3 Simple Steps to Transform Your Leadership Forever.
Leadership advice is a dime a dozen, and multiple “gurus” provide plenty of advice on how to be a great leader but have never been a leader.
Having been a leader for over a decade, I have uncovered that to be an effective leader, you really only need three things to get you on the right track. Here is the list in no particular order, with actionable advice on using them to transform your leadership.
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Purpose — Why did you become a leader?
Because you have worked hard and earned it, it is now your time to sit back and relax, right? Wrong. Those who see leadership as a reward will not be successful leaders. Leaders who see leadership as a reward often run away from the difficult tasks a leader must do. They run away from the hard work. They look for all the downhill opportunities, as John C. Maxwell says, as opposed to realizing that leadership is uphill, it is hard, and you have to do the hard, challenging stuff daily. The stuff that no one else wants to do: difficult conversations, providing feedback, making decisions whether popular or unpopular, etc. Those who go into leadership to be a servant, transformational, leader are the leaders who will succeed. They realize leadership is a challenging position. They know they have to support their team, whether by being their cheerleader and celebrator or by having radically candid conversations, providing feedback, and making decisions that no one else can make or would want to make.
If you want to be an effective leader, you first need to ask yourself why you want to lead. Is it because you think you deserve it, or is it because you want to serve and support your clients, employees, etc., and you know that to support them, you have to do what no one else can do, which is lead and manage? If you think leadership is a reward, you need to think again and revisit your why. Your purpose for doing what you do. Get back to the basics and think about why you do what you do in the first place.
Consistency
Inconsistency as a leader will drive your biggest supporters crazy. People trust consistency. They respect consistency. They feel safe with consistency. When you are inconsistent in approach, mood, follow-through, expectations, communication, etc. people get discouraged, frustrated, and are less effective. Consistency means that no matter your mood, your response will be the same. It also means that it doesn’t matter who is asking for something your approach and expectations will be the same. This is an area in which I have failed as a leader a time or two and I have to closely monitor my consistency. If you have a great staff member who you end up relying on for more difficult tasks and have them cover assignments that should be someone else’s but that someone else doesn’t do it as well, so you lower expectations for them, then you are being inconsistent. You are being inconsistent in your expectations, avoiding accountability, and risking frustrating your rockstar employees because you burden them with someone else’s work.
Be consistent in your communication. I recommend a 24-hour policy, where you ensure you respond or follow up with people within 24 hours. Aside from being consistent in responding and following up, be consistent in what you are saying. “It’s no big deal” can’t become “a big deal” out of nowhere. You must ensure you communicate consistently and clearly with your team, staff, subordinates, etc.
Effective Communication
Speaking of communication, if you want to be an effective leader, you have to master communication. If you want to communicate well, you can start with ensuring you are communicating using one of the 4 H’s:
Heart: it touches and inspires people at an emotional level
Help: your communication should help people grow and improve. You should communicate so that when you are done, your team is either thinking of something or acting on something, and they see how it benefits their growth and the organization.
Humor: Don’t be a Debbie Downer. Make people laugh. Our attitudes and emotional state are contagious. Using humor in communication helps your team relax, laugh, and enjoy their work. If you can’t diffuse stress or frustration or help your team to smile and laugh a little, find a way to do so. The easiest way is to use some self-deprecating humor, but never, NEVER, make your team laugh at anyone else’s expense aside from your own.
Hope: This one is your purpose as a leader. To inspire hope. Inspire your team to see and believe in a better future for tomorrow. To help them see how they are adding value to others, how important they are, and how you see all of the things they are doing behind the scenes, and the impact it will have in the future.
Whatever you use to communicate, the most effective way to communicate is to live out what you are communicating. People will listen to your words, but your actions inspire them. They believe what they see after what they have heard wears off. Don’t live by the old adage do as I say, not as I do… that is worthless. You need to DO. You need to take action. You need to live out the message you are communicating. Doing so will get your team to buy into your message much sooner, and that buy-in will last.
This is not an exhaustive list. This is a starting point of things you need to do now or to improve. If you are leading with purpose, being consistent in your approach, and communicating effectively, you are well on your way to being an effective leader. I guarantee you that if you are missing just one of these three areas, your leadership will suffer no matter what else you are bringing to the table.