Leadership Learning Moments for the New & Maturing Leader
Providing leaders and their colleagues with inspiration - or reminders - regarding the critical role leaders play in the lives of employees.
Copyright © 2011 by Bishop House Consulting, Inc., All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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ISBN 978-0-9848893-1-0 (eBook)
Introduction
Leaders gain wisdom through experience. New leaders – lacking experience and wisdom – often struggle with understanding their role and particularly how they can impact the lives and productivity of their employees. Leadership Learning Moments for the New & Maturing Leader provides insight, inspiration, wisdom, and simple concepts to leaders as they work through gaining wisdom in the art and science of leading others. This is the 1st in a series of books consolidating Michael Holland’s weekly insights on leading well at all stages of leadership maturation.
Enjoy!
Michael Holland, Founder/President, Bishop House Consulting, Inc.
If you prize wisdom, she will make you great.
Proverbs 4:8 (NLT)
Table of Contents
Understanding the Role of a Leader
Let Them Work Hard. Motivate Them to Work Hard.
Why Do They Stay? What Do They Want?
Where Does Your Authority Come from?
Your Inner Circle: Catalyst or Anchor?
Performance Movie Reviews for Your Employees
The Bermuda Triangle of Employee Enablement
Draw the Line. You’re the Boss, not Their Best Friend.
Planting Seeds. Watering Seedlings.
What Are You Doing with the New Guy?
Right Message Delivered the Wrong Way
Listen to Increase Productivity
Is That Fence Still Turned On?
About Bishop House Consulting, Inc.
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Understanding the Role of a Leader
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Leverage Authority
As a leader, you have authority over critical resources. What’s the basis of that authority? Generally, authority could be defined as the power, the right, the clout to influence people and get them to do what you want and need them to do. But in active leadership we can delineate that definition a bit further. Here are several types of authority that can be leveraged:
Legal – based on the ability to influence others because of your official authority and position;
Expert – based on your knowledge and expertise;
Reverent – based on respect for you and/or your knowledge and expertise;
Reward – based on the giving or withholding of rewards;
Punitive – based on the imposition—real or implied – of a penalty for fault, offense or violation.
What type of authority do you think is most effective? Well, that will depend on the dynamics of the situation, the culture, your leadership style and your leadership maturity.
Take Action: Think back; who in your past – boss, parent, pastor, coach, teacher, etc. – has used the different types of authority with you and what were the behaviors you exhibited as a result of their authority?
Send yourself an email with a self-assessment of your “leadership maturity.”
It’s a Balance
Some managers may find that they are easily focused on the tasks of their team, while others tend to focus more heavily on the people aspects. Ideally, it’s a balance. Remember – people come to work. That requires a manager to effectively manage both the people and the work demands of his team.
Focusing too much on the work or task aspects without considering the people aspects will create burnout. In this situation, people feel pressured, unappreciated, overworked and stressed. Blame tends to be a trademark of this type of group when something goes wrong.
On the other hand, some managers focus so much on their people that similar effects take place. Productivity suffers; relationships take over and become more important than the work. The manager fears pushing an employee too much will jeopardize their relationship.
Balancing your focus between the tasks and the people means that you are clearly communicating your expectations, monitoring performance, communicating effectively, supporting employees in many ways and matching employee strengths with the demands of the job. It is a balance that at times must sway back and forth – requiring you to be aware of both work and people needs to be effective.
Inventory the balance today. Make a list of your employees. To the right create two columns, one labeled People and the other labeled Work. Now, spend 30 to 45 seconds thinking about the first employee on the list. . . is your focus more people-oriented or work-oriented? Is there a great balance? Of the time you invest with this employee, what percentage – out of 100% – do you perceive as oriented towards People vs. Work?
Work down the list, taking time to really consider your focus with each employee. After completing the worksheet, take a few minutes to study the results, make an action plan and commit to what you can do differently in the morning to create a better people-work balance with your employees.
Let them Work Hard. Motivate Them to Work Hard.
By and large, most people want to work hard and feel good about the work they are performing. Leaders are paid to guide and motivate employees. Create the environment and atmosphere to make sure employees have the opportunity to feel motivated.
Your mood is the big stick that stirs the pot of motivation. As you're stirring up your employees’ emotions and adrenaline, are you creating positive or negative vats of energy? Your employees will follow your lead in how they approach their work. The approach and the energy applied can be inspired. You have to make the choice each and every day. So make the choice of positive, addictive, consistent energy. The results will be tremendous and expected: motivated people achieve goals. Groups of motivated people have fun and achieve goals.
- What helps you to build your own energy: Music? Meditation? Exercise? Not reading email in the morning?
- Pick a measurement to describe the motivation level of your employees as a group. Ideally, where would you like the motivation level for your employees?
- At what level might your employees rate their motivation level?
Illuminating Behavior
Leadership inspiration is often conveyed through words – both spoken and written. Employees listen, process and then attempt action. Your behavior can add to your inspiring words if you are illuminating the behaviors you truly desire. I guess either way, you will illuminate behavior; your employees will know if your behaviors match your words.