Management and Leadership are going hand in hand, one can’t exist without the other. In this post, I’m sharing what I saw working to transform manager more into a leader.
Be yourself, not others. No one is perfect, and anyone has something unique to give to others. Forget all the advice to be professional (or to wear masks). Just be yourself. You are a unique person, and being unique is one of the leadership “requirements”. If you try to be someone else, you are not unique anymore; you are a replication.
Have a clear, positive impactful vision and be able to convey it clearly to others. As your vision impacts more people and as you can express it clearly, you will have more followers. You need to be focused on the way you deliver the message! As your ability to deliver the vision is better, you’ll have more impact on other people.
Develop an unspoken unstoppable passion for what you are doing. This passion should create energy that will attract other people. If you are not going to be extremely passionate about your vision, no one is going to care about it. You can’t see the passion, but everyone can feel it. Passion is like a virus; it transforms between people.
Talk publicly about your flaws and challenges. It’s not enough to acknowledge them and speak about them in a closed room with two people. If you want people to follow you, accept and talk about your weaknesses publically.
Spend as much energy as you can to put the atoms together. Energy, your energy, needed to put people and teams together. Pay attention to the number of electrons around a person to the nuclear position of groups and spend your energy to connect! Your leadership can be measured by the number of people and groups you manage to connect.
Be optimistic, make jokes, create a positive environment around you. Leadership is associated with being part of the positive forces that create moral. Serious, gray personalities that are unintentionally using fear as their “motivation” system are not seen as leaders by others.
Don’t use any entitlements or titles. Sit with everyone else, park where everyone else parks. Be a part of a team by actions not just with your mouth! The worst thing is to talk about leadership from your reserved parking spot to your neat office. Don’t use titles everyone knows who you are based on your actions. If they don’t, they will find out very fast who you really are.
Learn about different types of people personalities, mental model, and code of behavior. Understand what drives a person and what is needs are, and use it to communicate with anyone the way that they expect and need. Don’t categorize someone to personality, color, or a noun. Understand the combination that makes the person that you are working with.
Always resolve problems never complain about them. Don’t blame others, including people that filled a role before and after you. Just find a way how to solve a problem and implement it. Only resolve the issue and move forward, don’t speak about it, just do it!
Never gossip or involve in any talking about other people. Keep your thoughts about others to yourself. Gossip is a way to transfer lies and perceptions. Listening and transforming rumors between people is a job for social viruses, not people ( and leaders are people). This is a tough behavior to follow because most of the people will be part of the gossip game, and it’s fun to be part of it.
Be transparent! Always, no matter what! Even in tough times, or when there is bad news to deliver. Never hide information from other people. Always tell the truth. It’s easier to say part of the truth or to lie. However, that’s not what people expect from other people that they want to follow.
Have friends at work! Don’t follow the rule that you shouldn’t have friends at work. This advice is to managers, not leaders. Leadership is based on human connections, and that is the foundation for friendship.