Leading: Are You Getting in Your Own Way?
You’re looking for the next professional challenge, perhaps a valuable leadership promotion. But it doesn’t seem to be happening. Is it possible you’re getting in your own way?
You know the adage. When you point your finger at others, you have three fingers pointing back at you! Whether you’re a young professional seeking your first management position, a director moving into a new senior role or a seasoned executive headed for the C-suite, the abilities, insights and talents that got you to this point won’t necessarily deliver what you need to lead in this new time and arena.
Evolve, Adapt and Lead
Whatever the size of your organization, the past few years have been incredibly challenging for everyone —particularly for those in leadership roles. Now is the time to critically assess your personal responsibility in your own leadership development. These days demand rapid adaptation to change. This includes modifying how you grow your own leadership skills and how you lead and manage people.
Having worked with senior-level individuals and organizations, my experience has taught me five key lessons for navigating and developing an exceptional leadership presence.
1. Shift Focus to Address Challenges
If you’re focused on returning to how “it used to be,” you’re fighting the wrong battle. Accept what might be painful reality and move on. When you clearly face and accept current challenges, you can make the bold decisions that are necessary to be an effective leader. Where do you want your team to go? What’s your blueprint for getting there? What’s under your span of control and sphere of influence? Define these realities, then communicate lavishly with your team about what you’re committed to doing and how they can help make things happen.
2. Be Flexible With Training
To execute what you’re focused on, you have to be more flexible, adaptable and innovative. This includes intensive training for your team members. Old approaches probably won’t work. So think through all the training platforms available to you: videos, podcasts, remote conferences, daily social media content connections, in-person events, etc. Track what you do with your available resources and monitor how effective your efforts are, especially in relation to the bottom line. Part of being an effective leader is documenting and showing efforts and results and then adjusting as necessary.
3. Show Empathy
Empathy isn’t just a feel-good concept. It means observing, understanding and relating to others’ perspectives. Being empathic is a practical skill that will ultimately improve the careers of your team. Stop and take a fresh look at each team member’s skills, personality and the problems they face. Keeping in mind what they’ve been through in the last few years, play to their current strengths while giving them support to grow in areas that need development. Make sure they each know they’re a valuable, contributing member of the team.
4. Be Human
Leadership is about relationships. And that means you need to be reliable and relatable. Give your team members a chance to know you better as a person — as someone who also has struggled during the pandemic and understands what they’re going through. The days of the distant, commanding, impersonal leader are long gone. It might seem awkward to be a vulnerable human being with your team, but they’ll respect you more when you generate trust and show you care.
5. Celebrate Achievements
You can strengthen your team’s well-being by generously communicating how important each person is to the organization’s overall success. Celebrating achievements and noting individual and group milestones/ anniversaries are one way to do this. Help people feel they’re part of something greater than themselves. This will help enhance your role as a leader and can lead to higher productivity and greater collaboration.
To develop your leadership skills (and make sure you’re not getting in your own way!), start by identifying your current core strengths, passions and vision. Decide what you want to change and/or improve and create an action plan. As you implement your plan, re-evaluate your progress and revise your goals and next actions at least weekly. Be willing to go beyond your own comfort zone because any success in today’s incredibly uncomfortable world requires risk and change.
Finally, remember that once you’ve moved to that next level of leadership success, you need higher-level leadership development. Continue to develop and grow!
Grow Your Leadership Skill Set
The five lessons described in this article offer a framework for thinking about leadership. But what can help you with all this on a practical level?
One of the most accurate indicators I’ve found for growing my clients’ presence and leadership skills is our 360REACH Personal Brand Survey. It will increase your awareness of what is holding you back and why. In addition to clarifying your personal brand, you’ll end up with an actionable professional development plan.
Clients have told me they love the process, which uncovers much more than traditional online 360s. For example, one said: “Kelly has been the perfect addition to my professional advisory team, focusing on the many ways that I can improve my approachability. She used tools that opened my eyes to some of my behaviors and methods for interacting with others. Without her help, I never would have had the confidence and ability to take the leap into my next senior level position.”
For more information about 360REACH and our other professional development services, contact Kelly here.
