benefit your CUSTOMER even better.   Talent is nice to have, but the more important issue is whether you can deliver a “Profit-improver”?  Delivering quality work through a talented person is nice to have but in today’s rapidly-changing environment, the top line question is still the same—Are you a star at adding value in the direction your customer is moving??

It’s not about how good YOU are, as much as how good you will make THEM.  This will help you focus on relevant growth.

Concentrate on developing yourself in ways that will bring superior value to your end user (customer).  Make sure you know and respect your employer’s needs.  Emphasize how you and your skills can add value to the organization that is hiring you or your services and you create high marketability for yourself.

If you develop yourself in the right direction of the market, you can put a premium pricetag on yourself and still be seen as a bargain.  Contribute enough and you’ll create high demand for your work.

Like it or not, every one of us is at the mercy of the market.  You’ll be most successful at building your career if you remember to grow and sell what the market wants to buy.

 

STAYING IN SHAPE

STAYING IN SHAPE

Looking to build or strengthen your LEADERSHIP ‘muscles’?

Here are some exercises……TO AVOID:

 JUMPING to conclusions

PASSING the buck

STRETCHING the truth

BENDING the rules

STEPPING on others

DODGING your duty

PULLING others into your funk

SIDE-STEPPING problems

BREAKING your promises

THROWING others under the bus

 

PLAYING favorites

 

HOLDING others back

 

SHOOTING down the organization

Just SKATING by

 

LEADERS ARE BORN EVERY DAY, REGARDLESS OF POSITION OR TITLE