One of the most exciting — and
frightening — career transitions comes when you face the prospect of a
management role for the first time. Over my career of building businesses,
advising CEOs, and, most recent, exploring the philosophies and beliefs of 100
of the world’s most respected leaders for my latest book, Good
People, I’ve clarified many of the top
things a great new manager or leader can do. Whether you’re still in the
interview stage or are in the wake of a successful promotion to leadership,
there are a few must-know principles that will place you on a successful path.
Here are five of them.
Establish
a leadership philosophy. Leadership and management are both about getting
the right followership, right? I believed that once, until I came across an
idea attributed to Tom Peters: Real leadership is about producing other leaders.
A great leader, Peters said, is someone committed to bringing others along.
That’s why my first recommendation is think very hard about your leadership
philosophy. Do you feel excited and empowered because you now have the
positional authority to tell other people what to do — or are you more excited
by the prospect of helping others reach that same place?
Focus
on the day to day of management and leadership. The long-term goal of
great leadership is to build a great team around you to create the next
generation of leaders who can — just possibly — surpass your own performance. No
question, the best leaders are also the best mentors. But the day job of
management and leadership involves allocating limited resources, whether it’s
dollars, time, or people. Are you budgeting dollars in areas that create the
best long-term value? Are you scrutinizing your time in terms of its effects and
returns? One of the best exercises I practice is doing an audit of my calendar
to see how the time I’ve invested maps (or doesn’t) to my top priorities.
Speaking of which:
Be
clear about your communication and your top priorities. No doubt, your
communication skills have gotten you far, but now they matter more than ever.
During meetings, be as clear as possible about your priorities by asking
yourself: Is this meeting intended to inform, get input, or get approval? (By
stating that right up front, you’ll help others understand the context.) As
often as possible during meetings, and also in public forums, take advantage of
the opportunity to clarify your overarching purpose and which of your top
priorities are required to fulfill that purpose. Be consistent about your
purpose and your priorities. Regarding the latter, one of the best CEOs I’ve
ever worked with gave me some advice I’ve never forgotten: Never have more than
five top priorities. Develop those priorities with your team, but remind them
that you won’t be adding another priority to the list until you knock off one of
the existing five. (It’s no accident that I’m giving you only five things to
focus on in this article! Once these five become comfortable, there will be
others for you to tackle.)
Set
common values and common standards. Much can be solved if people agree on
and practice a set of common values and standards. To my mind, the most
important values, the ones I used to define the “goodness” of great leadership
in Good
People, are truth, compassion, and wholeness. With a strong foundation in
truth, especially self-awareness, leaders and organizations are more likely to
develop the capacity for compassion. Compassionate leadership is about holding
back judgment with a mindset that is open, empathic, and generous. (It’s a myth
that compassion and competition are at odds with one another.) Finally,
wholeness. To me, this means redefining success as more than merely winning,
expanding it to include the satisfaction leaders feel from knowing their team
members performed to the best of their ability toward an agreed-upon set of
aspirations.
Remember
that it’s okay to be scared and vulnerable. So much of entrepreneurship,
management, and leadership involves walking a tightrope between vulnerability
and conviction. None of us can ever be completely confident that we’re 100% on
the right track, yet from the time we arrive at work in the morning, we’re
called upon to inspire confidence in others. “Risk taking” is a handy MBA term
and euphemism for a condition of self-imposed vulnerability. By recognizing that
vulnerability is a component of all jobs and that it creates the potential for
positive change, we come that much closer to losing our fear of it. For new
leaders and managers, the challenge and opportunity comes from the humble (and
humane) recognition that no one is invincible. It comes from giving team members
the confidence that decisions are being made in a balanced, thoughtful way.
Finally, it comes from showing that, in the end, the most strategic approach is
the one with the strongest foundation and potential for success. Business is no
different from anything else in life — you can only control what you can
control, and if you can’t accept that leadership can be lonely and self-doubting
much of the time, well, you may not be ready to be a leader.
Regardless, celebrate and embrace your vulnerability, because if you don’t feel
any, you’re probably not pushing yourself hard enough.
SOURCE:
ANTHONY K. TJAN
HBR.ORG
