Simple Leadership Basics

A great cloud of jargon, debate, and junk theory surrounds the idea of leadership, what it is, who does it, and how to do it well. But if you have just been promoted, and you're responsible for a group for the first time, there are only a few things you really need to know about leadership.

When you get promoted and become responsible for the performance of a group you become a leader. But you don't undergo some magical change. In fact, it will probably take you over a year to completely adjust to your new role.

You're a leader because the people in your group treat you like one. The only choice you have is what kind of job you'll do.

When you become a leader your power actually goes down. As an individual contributor, you just have to decide to work harder, longer or smarter to improve performance. When you're responsible for the performance of a group, the group is your destiny. They choose whether to act or not.

When you become a leader, your influence goes up. The people who work for you pay attention to what you say and do. They adjust their behavior accordingly.

The result is that you use your behavior (what you say and do) to influence the behavior of the people who work for you to achieve a defined objective.

Achieving the objective is part of your job as a leader. The other part is caring for your people.

It may be possible to achieve good short term results without caring for your people. But you can't achieve long term success for you or your company without the willing cooperation of the best folks you can find.

At the end of the day, you can measure your leadership based on those two standards. Did we accomplish the mission? Are the members of my group better off today than yesterday?

You can find out more about all of this and learn it almost effortlessly from my book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership.

Leadership: Is It For You?

Leadership is something that is fundamentally part of a society. It is necessary in any good society that someone stands up and takes charge. Leadership is essential, we know that, but does that mean everyone out there is a leader? The fact of the matter is that some individuals are not made to be leaders. They are followers. And just as important in society as leaders are followers. So, where do you lie? Are you going to play leadership roles within your life?

For many people, the instincts to take those leadership roles just comes to them. It is just something that happens. They step up to the plate when needed. They respond first in class. They take charge of the baseball game on the playground. They step up to the plate on the job. While you can not be first in every case, individuals that have leadership skills will often be seen and heard throughout their lives.

But, not all leaders are born with this talent. Many of them must learn it. People with an ambition to be a leader can do so by taking classes and studying the necessary skills that it takes to be a leader. While all of this may sound simple, it can be quite a task to learn. It is hard to teach a person to react in a situation that is not planned well.

Because leaders are determined by their actions, we often see that leadership roles are filled with individuals who put themselves out there to be chosen, so to speak. But, this is not always the case. In many cases of emergency, leaders are those that take charge long before anyone else reacts. In that, these individuals will have a cool head about themselves and be able to see the necessary work ahead while others are worrying, panicking or simply in shock. These are probably the true leaders in our society.

How Coaching can Help you Reach your Goals

When you hear the word “coach”, what comes first into your mind? Do you picture a foortball team with a man/woman shouting out instructions?

Coaching is not only for sports teams; it is now used widely in leadership and management, but why is coaching so popular?

Coaching is one of the six emotional leadership styles proposed by Daniel Goleman. As a leadership style, coaching is used when the members of a group or team are competent and motivated, but do not have an idea of the long-term goals of an organization.

This involves two levels of coaching: team and individual. Team coaching makes members work more effectively together. In a group of individuals, not every person will have nor share the same level of competence and commitment to the goal. A group may be a mix of highly competent and moderately competent members with varying levels of commitment. These differences can often cause friction between the members.

The coach helps the members level their expectations. Also, the coach manages differing perspectives so that the common goal of the team is more important than the personal goals and interests of the team members. In a big organization, leaders need to align the staffs’ personal values and goals with that of the organization so that long-term directions can be pursued.

Individual coaching is an example of situational leadership at work. It aims to mentor one-on-one building up the confidence of members by affirming good performance during regular feedbacks; and increase competence by helping the member assess his/her strengths and weaknesses towards career planning and professional development. Depending on the individual’s level of competence and commitment, a leader may exercise more coaching behavior for the less-experienced members. Usually, this happens in the case of new staff members. The direct supervisor gives more defined tasks and holds regular feedbacks for the new staff, and gradually lessens the amount of coaching, directing, and supporting roles to favor delegating as competence and confidence increase.

Coaching also develops high commitment to common goals. A coaching leader balances the attainment of immediate targets with long-term goals towards the vision of an organization. As mentioned earlier, with the alignment of personal goals with organizational or team goals, personal interests are kept in check. By constantly communicating the vision through formal and informal conversations, the members are inspired and motivated. Setting short-term team goals aligned with organizational goals; and making an action plan to attain these goals can help sustain the increased motivation and commitment to common goals of the members.

Leadership by example is extremely important in coaching. A coach loses credibility when he or she cannot practice what they preaches. This means that the coach should be well organized, highly competent is his or her field, communicates openly and encourages feedback, and has a clear idea of the organization’s vision-mission-goals. If a team member experiences good coaching, he or she is most likely to do the same things when entrusted with formal leadership roles.

Some words of caution though: coaching is just one of the styles of leadership. It can be done in combination with the other five emotional leadership styles depending on the profile of the emerging team. Moreover, coaching as a leadership style requires that you are physically, emotionally, and mentally fit most of the time since it involves two levels of coaching: individual and team. Your members expect you to be the last one to give up or bail out in any situation especially during times of crises. A coaching leader must be conscious that coaching entails investing time on each individual, and on the whole team. Moreover, that the responsibilities are greater since while you are coaching members, you are also developing future coaches as well.

Building a Strong, Productive Team

Building astrong, productive team is not a small feat. To take a number of diverse personalities and build them into a collaborative team is a challenge of the highest order that only a true leader can accomplish. Such an effort is certain to encounter obstacles and frustrations along the way. But it also is likely to encounter some pleasurable moments. The important thing is always to keep in mind a vision of the productive team and not be overwhelmed by the obstacles and frustrations.

Transforming an unproductive team into a productive team can not be achieved through a single bold and imaginative move or through some magical means. Rather, it is necessary to do many small things over an extended period of time. These are summarized in the following three guidelines that follow.

1. Decide on the type of team you are looking to build. In the book “Game Plans,” Robert Keidel makes interesting comparisons between organizational teams and sports teams. He focuses on three different sports teams: baseball, football, and basketball and shows their counterparts in business and industry. Keidel does not suggest that any particular sports team model is ideal, because any one of them might be appropriate under a given set of circumstances. The point that is emphasized is to know exactly what game your organization or unit is playing (or should be playing) and then choose the appropriate model.

2. Communicate your vision. We have stressed that one of the chief functions of leadership is to create a clear vision of the desired state of the organization. This vision should be an exciting view of the future that will inspire the members of the team to put forth their best efforts. The important thing is not to keep your vision a secret. Share it with your people and solicit their ideas on how best to embellish the vision and then convert it into reality.

3. Communicate your philosophy of management. As a manager, you should have a basic philosophy of management: an elucidation of your concept of management and how the management function should be carried out. Included in this philosophy of management should be a clear statement of values, goals, and strategies. It is important that they be consistent and that they support and reinforce one another. Do not keep your philosophy of management a secret. Share it with your people. They will then understand "where you are coming from." Most important, make certain that your day-to-day decisions and actions are a true echo of your expressed philosophy.