Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Two
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Two
“I just knew that would happen!” How often do you hear people say this – either in work or outside? And, wouldn’t it be better if they had mentioned this before whatever it was happened? Of course, if they say: “I told you that would happen” – and you didn’t listen, you might want to have them consigned to a local torture chamber (to salve a guilty conscience?)
Part of a leader’s role is to stare into the mists of the future and work out what’s hidden in there. Now, if you are psychic, that might be a big advantage! If you aren’t, it might be a good idea to use “applied experience”. What happened before, given the same conditions, is quite likely to happen again! Unless, of course, people learn from that previous experience
So, a leader must spend time standing back from the hurly-burly of everyday activity to analyse what’s happened – and why. And what should happen next time – and how. It’s also useful to involve both the team and individuals in this exercise – multiply your brain and experience by the number available – and you end up with a better chance of wisdom!
As has been said before: “It’s better to gain five years of experience than simply repeat one year’s experiences five times”
Manager or Leader?
Most roles are – to some extent - a combination of both: a leader must still manage, and, of course, any manager must lead. The key is to work in the right proportions – both for your team and for each individual within it. And, for each task each individual undertakes. Getting complicated, isn’t it? So, let’s simplify. Your aim should be, for each situation, to make sure that you don’t under-manager and over-lead. Or vice versa. Here are some situations. Do you feel the action taken by the leader was correct:
A) John’s team have just been given a new project to complete. So, he calls a meeting and gives them a “ra-ra” speech to rouse them – and then leaves them to it
B) As usual, Joan has asked Freda to complete the monthly progress report for senior management. As usual, she then checks it meticulously, and points out a wide range of minor improvements for Freda to take note of
C) June holds a five-minute up-and-at-‘em meeting to start each morning – to let her team know she appreciates and loves them
D) Jim sends emails to his team letting them know their targets, key tasks etc.
It’s likely that:
A) is over-led but under-managed (the team probably aren’t enthusiastic about the task because they haven’t a clue about the specifics to help them achieve their goal)
B) is over-managed and under-led. Freda probably hates doing this task because it hasn’t been delegated – she’s only the secretary to be corrected by the know-it-all boss
C) is over-led (and maybe over-managed to). The members of the team probably treat the event as a bit of a joke, because they get nothing out of it. A ra-ra once in a while may be useful – but used constantly, it will simply lose any impact
D) is under-managed and under-led. I bet it’s a barrel of laughs working there! You probably have to make an appointment to go to the loo!
Okay – these are very simplistic situations. But the point is that an effective leader will know the degree of management (i.e. control) a situation needs. And the level of leadership (i.e. inspiration). This can vary for the same person in different aspects of their role
PS More powerful advice is available in the third of these three articles
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Two - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Applying experience
“I just knew that would happen!” How often do you hear people say this – either in work or outside? And, wouldn’t it be better if they had mentioned this before whatever it was happened? Of course, if they say: “I told you that would happen” – and you didn’t listen, you might want to have them consigned to a local torture chamber (to salve a guilty conscience?)
Part of a leader’s role is to stare into the mists of the future and work out what’s hidden in there. Now, if you are psychic, that might be a big advantage! If you aren’t, it might be a good idea to use “applied experience”. What happened before, given the same conditions, is quite likely to happen again! Unless, of course, people learn from that previous experience
So, a leader must spend time standing back from the hurly-burly of everyday activity to analyse what’s happened – and why. And what should happen next time – and how. It’s also useful to involve both the team and individuals in this exercise – multiply your brain and experience by the number available – and you end up with a better chance of wisdom!
As has been said before: “It’s better to gain five years of experience than simply repeat one year’s experiences five times”
Manager or Leader?
Most roles are – to some extent - a combination of both: a leader must still manage, and, of course, any manager must lead. The key is to work in the right proportions – both for your team and for each individual within it. And, for each task each individual undertakes. Getting complicated, isn’t it? So, let’s simplify. Your aim should be, for each situation, to make sure that you don’t under-manager and over-lead. Or vice versa. Here are some situations. Do you feel the action taken by the leader was correct:
A) John’s team have just been given a new project to complete. So, he calls a meeting and gives them a “ra-ra” speech to rouse them – and then leaves them to it
B) As usual, Joan has asked Freda to complete the monthly progress report for senior management. As usual, she then checks it meticulously, and points out a wide range of minor improvements for Freda to take note of
C) June holds a five-minute up-and-at-‘em meeting to start each morning – to let her team know she appreciates and loves them
D) Jim sends emails to his team letting them know their targets, key tasks etc.
It’s likely that:
A) is over-led but under-managed (the team probably aren’t enthusiastic about the task because they haven’t a clue about the specifics to help them achieve their goal)
B) is over-managed and under-led. Freda probably hates doing this task because it hasn’t been delegated – she’s only the secretary to be corrected by the know-it-all boss
C) is over-led (and maybe over-managed to). The members of the team probably treat the event as a bit of a joke, because they get nothing out of it. A ra-ra once in a while may be useful – but used constantly, it will simply lose any impact
D) is under-managed and under-led. I bet it’s a barrel of laughs working there! You probably have to make an appointment to go to the loo!
Okay – these are very simplistic situations. But the point is that an effective leader will know the degree of management (i.e. control) a situation needs. And the level of leadership (i.e. inspiration). This can vary for the same person in different aspects of their role
PS More powerful advice is available in the third of these three articles
Leadership Stepping Up the Ladder Part Two - To learn more about this author, visit Gordon Veniard's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Gordon's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Management vs. Leadership Why MLMs Fail Article Marketing Business Wisdom Vertical Market Ad Network |
|
 | ||
 |
Email The Reporters
Press Release Builder | |
 |
Top 50 SEO Posts - 2007
Top SEO Posts of the Year | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
