Expectations on Leaders
I attended an author’s briefing today for a new book called The Work of Leaders. It was written by a team of four authors and one of them, Julie Straw, presented the briefing. Lots of great information but one thing she presented near the beginning got my attention and got me thinking and so I wanted to share it with you.
In the briefing, Julie shared some insight into a lot of the research they did in support of the book. What caught my attention was a survey they did on employees asking about the shortcomings on their leaders. They distilled it down and came up with three primary issues that people have with their leaders. They are, in order,
- they want them to be more active about finding new opportunities for the team
- they want them to focus more on improving process and making things easier for people
- they want them to spend more time motivating and encouraging their followers
What struck me about this was the comments themselves. Certainly number three is a quality that leaders should embrace. In fact, a leader should spend the vast majority of their time encouraging people, equipping people, and motivating them to become better than they are. But the other two items, #1 and #2, are not really leadership issues; they are management issues.
Managers or Leaders
One of the things this tells us is that many people put management and leadership in the same bundle. When people say that the leader should be more active about finding new opportunities for the team and focus more on improving process, they are really saying that these are behaviors they would like to see in their managers that obviously they aren’t seeing.
Remember the simple formula:
managers are about process, leaders are about people.
So seeking new opportunities and improving process, making life easier for employees; those are the job of the manager. Equipping, empowering, encouraging, motivating, and growing are the roles of the leader.
That said, to be a truly effective manager you must also be an effective leader. In fact, perhaps what the results of the survey really tell us is that people would like to see their managers both be more proactive in their management roles but also would like to see them be better leaders than they are.
Leaders are Grown
I mentioned earlier that leaders have a responsibility to grow their followers; it’s an enormous responsibility. But for a leader to grow others, they must first grow themselves. You cannot give what you don’t have to give. I think leaders are recognizing this more and more. One of the other survey results cited in the book The Work of Leaders is what people think they need the most in order to be better equipped for the jobs. What was number one?
Leadership Training
The challenge is that we can’t just throw a band aid on it. Offering one training course, or sending someone to a conference, or giving them a book to read will not make them anymore of an effective leader than sitting in a boat makes you a good sailor.
Leaders Sail the Waters Daily
While sitting in the boat you are surrounded by the tools you need to sail, but you must first gain knowledge about sailing. You must spend time developing and applying the skills to sail; knowing how to gauge the wind, navigate the water, determine the course, and bring all elements in line with moving in the desired direction on the water. You must know how to trim the sails, handle the helm, coordinate the crew, and change direction to as the sea and wind changes to keep yourself on course. You must be mentored by a more experienced sailor. You must learn from your mistakes on the water. And you must do all of this day in and day out to become the sailor you were meant to be.
If you are not engaged on a DAILY basis in developing your leadership skills, the growth necessary to become an excellent leader will simply not occur or will be haphazard and slow at best. Leadership growth occurs best when it is
- Daily – you must do something every day to develop your skills
- Intentional – you must have a plan for the skills you need to develop and how you will develop them
- Scheduled – you must set aside time on your calendar for it; otherwise any excuse will help you avoid it
- Guided – Someone needs to help you see and navigate the process; like a coach or mentor
- Progressive – build on a skill one by one; don’t attempt to master anything in a day
Spend as much (if not more time) on developing yourself and your people. When you do, you will be surprised to find how many of the other process-oriented problems will take care of themselves.
Not sure how to start, why not call me for a complimentary consultation.
Action Plan
- Identify three skills you need to develop further. Remember to work from a position of strength and not weakness; in other words, identify your three strongest skills and seek to make them better.
- Pick the one you want to start on. Locate resources to help you develop that skill and secure them.
- Set aside time on your calendar DAILY to work on it. It should be the same time every day. Guard it ruthlessly; let nothing short of a client need or spurting blood interrupt it.
- Keep me posted on how your are doing. I want to hear your success stories.