"Leadership is Influence, nothing more, nothing less..."
John C. Maxwell
Leadership Defined and Differentiated
Many leadership or management workshops tend to discuss the difference between Leaders and Managers. I don’t like to go into those debates as sometimes it takes your eyes off focus from where it needs to be. I can say one thing for sure, if Leadership is Influence, than everyone can be a Leader. But to be a Manager you need to be appointed by the organization. Management is the typically described as the function of Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing and Controlling. As you can see a Leader must also be able to plan, organize, direct and control.
Another silly question is whether leaders are born or made – my answer, I have yet to see a leader who was not born. Now in this website, I would be sharing my thoughts on Leadership with a focus on Managers, but nevertheless everyone can benefit from it.
Are you a new manager?
Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is probably the most challenging career move you can make. It’s important to take the right steps at the beginning.
New Managers are often sent to a Leadership workshop after sometime into their role, and the common cry from participants is why they were not sent any earlier.
You owe it to yourself to develop as a Leader. Start reading profusely, attend a workshop or engage a Coach through your transition. One brilliant book I read in my first management job included, “First Break All The Rules“, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, 1999. More recently, I found practical tips in “Your First Leadership Job“, by Tacy M. Byhams and Richard S. Wellins, 2015. I introduced this book to my managers and had monthly calls to discuss the lessons in the book. Some of my ideas on S.I.M.P.L.E g.r.a.c.e came from this book.
“The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.”
– Ralph Nader
Leadership Competencies
As you embark on your new role as a manager or even if you are a veteran manager, you need to continually develop yourself. Below are the key competencies every manager must have,
Effective and Coaching Conversations
Managing conversations, especially difficult and crucial conversation are critical. Trust is built on credibility and with poor conversation skills you will lose your credibility and trust. The S.I.M.P.L.E g.r.a.c.e model provides you with a single framework to manage every conversation you will have as a leader and manager.
Time Management
Time Management is an oxymoron. As if to say we can freeze time or save it for another day. What we can manage, however are our priorities and how we fill up our calendar. I spell TIME as LIFE. A dead man does not have time. Time is also the only resource we are all equally bestowed with. How you spend it determines your success. To master how you manage your priorities, start monitoring how you spend your time.
Recruitment and Selection
Your most important decision will be a hiring decision. Hire the wrong colleague and you have not only failed, but you have set your team up for failure. We are all subjected to bias, prejudice and first impressions. First impressions are important, but you need to validate them by asking Behavioral and Competency based questions. Avoid hypothetical or situational questions as much as possible. Ensure you get a clear, specific and comprehensive answer. Ask probing questions to validate your gut feelings.
Performance Management
As a manager your role is to get things done through others. How you manage individual or team performance is critical. To effectively manage performance you need to set clear goals/deliverables and behavioral expectations. Typically, it is referred to the WHAT and the HOW. Giving Feedback, especially what we call Constructive Feedback, is never easy. Worst still, if your company has a rating system, where all the employee’s effort culminates into a singe score.
Project Management
I believe every manager must be trained in Project Management. You will be expected to deliver results on time, within budget and meeting stakeholder expectations. You need to define the project, schedule it, resource it, control it and deliver it.
Prioritize your own Development
Never neglect your own development. Seek feedback, 360 degree. Read and attend workshop. Get a Mentor or a Coach or a Mentorch.
Contact us if you wish to have a Coaching discussion to determine your development needs. We also design, develop and deliver customized workshops.