Leadership is a skill- do you have it?
The assumption, bias, expectations, and lack of boundaries.
How do these connect when discussing leading and managing our teams and people? Even more, what's the difference between managing and leading? Is there any difference?[1] Aren’t they the same? This is purely (for us) how you choose to use semantics and your business organisation is structured. One size does not fit all.
However, you chose definitions of managing and leading people. Making it simple, it starts with the individual.
You.
How do you self-lead and self-manage?
Even simpler, how do you manage yourself every day?
Do you assume what others think?
Do you assume responses, or are you biased toward specific team members?
Do you infringe on others’ boundaries?
Measure success through quantity of time versus quality of work.
Stuck with traditional boundaries of working your total hours no matter what?
Do you expect specific responses, actions, outputs, and outcomes from others yet do something different?
We actively challenge the leadership paradigms that "stick", like the old "I clean the toilets” paradigm, so my team should do, for example. Unfortunately, this fails as it attempts connection without a reason of "why" each role exists in a business.
Have you ever worked in a business with a leadership team or individual who told others what to do and didn’t do it themselves?
Ever done it yourself?
What impact and influence did this have on you?
How do you replicate some good or bad examples NOW in your everyday role?
We regularly ask what leadership is; we are amazed at some of the answers we collect; here are a few of the most concerning ones:
Being the boss
Telling others what to do
Directing others to my way of thinking
Being a great speaker
Showing how visionary I am
Being the biggest and brightest in any room, I am in
Others following me
Demanding and coercing others
Selling the dream and making sure everyone does their bit
We don't believe it's any of these things, yet many more answers fall short of what leadership is. What we do know from our years of experience coaching leadership is right now, we still have a global leadership deficit. There are many super leaders, too, yet we must not dismiss that there are many more poor leaders examples than great ones.
Poor leadership exists everywhere.
Understanding poor leadership allows us to start coaching on improving, modifying, developing, and building the skill needed to be a great leader. We see poor leadership as:
Not being progressive
Reactive style only
Lack of life balance for others, not themselves
Inequality
Poor language
Not adapting to the modern world or the challenges they must overcome
Presenting themselves as a stereotypical construct of what they "think" leadership is,
Lack of self-awareness
Unwilling to change to enhance the world around them
Poor listening skills
Biased perspectives and one-way thinking
Stopped learning and called themselves an expert
Ignores recognition
Tells others to be more confident
Believes shouting gets respect
Undermines others
Decides the easiest route
Money first focus (financials are critical to a business, yet money is part of the challenge and opportunity, not all of it)
We ask you to add your own experiences to the list. For example, have you exhibited any of the examples listed above? If so, ask yourself why? What was the outcome? How did you choose to recognise it, or did someone else?
Do you still demonstrate poor actions today or repeat the same- what is stopping you from learning new leadership skills?
We must ask ourselves, how can I be the best leader I can be today?
Understanding that leadership starts with self-first is essential to becoming a great leader. In the modern business world, this has become more important than ever. If you are curious to improve, answering these questions will start an exploration of self, style, opportunity, and improvement to benefit those you lead, your business and people.
Go through this simple self-assessment of your leadership:
1. What do you do to be a great leader?
2. What don’t you do right now as a leader- why not?
3. Are you intentional with your Leadership? If so, how?
4. How do you know you are a good/ bad leader?
5. What do you do best to demonstrate your leadership skills?
6. What feedback have you gathered from others about your leadership style?
7. How did/do you deal with feedback?
8. List great leaders you have worked with- what are their commonalities? Do you demonstrate any of these?
9. List poor leaders you have worked with- what are their commonalities? Do you demonstrate any of these?
10. What is it and why if you had to choose one leadership skill to develop?
“Leadership is different from management, but not because most people think. Leadership isn’t mystical and mysterious. It has nothing to do with charisma or other exotic personality traits. It’s not the province of a chosen few. Nor is Leadership necessarily better than management or a replacement for it: Leadership and management are two distinctive and complementary activities. Both are necessary for success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment”
Leadership is a skill.
Skill can be learned.
Since 2019 the Covid 19 pandemic years have been challenging for many businesses, and we now face organisational fatigue at the start of the new year. Reflect on the past few years where the people in teams report more significant increases in fatigue, anxiety, worry, emotional trauma and many more. Considering how you may be feeling isn’t enough as a leader. (Read our hybrid working blog and see the data about leaders and teams differing in feeling status).
As a global community, we are experiencing the world's significant challenges for the first time since the last major catastrophe, the world war. This common ground has left in its wake all sorts of things. Right now, though, at the start of 2022, it has left fatigue all around us.
Our people need leaders to stand up and be better. To lead those around us, we must all stop and look at how we are leading. How are we coaching? How are we working with our people? Are you placing others' well-being as high on your to-do list?
When we focus on leading first, we positively impact performance, production, and other vital metrics. We believe that you can become a great leader, and honing the skills necessary to be a great leader are ones that require, most of all, consistency.
How do I learn the skill of leadership?
One of our frustrations is when you read something, and it stimulates thoughts, and then you wonder HOW can I do this, so we thought we should share how we do it.
RLC 7 Daily Leadership Principles is our program that delivers all the leadership self-awareness, identifies, and grows personally and professionally. It gives examples and actions relative and personalised to your role and business. It is excellent for:
Any existing manager or leader
Solopreneur
Start-up owner
Corporate leader
Anyone transitioning to hybrid working
Someone due for move or progression into this role Ultimately, anyone looking for that enhancement to boost their self-skills to benefit others.
