What makes a good leader and can you apply the same principles to a business of 1 or a business of 1000s?
Michael Rake, Chairman of KPMG International summed it up when he wrote “Every leader has a responsibility to set the right tone at the top. To live the values the company espouses and to lead by example; just repeating the rhetoric is not enough.”
For me, leadership is more about actions than words.
Too often, companies spend a lot of time and produce a lot of paper around what values & behaviours the company should live by (this can be included in their brand positioning – see my thoughts on brand) but give very little thought about how those values should be lived once they have been decided. In the end they produce manuals that can contain a long list of words, with values like: integrity, trust, authenticity and innovation and behaviours like: passionate, collaborative, agile etc. These are usually understood by those that have created them but for others it becomes a test of recall rather than of understanding.
Call me cynical but you don’t teach your children their values by giving them a long list of words by which they must live their lives. You “teach” and “show” them what is right and what is wrong, what reaps positive rewards and what creates conflict. I’m not saying all parents get it right, far from it, but the journey, shared together, often gets the best results.
I’ll stop now as I’m beginning to sound self righteous, which is not my intention. I am just staggered by the number of words that are written about leadership and yet how few people are really capable of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in a shared leadership standard. This is particularly important for small businesses which are growing rapidly, as they need to quickly impart to each new member of the team what it means to be part of the business and for each new manager the standards that they should operate by.
However, simplicity is the key.
I would summarise it like this:
1. Know each member of your team – learn about them and how to get the most from them
2. Look forward not down, and certainly not back
3. Learn and evolve
4. Be the best that you can be – make an effort to improve yourself
5. Hesitate - involve and engage others even when you think you have the answer
So what do I mean by this?
1. Getting the most out of each member of your team is all about understanding how they tick. I know from past experience that I tried to handle everyone in the same way. It wasn’t that I was thoughtless; I just assumed that because everyone liked me that meant I was a good manager. It wasn’t until I got the results from a 360 degree survey that I found out the truth. Yes I was well liked, yes some liked my management style but others positively hated it (I should point out my natural inclination is to be an activist – i.e. to jump straight in and get on with things. This didn’t suit the reflectors and the theorists in the team who preferred to have time to plan and consider). I worked really hard to adapt my style to suit those around me rather than to suit myself. This is what I mean about getting to know your team and adapt accordingly. If you do this then they should naturally follow and hence you’ll generate a natural cascade of style where everyone can learn by example.
2. To a varying extent I believe that we all look to our managers to be visionaries. This isn’t about expecting them to produce Einstein moments every day but more about creating an environment which encourages a shared vision for the future considering the market, the customers, the competitors and the individuals within the business. Leaders shouldn’t seek to place blame on individuals for things that have gone wrong in the past nor should they spend their time entirely focused on the here and now. Although, clearly some time needs to be spend on the immediate requirements.
3. In order to look forward it is important to reflect on things that have gone well and not so well with every project. We are all too ready to move to the next task and project without spending the time analysing what has gone before. A good leader creates a positive discipline around post-project analysis. This is something that, I believe, most military groups do well. They will always do a post-campaign debrief before they move on to the next exercise. Business is no different if we don’t learn from what we have done how will we, our managers and our teams learn and improve?
4. As I have mentioned before, don’t assume that being who you are today is all that you can be in the future. Take the time to reflect on your style of management and what has worked well, and not so well, when you are handling other people, customers or peers. If you can create some time to learn more, whether through formal qualifications or extensive reading, then this can only help. If you can bring in a consultant to work with the team then even better, as you will then share a common understanding and a better grasp of those around you.
5. In my experience many leaders believe their role is about managing projects and people through a series of tasks, many of which they think they can do better if they do it themselves! However, how will anyone (including you) learn how to do things better if they are simply on a treadmill with no opportunity to influence? Take the time to stop and discuss with your team or peers – is there a better, different, enhanced way to do something? Engage people in a discussion to contemplate: what is right about what you are doing? What information might help us do this better? How could we do it differently? What is wrong about what we are doing? Rather than having all these answers in your own mind, call upon the complementary knowledge, experience and behaviours within the entire team involved. This approach should also be the same in one to one discussions. Don’t just tell your team member what to do but engage them in a discussion about how it could be done, improved, enhanced etc.
I’d love to hear from other people – do you have any other thoughts to add to, improve or enhance this blog?
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