Most leaders don’t receive any leadership training and they are left wondering what leadership is or what it looks like. Here are 5 foundational items you should know about leadership.
⚡ #1) It’s not about you
The moment you stepped into a leadership role, it became less about you and more about other people and your role in helping others and the organization succeed.
Check yourself: Are you making things about you? How much is your ego and pride getting in the way? Are you taking things personally? Do you find yourself becoming defensive?
⚡ #2) You are not the subject matter expert, you are the leader
It is not your job to be the subject matter expert or to have all of the answers. It IS your job, as a leader, to hire experts and to motivate and engage them and help them be successful. You should be an expert in leadership and teamwork. The higher you move up, the more strategic your world becomes, the more you have to delegate, and the more you need to exhibit highly-effective leadership skills.
Check yourself: Are you comfortable not having all of the answers? Would you rather focus on task management than people management? How comfortable are you with delegating and training/supporting others? Do you feel you are too involved in the weeds and daily tasks? How can you start to step out and take a more zoomed out role?
⚡ #3) Self-awareness is crucial
⚡ #4) Ownership & responsibility is a must
Take ownership and responsibility. Fix ineffective things and challenge the status quo.
Recently, an organization that hired me to coach some of their leaders let me know that a senior leader said that HR was responsible for fixing the way the organization ineffectively handles meetings. This is not taking ownership. It is the senior leader’s responsibility to do their part to be effective. It’s a cop out to say you’re waiting for HR to deal with it. This is certainly not HR’s responsibility; this senior leader needs to take ownership, be a doer, and make their leadership title mean something. Leaders are responsible for the culture.
Check yourself: What are you not taking ownership of? What are you passing off as someone else’s responsibility? Why are you not challenging the status quo? How can you challenge the status quo more?
⚡ #5) Understand leadership & apply
As a leader, it is your job to develop yourself and learn and apply highly-effective leadership skills; things like communication skills, delegation, time management, influencing, motivating others, understanding and navigating politics, etc. Highly-effective leaders intentionally have their own personal “board of advisors” who can provide them with constructive feedback and act as a sounding board. Many times, it’s not appropriate for leaders to vent or share sensitive items internally and this is where an outside, neutral source can be useful.
Check yourself: How well do you feel you understand what highly-effective leadership is? How do you perceive yourself in those competencies? How do others perceive you? What are you doing to develop your leadership skills? What are you trying to apply or implement?
What legacy do you want to leave as a leader? Do you want to be known for executing tasks well or is it to be known for growing your people and helping them thrive? How do you want to use your leadership title to make an impact? What were your reasons for taking on a leadership role?
If you are in leadership simply for the higher title and/or pay – or perhaps, someone pushed you toward a leadership role, I’d urge you to seek out a dual career path where you aren’t responsible for leading others, yet still challenged with increased responsibility.
