Business Leadership Skills - Your Role As Leader
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Your Role As Leader
So what does it take to be an effective leader today? The essence of leadership is still character. The essence of character is integrity, passion, curiosity, daring and a guiding vision, without which a leader doesn't know what he/she wants to do or where he/she wants to go.
By: Roger Ingbretsen
So what does it take to be an effective leader today? The essence of leadership is still character. The essence of character is integrity, passion, curiosity, daring and a guiding vision, without which a leader doesn't know what he/she wants to do or where he/she wants to go.
By: Roger Ingbretsen
Unlike the old command-and-control style, those who want to be leaders in the 21st century will have to be highly flexible and have a broad range of skills. In order to lead and keep great people, leaders must be articulate, energetic, empowering and be capable of building consensus. They must be willing to inspire and develop a personal approach that lets them tap into the endless source of ideas, innovation, know-how and knowledge of the people they lead.
Awareness a key to a leader’s success:
Better awareness of self, others and the world outside your particular organization is a key attribute to being an effective leader. Self-awareness is about the most important “emotional competency” required in developing a successful career - especially for leaders. So important and vital is awareness of self that an individual who is unaware of his/her strengths, competencies and blind spots or how he/she impacts others most likely will not become all that they can be… or create disasters, which can negatively impact their careers and organizations.
Effective leadership development is contingent on the individuals' ability to accurately assess them self. The development of self-awareness is an integral part of management development as well as personal career development. To reach full potential as a leader or individual, you need a good handle on where you stand. It is wise to head the dictum: “Know Thyself.”
A key benefit to knowing yourself is the by-product of gaining an understanding of others. As you gain the knowledge of your strengths, personality type, how you learn and process information and knowledge, you will then begin to realize how much the same and at the same time, different we all are. You will gain a greater appreciation of the complexity of individuals and organizations. We can gain awareness of self and others by using various assessment instruments and by effectively listening to and asking for feedback from others. You can’t learn while you’re doing all the talking. Listen to learn!
Awareness of what is going on outside your organization can be obtained by reading, networking, attending conferences, traveling to new places, being involved in your community or in industry related organizations. Quite often these venues provide interesting new information and knowledge which can be applied to your career and the operation of your business.
Alignment, (focus) a key role of leadership
Alignment means the leader must ensure that individuals are focused on, evaluated and rewarded for the production of results which support the overall direction of the enterprise. Such alignment does not occur automatically. Leaders have to carefully and continuously ensure that processes, systems and communication is in place which enhances the possibility that all stakeholders are moving in the right direction.
Leadership creates the vision, mission, culture and the strategies to ensure all are accomplished. Imagine two railroad tracks with many crossover switches. On the right is the “operational track” which defines tasks, tactics, goals and organization business objectives. This is the track that most organizations ride all the time. On the left is the “cultural track” which defines the organizational values and the behaviors people should use to achieve overall strategy of the organization. This is the track that is always there but many organizations don't pay to much attention to it. As the organization drives for success, all individuals need to continually switch tracks using both operational and cultural information to get to their destination. This is a picture of “alignment in action.”
Eight steps for the leader to use in attaining alignment:
1. Identify and articulate the corporate mission and vision.
2. Identify and describe key business/operating goals.
3. Identify and define key cultural values and behaviors.
4. Establish agreement on strategies needed to attain organizational goals.
5. Establish agreement on tactics required to support the organizational strategies.
6. Establish performance goals needed by all stakeholders at all levels.
7. Establish how results will be measure.
8. Balance the rewards to reflect progress in both tracks.
Page 2
Awareness a key to a leader’s success:
Better awareness of self, others and the world outside your particular organization is a key attribute to being an effective leader. Self-awareness is about the most important “emotional competency” required in developing a successful career - especially for leaders. So important and vital is awareness of self that an individual who is unaware of his/her strengths, competencies and blind spots or how he/she impacts others most likely will not become all that they can be… or create disasters, which can negatively impact their careers and organizations.
Effective leadership development is contingent on the individuals' ability to accurately assess them self. The development of self-awareness is an integral part of management development as well as personal career development. To reach full potential as a leader or individual, you need a good handle on where you stand. It is wise to head the dictum: “Know Thyself.”
A key benefit to knowing yourself is the by-product of gaining an understanding of others. As you gain the knowledge of your strengths, personality type, how you learn and process information and knowledge, you will then begin to realize how much the same and at the same time, different we all are. You will gain a greater appreciation of the complexity of individuals and organizations. We can gain awareness of self and others by using various assessment instruments and by effectively listening to and asking for feedback from others. You can’t learn while you’re doing all the talking. Listen to learn!
Awareness of what is going on outside your organization can be obtained by reading, networking, attending conferences, traveling to new places, being involved in your community or in industry related organizations. Quite often these venues provide interesting new information and knowledge which can be applied to your career and the operation of your business.
Alignment, (focus) a key role of leadership
Alignment means the leader must ensure that individuals are focused on, evaluated and rewarded for the production of results which support the overall direction of the enterprise. Such alignment does not occur automatically. Leaders have to carefully and continuously ensure that processes, systems and communication is in place which enhances the possibility that all stakeholders are moving in the right direction.
Leadership creates the vision, mission, culture and the strategies to ensure all are accomplished. Imagine two railroad tracks with many crossover switches. On the right is the “operational track” which defines tasks, tactics, goals and organization business objectives. This is the track that most organizations ride all the time. On the left is the “cultural track” which defines the organizational values and the behaviors people should use to achieve overall strategy of the organization. This is the track that is always there but many organizations don't pay to much attention to it. As the organization drives for success, all individuals need to continually switch tracks using both operational and cultural information to get to their destination. This is a picture of “alignment in action.”
Eight steps for the leader to use in attaining alignment:
1. Identify and articulate the corporate mission and vision.
2. Identify and describe key business/operating goals.
3. Identify and define key cultural values and behaviors.
4. Establish agreement on strategies needed to attain organizational goals.
5. Establish agreement on tactics required to support the organizational strategies.
6. Establish performance goals needed by all stakeholders at all levels.
7. Establish how results will be measure.
8. Balance the rewards to reflect progress in both tracks.
Page 2
About Ingbretsen Consulting LLC: Coach and author Roger Ingbretsen is a certified executive coach and organizational developer providing organizational and career guidance to professionals, managers, supervisors and all individuals looking for "real world" career development information. His entrepreneurial approach will help you learn how to use your strengths, plan, lead and succeed in your career. To know more and claim dozens of Rogers free articles go to www.ingbretsen.com.
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