Exhibiting
leadership without formal authority
- We
are told that leaders inspire others and facilitate success.
- But
we shouldn't confuse motivation and coaching with leadership.
- We
need to get back to the basics of what leadership is all
about.
- Leadership
has always been, fundamentally, about indicating what direction
to take.
- Business
today is too complex for those at the top to determine direction
all the time.
- Expecting
only those at the top to be leaders, we distort the concept
to fit what they do.
- Today,
much leadership will come from market focused product and
service developers.
- Much
of the role of the senior executive is coaching and mortivating,
not leadership.
- Instead
of seeing yourself only as a leader, focus on encouraging
leadership in others.
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- If your
organization allows employees to behave entrepreneurially - to
strike out in new directions with your support - then they are
also leaders..
- To exhibit
leadership yourself, start by developing a compelling vision or
idea for changing the substantive direction of the organization.
- Set an
example or use more direct influence skills to get people on board.
Forget about not having formal authority.
- Too many
would-be leaders mark time by worrying about having the right
personality or developing influencing skills, but this is putting
the cart before the horse.
- The real
first step is to develop or discover a compelling new idea. If
your idea is good enough, you will find the enthusiasm to inspire
others. Trying to create an inspiring personality first is impossible,
backwards and operating in a vacuum.
- Focusing
on your personality is inward looking, like an internally focused
organization. Leadership begins with an external focus - looking
outside for ways to do things better than your competitors. Start
there and your enthusiasm, sense of purpose and determination
to succeed will take care of themselves.
- Enthusiasm
is not a personality trait. It's an attitude toward things,
so you need to find something to get excited about first.
- Leadership
is also not about how you relate to people reporting to you -
this again is an internal focus and a management task in any case.
- As a leader
you may or may not be a manager - you simply have a better idea
that will improve the organization's competitive advantage.
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