This guest post is by Doug Lawrence of TalentC.
Have you been positively or negatively influence by some of the leaders that you have encountered during your career? Has their influence inspired you to take on challenges, or to run away from those challenges? Are you questioning your abilities? Have you, for the most part, accepted a role that is just “okay”?
I had a conversation with a colleague of mine—a very bright and gifted person who I have always felt had the qualities of a great leader. But for some reason, this person didn’t want to take on the role of being a leader, and that troubled me, as good leaders are few and far between. So I started to ask questions, and was somewhat surprised by the answers.
We all go through the first part: my colleague asked, “do I really have the skills to be a leader or manager?” Part of being able to take on this challenge is believing in yourself. You know the self-affirmation that we should all be doing from time to time—“I think I can” and “I knew I could,” which may bring back some storybook memories!
If someone thinks that you have the qualities to be a good leader and is willing to mentor you to help you prepare for these challenges I think that you should jump on board the leadership train and go for it! A good mentor will make sure that you are not being set up to fail.
The second part of our discussion involved learned behavior. My colleague had made observations of certain organizational behaviors that caused this future leader to shy away from leadership roles. Why is that? Working in organizations where alleged “leadership behaviors” fell short of what could be considered desirable had tarnished this person’s view of what a leadership role involved.
In other words, my colleague thought, “I am afraid that if I take on this role, I may become like them, and for me, that’s not acceptable behavior.” It’s interesting to think that leaders can have so much influence on a future leader’s decision to step up to a leadership role, or run the other way. Learned behavior is a difficult thing to change, and it won’t happen overnight.
So what can we do to change all of this? If the organization that you work for accepts “leadership” behaviors that you dislike, it’s probably time to re-evaluate your values and decide whether those behaviors disagree with your values.
If there is a disparity, and the organization isn’t willing to change as a whole, then you have a bigger problem—and some personal decisions to make. Consider the “leadership” behaviors you’re seeing and ask yourself, “What would I do differently in this situation? How can I ensure that I do not develop the behaviors that have turned me against taking on management and leadership opportunities? Am I willing to make a difference? Or will I just go with the flow?”
Sadly, my colleague chose to not pursue leadership opportunities, which is most definitely a loss to the organization that he works for. He will continue to contribute in many other ways, but his organization will face future challenges with one less leader that would have made a difference.
What about you? Are you avoiding leadership roles because of bad examples you’ve seen in the workplace? Do you think you could do things differently? I’d love to discuss your thoughts in the comments.
Doug Lawrence is the founder of TalentC™ – People Services Inc. and has over 30 years of management and leadership experience. TalentC™ provides succession planning/development, mentor programs/training/certification and software/human resources outsourcing as well as job and life coaching. Visit the TalentC™ website and blog at http://www.talentc.ca or contact us for more information through the contact page of our website.
About Guest Contributor
Believing in yourself is the main aspect of leadership.
I think it matters, Amoxil, but I think the main aspect is being able to see, and harness the skills of your team members to their full potential — to create great things. Leadership is a tough gig!
I have worked for only a couple decent managers and my observation is that first you need to have self-confidence that you can fulfill a leadership position and second you have to encourage your line manager and the people you work with to believe in your abilities as well. There are many people who act as leaders in their positions but who do not have adequate mentorship to take the next step. I think treating people with respect and creating a culture of positive reinforcement is the best way to get the result you want.
I work with 2 managers of completely divergent styles. Manager 1 is an Ostrich with little or no conflict resolution skills and has no interest in enriching or empowering his employees. Manager 2 (fortunately) exemplifies The Eisenhower principle “Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them to do because they want to do it.” He does this by 1. Listening 2. Listening 3. Listening 4. Asking direct questions (intended to lead the employee toward a goal and encouraging them forward) and 5. Almost NEVER giving specific orders. This has tagged him (if not literally then figuratively) as the GO TO guy. When corrective action is necessary, manager 1 is derisive – and not always in private…manager 2 is verbally disappointed -always in private. Manager 2’s comments (in public) are always positive/encouraging. He reinforces the principle “Failure of an employee, is a failure of management/leadership”.
Often people are promoted into leadership roles with little to no training. Not everyone is cut out for it. I think people skills are key to success in this role.
I almost never leave remarks, but i did a few searching and wound up here What is Leadership?
And is it for You?. And I do have a few questions for you if
you don’t mind. Could it be simply me or does it look like some of the comments come across like they are written by brain dead individuals?
😛 And, if you are writing on additional social sites, I’d like to keep up with everything new you have to post.
Would you make a list of every one of your social sites like your linkedin
profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?
You could definitely see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. Always follow your heart.