Management and leadership go hand in hand: developing leadership qualities enables a manager to improve team performance and extend his or her influence in the organization. How to develop and maintain leadership?
Be dynamic
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Inject energy into your team, e.g. Display a «go get it» attitude, be positive, value every step forward.
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Be sensitive to the feelings and emotions of your team: they impact massively on the overall forward thrust, e.g. Watch out for external signs of conflict or stress.
Work on your posture
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Adopt a strong and confident attitude that fosters trust, e.g. Stand up straight, be relaxed, illustrate your speech with gestures… but don’t overdo it!
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Be humble and attentive to others, nevertheless. Keep calm in all circumstances and show a genuine interest in the opinions of others, whether from your team or not.
Manage through uncertain times
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Give meaning to uncertainty. When you operate in an uncertain environment, make sure you place effort on a long-term perspective, as well as the short-term.
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Foster self-examining habits: what made you successful yesterday will not necessarily yield the same outcome today, e.g. Regularly ask your team members about their perception of your working methods.
Take action
Ask for one of your collaborator’s feedback on a decision to be made (10 min)
Accepting you have your convictions challenged is essential to reinforce leadership.
Before making a decision, identify a team member likely to bring a different outlook or to make an outlandish proposal. Propose to hold a meeting and ask him/her about the decision you are about to make. This external opinion will enable you to be make a more reliable decision.
Reassure your counterpart that you are listening to him/her and that his/her opinion will be sincerely taken into consideration, even if different from your own. Remain open-minded and seek to really understand this other perspective. Don’t forget to say “thank you” for what this exchange brought you !
Assess your leadership qualities (30 min)
Different qualities enable an impact on the performance and the motivation of the people surrounding us.
Leadership relies on six key qualities: energy, ambition, strategic intelligence, human intelligence, psychological strength and the capacity to solve complex issues. How do you position yourself on these six qualities? Ask for third-party feedback of this self-evaluation.
Make a list of 3 or 4 real-life situations in which you could take advantage of these qualities. How could you reinforce those qualities?
Define strategies to palliate your weaker points. E.g.: Whom could you ask for a more empathic second opinion? Who could help you manage complexity?
Prepare yourself to adopt a balanced posture during a meeting (10 min)
A strong leadership posture consists in being both assertive on your point of view and listening to the other’s point of view.
Think of a difficult meeting you will be having in the coming days. What is your state of mind in going there? Are you mostly intent on bringing across your point of view? Are you concerned that your counterpart’s powers of conviction might challenge your position?
If you are mostly focused on your point of view, make a list of the elements that will help you focus on the other’s: adopt a more moderate tone and a slower pace of speech so as not to monopolize the exchange, prepare questions that will help you better understand the other, etc.
If you are mostly focused on the other’s point of view, prepare yourself to also be assertive: think of controlling the visible signs of your anxiety, list all the reasons that can show you are confident, etc.
Practical Tips
> Six qualities to develop to reinforce your leadership
> Influence through your attitude
Find out more
> Want agility? Start by being humble
© Managéris