Professional & Management – Page 126 – STL

Doing things Right or doing the Right thing? The Key to Successful Leadership.

Leader or Manager?

Have you ever worked with someone you considered a good manager? Are they just a Manager or a Leader too and if so, how would you know? What does being a Leader really mean? What does a manager do and what does a leader do? Some people think they are the same thing, but in my view they are very different.

How are you managing?

Let’s talk management. To me, a good manager is a well organised individual, who excels at planning. They are students of productivity and performance. There’s the end goal and a deadline. The manager determines how we get there and can fill in the gaps.

Planning is a key skill of an efficient manager — Managers are good planners

The manager starts to plan, identifying a series of tasks and activities which must be completed in order to achieve the goal.

The good manager is an efficient delegator of resources; people, equipment, tools, skills, training, space, time. All of these are allocated appropriately across the range of tasks. Once work begins, the manager’s role is to oversee, monitor and regularly review progress, taking corrective action where necessary to ensure the project stays on track.

So what does a good leader do?

A good leader leads by being a positive role model. But here’s the key point: we must follow a good leader willingly. We follow because we’re happy to, and we understand why we should. It is clearly communicated to us.

The good leader is motivational, enthusiastic and inspiring. They create a positive momentum or slipstream which we’re more than happy to follow. They lead from the front. When you have to stand behind your team, constantly shoving them towards the goal, you’re not leading.

How great leaders inspire action | Simon Sinek | TED

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Conclusion

So, what do we need from our managers, supervisors or team leaders? Management or leadership skills? Both! The effective manager creates the plan with attention to detail. Resources are allocated appropriately. It is our leadership qualities which enable us to share the vision, positively and enthusiastically, not just telling but selling. Helping the team to engage and get on board willingly.

The manager encourages them to achieve the goal, the leader inspires them to achieve it too, but for themselves. The words of wisdom: A manager lights the fire underneath you but a leader lights the fire inside you.

In the words of Warren Bennis and Peter Drucker, “Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things”. What could you do today to inspire your team to buy into your vision, engage with the process and ultimately deliver better than expected?

‘I said He said’. The Key to Effective Communication

Is it what I say or how I say it? What are we really trying to interpret? When it comes to effective communication the channels we choose can say a lot about the relationship. The avenues of delivery are as complex as the implication. Send an email or text message, make a phone call, meet over a coffee or choosing to use WhatsApp or Messenger can imply the level of the relationship.

Our opportunity to deliver a message has never had so many options. Yet how can you choose the right one for the right context?

Listen to me!

Improve your communication skills by listening carefully — Listening is essential for communication

There is nothing that can substitute the sheer impact of a face–to–face conversation. The energy of people in negotiation can be a catalyst to so much more than simply the words. From the initial introduction of a handshake and that wonderful smile, to which seat they select and how they sit. All things considered imagine we all have a pair of antennas sticking out of our heads. Pedantically fiddling with the tuning as we continually try to decipher each other.

How are they sitting, open arms, relaxed, closed off?
Eye contact is it direct, too fierce or is there something distant…?
Does the shrug of the shoulders emphasise or distract from the conviction?
Are they hedging direct questions, or do they seem too eager to share?
How relaxed is their posture?
What’s with that tone of voice?
Why did they suggest that?

Where are we?

When body language compliments the message there is a greater chance that trust can establish, and conversation can develop more easily. We begin to relax, the antenna stop waving. On the relationship grid, the progression of a partnership can be divided into four areas. Initial, Build, Manage and Optimise. The grid works to define where the relationship is, and how it can develop. Movement is anti-clockwise that replies on time invested. The ambition is to take the relationship from initiate into optimise where trust, transparency and understanding are well-and-truly grounded. Here the relationship has the greatest opportunity at being the most productive.

What’s-in-it-for-them?

Communicate efficiently by text or whatsapp — Short messages often show a relationship with that person

Keeping the end in sight is (generally speaking) a great mindset to have. It suggests that one is more predisposed to giving rather than taking. If using messenger or whatsapp the suggestion is there is a personable relationship. The message may be short and succinct and to the point, no problems. Whereas an email may position an arms-length approach, suitable to the manage or build quadrants. Using Messenger or text suggests a relationship that is optimised. But how to get this stage?

It’s only a matter of time

If I ask something from someone the chance of having it completed hinges on what’s-in-it-for-them. The same applies when I trying to negotiate, make a demand and hit a brick wall. If I have a great working relationship in the optimise state then for the sake of our relationship the task may be agreed too, without objection. It doesn’t have to be a reward scenario to get a buy-in. However, if the relationship is in the initiate state, then the request will have far better success if there is an obvious benefit to the other person. Building that relationship to be efficient and productive well it’s all just a matter of time….

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