A New Model for Leadership
I've given this a grandiose title for actually quite a simple subject.
Here's the big secret about leadership - there is no secret.
A lot of it is just skills to learn and practice.
There are a range of things involved in being a great leader. Some are focused on being a good manager, while others are more related to leadership. I believe that these are almost entirely skills that can be developed through practice and training.
Note that these are capabilities rather than attributes - they're not necessarily innate and can be learned.
I've divided these into three broad categories - Lead Yourself, Lead Your Team, and Lead Your Organization. There is of course some overlap between the three, but this helps give a rough idea as to scope. While this list isn't exhaustive, I think if you can enhance your abilities in these areas, it will set you up for success. The links below will take you to previous pieces I've written on or around the subject.
Self
In order to be a successful leader you first need to be able to lead yourself. This means managing your time, making effective decisions, and executing in your knowledge area.
- The ability to be well organized. Most leaders don't have an assistant to run around making sure they're staying on top of things. Being well organized will help both you and your team.
Intestinal fortitude / Courage of your convictions
- I haven't written a separate piece about this yet, but it's important to be able to make difficult decisions and to stand by them.
Self-management / self-awareness / reflection & planning
- Tied into being well organized is also the need to have some level of self-awareness - if you aren't learning or growing you risk stagnating and not progressing either your career or your team's goals.
Execution
- Most leaders end up in leadership because they have some sort of domain of expertise. Being able to deliver in that domain is very important - both directly and through your team. This may also include specific industry experience or skill requirements.
Prioritization
- The ability to prioritize effectively in complex situations is always going to be helpful, for both yourself and your team.
A Festive Trip to Strasbourg
Team
The next level to think about is how you lead your team - how are you developing them and supporting them in their journey, how you create a safe environment, and how your team fits into the wider business.
- Knowing what level your team members are operating at, and how much you can delegate to them will serve you well.
- Being able to see beyond the boundaries of your role and scope is extremely valuable. This capability will help you evolve beyond your team and to excel in a wider organizational context.
- The ability to create a psychologically safe environment for your team is going to be very helpful, and will help your team outperform their peers. This also helps build trust both internally and externally.
Development and succession planning
- It is said that the role of leaders is to develop future leaders, and evolving your team will help both you and your organization. Succession planning will aid in this endeavour - you need to be thinking further ahead than you probably realize.
Budget/Financial Management
- A super exciting topic for many - no matter your level in the organization, developing a fundamental understanding of business finance, and how money is managed at your particular enterprise, will be super helpful. I'm sorry.
Organization
At the top level, how do you and your team deliver towards the organizational goals? For senior leaders particularly there will be a greater focus on vision, communications, and the more political elements of leadership (although these all apply all the way through your leadership journey).
Relationship building
- With elements of big picture thinking and political savvy, where are the important relationships that you need to develop for you and your team?
- Much as we don't like it, there are elements of politics in every organization - this capability allows you to explore and develop relationships that serve the greater good of the business, without getting mired in petty power struggles.
Vision and strategy
- Creating and carrying a vision for your organization is what separates many leaders from their peers - having some idea what you want to achieve and how you want to go about it is a great capability to develop.
- A vision is useless if you can't share it - you need to be able to communicate effectively at both micro and macro levels. This applies both within your team and also to your peers, stakeholders, and customers.
- Last on the list but by no means least you need to care about your people and your mission. This will make you a leader that people want to follow.
Self-Assessment
Where do you lie with regards to each of these areas? Rate yourself according to the scale below. Although this is a 5-point scale please don't be tempted to pick the middle option:
1 - Aware
You're aware that this is required, but haven't really worked on it much or had the chance to practice this skill.
2 - Competent
You're putting this into practice. You're reflecting and consciously making an effort to improve.
3 - Proficient
You're feeling reasonably confident in this area - there are no major gaps and you are starting to help other leaders develop this skill.
4 - Expert
You have this down pat - you're delivering in this area and can confidently teach others how to grow in this area.
5 - Mastery
This is a primary strength area for you. Others regularly seek out your opinion and ideas, and you innovate in this space.
While I believe it is a good idea to focus on making the most of your strengths, a baseline level of ability in each of these areas will make you a well-rounded leader overall. This will then allow you to excel in particular areas that are of most importance and interest to you.
I hope this overview was helpful. As mentioned, I don't intend this list to be exhaustive, and I'm allowing 'Execution' to do some heavy lifting for anything that is specific to an industry or area of knowledge. That said I think if you pay even a small amount of attention to this range of capabilities, you will find them helpful in pretty much any management or leadership role.
Where would you like to focus your attention and effort next? What will have the most impact for you and your organization?
When you're ready, I offer 1:1 coaching for leaders who are looking to take their life and career to the next level. Send me an email and we'll set up a time to have a chat.
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