Should You Be Making Managers Into Leaders?
Employee motivation, Leadership, Management No Comments »Should you be making managers into leaders? That’s a trickier question than you might think. At face value, it seems like an obviously good idea. Things get more complicated when you look a little closer.
That’s because there is an inherent risk in trying to facilitate the transition. If you have good managers, it’s obviously tempting to try to tap their potential leadership skills. What happens if doing so starts to detract from their managerial skills and emphasis, though?
Are you better off with a distracted manager who’s trying to develop leadership skills or would you be in a superior position with a focused manager who’s not all that concerned with becoming a proactive force for leadership?
Remember how Tom Sawyer convinced all those other kids to paint the fence he was supposed to paint? He made wise use of other people’s skills.
One of the secrets to success in life is making use of the fact that others can contribute to your success with their diverse interests, skills and talents.
There are things you do better than other people; these skills and talents are what you do naturally. Your joy, satisfaction, and meaning in life come as the result of opportunities to do these things. The more you focus on activities that draw on these skills and talents, the better you will perform and the more success you’ll have in life.
Some people will tell you, if you ask them, that they think leadership is deciding on a plan of action and sticking to it, no matter what. Others will tell you it means taking charge of a situation and then handing out tasks so everything gets done right and by the set deadline.
What if that’s not leadership? What if leadership is less about handing out orders and sticking by a plan whether or not it works and more about working with people to mentor them and help them find their own path. I would argue that defining a leader today is much different than it was 5 or 10 years ago. In fact, I would say that inspiration is the biggest thing you contribute to a company or even a person when you become a leader.
While leaders are made, most are born. That sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, the truth is we can’t all be leaders and not everyone wants to be a leader.
Establish a culture of innovation and prosperity by being “nice.” At the end of the day, successful organizations are fun places to work. Employees should feel like its fun to come to work. If Sunday night feels like dread and stress…your culture is wrongheaded.
Upscale clothier, Jack Mitchell, author of Hug your people shares why positivity is good for productivity and profits. His opinions were outlined in a recent Gallup management journal where he identifies four criteria for hiring “nice” people.
First-they have to be open, honest and have integrity.
This time of the holidays before we are headed into a new fiscal year let us not forget to try and plant our feet firmly on the ground because 2010 will be a great year on the Internet for many leaders. It does not take much of a leader to see what he or she can be thankful for.
There are so many leaders around the world and the energy they bring to the world. But this is not about the worlds leaders this is about you being a leader.
One of the biggest business buzzwords today is engagement.
Everyone suddenly seems to have realized that we need to have employees who are engaged in their work. It seems to be the latest “holy grail” in leadership and management circles (teams, lean and total quality are just three past examples).
Like the other examples, creating and nurturing engaged employees is important and will make a difference both for the individuals and the organization. I believe in the importance of engagement and the value of engaged employees. And I believe leaders can make a big difference in this area.
And, if these are my beliefs, you may be wondering why I opened on a bit of a cynical note?
To become a leader, you have to be able to work with others, have an effective communication line with others so that you can achieve all of your goals. Although this may sound easy, it actually isn’t. Being in the position to lead your team could really put a heavy pressure on your back. But to get through this a little easier, maybe you could start by reflecting on your strong and weak points.
Becoming aware of your strong and weak areas are key points in leadership development. By knowing your weak points, you can start working on them so that you could either get rid of them or turn them into positive characteristics. This also goes the same for your strengths. By recognizing them, your self esteem is boosted and you can find ways to use them to their maximum benefits.
We’ve all heard the phrase a “flash of inspiration” or a “flash of brilliance”. I don’t know where those phrases came from exactly, but they create a perfect metaphor.
Think about the flash from a camera (or if you are old enough, from a disposable flashbulb).
Some spark or electrical charge provides the impetus for the flash to go off. At that precise moment the camera takes a picture, capturing the moment more effectively and more vividly because of the flash. Once the camera has created the picture (with the help of the flash) you can look at it and eventually, if it is a good picture, you will share it with others.
I’m suggesting that we think about our ideas - our “flashes of brilliance” - the same way.
Social Awareness may be the most easily recognized dimension of Emotional Intelligence. We have all appreciated empathy at some time or another and we have always missed it when we have been exposed to an unfeeling manager or colleague.
Strangely, we never hear people being praised for their empathy, or even being recognized. We never seemed to recruit for this quality in certain key positions. Yet it is such a valuable attribute that builds superb relationships.
I think it must be because we have got the wrong idea about what it is. Do we think it means adopting other people’s emotions and trying to please everybody? Do we see it as some mawkish approach in which we refuse to make hard decisions?
Instead, empathy is the ability to understand what other people are feeling. It means taking those feelings into consideration when making leadership decisions about people and working those decisions into the response.
Everyone I know loves the feeling that comes with being inspired. They like the mental lift, the energy, the attitude, the productivity, the satisfaction and even the way it makes them feel physically.
And as wonderful and valuable as inspiration is, for most of us, it’s hard to capture, expand and make last. We want the eternal flame, but far too often settle for a spark as fleeting as the flame provided by a match.
There are predictable ways you can extend the life of your inspirational flame. When you learn these ways, they become important to not just you, but also those you care about, interact with and lead. As you begin to apply these ideas in your life you can help others be inspired and internally motivated as well.
In short, these keys will help you transform your spark into an exciting, lifelong, raging bonfire.
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