Rather than sharing all the details of what the program is (join and up and register your interest for that). We will share a different approach and demonstrate the flexibility of how the 7 Daily Leadership Principles can influence and impact the critical area of people's well-being.
Firstly, a reminder that ALL THINGS LEADERSHIP starts with self. Self-leadership, managing, self-awareness
Linking the RLC principles to wellbeing and future team needs.
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WELLBEING LINK PRINCIPLE 1: If you are modelling strength only and not showing vulnerability, empathy, or compassion, you may encounter rebuffs, incomplete work, undone tasks, duplication, inefficiencies, and confusion. People will mirror what you are modelling and behave the way you are. This disconnect between what we role model and expect from others is a challenge everyone deals with at some point.
TIP: Be honest and transparent about where you are right now. The small business arena does this better than anyone else. So be candid about what and how you are feeling. You will notice that others are likelier to do the same if you do it first.
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WELLBEING LINK PRINCIPLE 2: Our ability to recognise the energy levels of the people we lead will become truly important this year. The fuel gauges of our minds have been challenged immensely. FUEL GAUGES AT RLC[2]: Spiritual / Emotional / Physical
TIP: The more time you make available for your people to stop and reflect, they will remain connected to the organisation's purpose and value their role IN the business.
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WELLBEING LINK PRINCIPLE 3: When people feel under pressure, are under extreme anxiety or have built up levels of stress that are too high, creating space for people to deal with this is vital.
TIP: The action here is to seek help. Doing this with the correct support tools around you and the teams is easier. Stop and assess what else you could do to support the teams you lead.
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WELLBEING LINK: PRINCIPLE 4 Well-being and Mindfulness may still seem an obstacle for many. A taboo subject that makes it a conversation that people will choose not to have.
TIP: Take the time to connect with our people and make a safe space for conversation (this means no assumption, listening FIRST, no immediate solutions, and removing bias).
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WELLBEING LINK PRINCIPLE 5: The body has three critical functions it relies upon to work: Breathing, the Brain and the Heart. The heart here impacts many things about our people. Their beliefs, attitudes, outlook and what they expect to happen.
TIP: Take the time to encourage the team you lead. Spend time having candid conversations about the challenges you are facing. Inspire hope through story, action, SoulFood[3] and successes.
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WELLBEING LINK PRINCIPLE 6: If we know that people will have levels of fatigue that have compounded throughout 2020 and are being carried into 2022 and beyond. Provide ways to keep your people engaged with the mission you are on.
TIP: Support one-to-one and regular conversations will help keep our people close. At RLC, we work on a framework that prioritises Culture, Beliefs, and behaviour alongside a 24-month track. Everyday conversations about this keep people in a suitable space(3) to drive their growth and progress.
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WELL-BEING LINK PRINCIPLE 7: Have a plan AND DO IT, to the end. Have a mindfulness plan for well-being and be ready to support your team and peers with the help needed.
TIP: Include your team in working out what help is needed and start today. Reminding people that rest is rest, recovery is active movement, and our nutrition will affect us for good or bad. Our beliefs and self-esteem need encouragement – the better and more open they will be to good stories about what will be required.
Real Leadership is connection.
A considerable part of outstanding Leadership is the ability to remain connected to all levels of the business needs, from team to customer, from each division to product and service. A simple way to connect is to talk, listen candidly, and share vulnerability (Principle 1 modelling the behaviour you want [tomorrow]from others today, yourself first). At RLC, we coach a method called iCHAT, a simple short discussion focusing on asking two core questions.
· Are you okay?
· Is there anything you need me to alter, adapt or change to support you better?
It may seem odd to create a method to chat, but the lack of connection makes poor decision-making and therefore impacts results. Connecting to all levels of the business teams means building awareness of reality and not just perception. Find out what is really happening versus what you think is happening. Listening, stopping talking and responding to the replies is a crucial part of a connection. Being a leader means this skill is necessary.
iCHAT
Simply is having a clear conversation with the structure to support
i -Be ready, prepare, plan and be aware of the other person
C- Connect, understand the situation, no assumption
H -Have a reason
A -Ask questions and Listen
T- Take action, even if it is only encouragement.
There is one thing about Leadership we all know to be considered correct. It must be practised daily. This blog's goal and objective are to give you some leadership rules that would deliver leadership intentionality if you applied them consistently.
ARE YOU BEING INTENTIONAL WITH YOUR LEADERSHIP? The answer to the question will be found in your daily choices.
As you work through these leadership rules, find ways to add incremental improvement to your Leadership one thing at a time. If you need help with any of the areas above, contact us at RLC directly.
Each leadership principle is stretching, designed to help you be intentional with your Leadership. To do the things that make a difference.
Our clients apply these rules worldwide through our Best Version Business Framework. This framework helps you map out the future, even in uncertain times. It builds your culture and lays the foundations to enable and develop your business.
Connect with us on how we can help your Leadership info@rlc-global.com
Research & resources
[1] http://dmuresource.edu.et/admin/home/Dmu%20Academic%20Resource/Health%20Science/adult%20health%20nursing/Article%201.pdf
[2] Book by Dave Evans coming 2023- Fuel your mind, fuel your life.
[3] SoulFood is an RLC technique of giving great feedback (genuine, positive, specific). We can easily fall into the trap of sharing recognition of good work and then layer it with MORE, detracting away from SoulFood and what we want to achieve.
