Title Does Not Confer Power, It Merely Imposes Greater Responsibility

 

Do you remember why you chose to go after that new leadership role, or seek appointment or election to an ascending role? Frequent responses start with “More”—More power, more (or better) compensation, more opportunity, more prestige, even more responsibility.  Oftentimes the response leads to what an individual may “Gain” by moving upward.

I always advise people considering making a jump to the next role to be mindful, and weigh the little luxuries that you may be giving up by moving to the next level, or role with greater responsibility..(see below)

--You can no longer put your own needs first

--You can no longer commiserate with others about discontent

--You can no longer make judgments with only one side of the story

--You must seek out and listen to multiple ideas, concerns, etc

--You can no longer walk away when things become dissatisfying..

Your actions and attitudes are always on display. Some actions, etc may not be those that should be copied by others.  Those actions/attitudes need to be left behind if you choose to accept that new responsibility.

Keep reminding yourself of the true reasons for accepting a leadership role and you’ll know if the greater responsibility is the right vision for you..

Does a Title Equate to Leadership?

 

You may have recently been promoted, appointed to, or been granted a new title—but does your team or organization have a new “Leader”? Can you recognize the difference??

Having a leadership ‘title’, role, or position and displaying leadership are not one in the same.

Your title was bestowed upon you, or you were appointed to, elected to, or became eligible for in the PAST.  What you did Yesterday has granted you the title you have received Today.

But true Leadership is something you must EARN through specific behaviors.  It is a test that continues on-going, and never ends.  It is based on what you will do Tomorrow, not upon your signature line in your email address.

Oftentimes, when you are placed into a new leadership role, it requires you to learn new behaviors or enable behaviors that you hadn’t used or didn’t have to employ before..

If you’ve recently obtained a new leadership role, or even if you’ve had a leadership title for a while—ask yourself, what drove your desire for that title or that role?

 

What Happens When Leadership Is Absent??

 

Communication is the most important factor of Leadership but what happens when Leadership itself is absent?

Several Things:

No one listens any longer.  No one pays attention.

Individuals stop working to perform at their best.

Teamwork disintegrates.

The workplace can become “nasty”.

Quality may suffer.

Some team members may leave your organization.

Some members may quit (mentally) and stay with your team.

Clients/customers leave.

Business can come to an end.

See all that can suffer when leadership is lacking?  GOOD NEWS!  This can be remedied.

Tune in for more…

Taking Communication Skills Further..

Yesterday we spoke about Communication—likely the most important word when it comes to Leadership.  How can you make communication even more effective?

Create a Shared Vision—

This means the collaborative shaping of an idea for the future. If a vision is to guide an organization, leaders must communicate it so that all team members understand their roles and what each must do to achieve the vision.

Start Everyone on Your Team on the Same Page—Give each member of the team an overview of the basics.  Assume nothing.  Rather it’s important teach everything.  Good leaders prepare their team, providing the tools and resources they’ll need to succeed.

Make Contact—Rather than waiting for others to come to you, reach out on a regular basis

Most Important Words in Leadership

 

Three of the most important words in leadership are communication, communication, communication.

True communication involves the participation of two individuals in speaking, active listening, and facilitating of each other’s goals.

Effective communication employs a Road Map with a series of well-planned steps that will facilitate those goals:

ESTABLISH the Vision—show people where you want to go

ARTICULATE the Strategy—tell them how to get there

IDENTIFY Benchmarks of Achievements – Determine how they will know they’re meeting those marks

PROVIDE a Flexible Method for Continuous Feedback—ask for input throughout the journey

A New Organizational Resistance--

 

Organizations are struggling to speed up.  Scrambling to adapt.  Trying to innovate, embrace new technologies, new norms, and respond to a rapidly-changing environment.

But something’s not working..

Word has it that half of all major change initiatives prove to be disappointments or even outright failures..  So what could the problem be?

Precious resources are being squandered on organizational civil wars.  Teams are fighting improvements instead of pulling forward.  They’re pulling in different directions instead of aligning with improvements.  They represent one of the major threats to your organization’s future.  Organizational resistance.

The quickest way for an organization to pick up speed is for resisters to take their feet off the brakes and become more adaptive.  Your goal is to free up the valuable energy in your organization that may be wasted by resistance.  Many causes or catalysts exist that drive resistance---lack of direction provided, poor goal-setting, poor communication, poor leadership, poor communication of vision etc.

Your challenge is to assess the reasons that may be causing resistance in your organization.  Oftentimes it isn’t as simple as assigning blame to a few resistant individuals.  It may be a larger issue that can be amended quickly with great leadership.

More to come..