How to be a leader others want to follow.

Examples abound of poor leadership. Who hasn’t had a teacher or boss who invoked feelings of disrespect?

A positive leader is someone who inspires, motivates, energizes and unites, while generating loyalty and producing results. Victor Parachin offers 10 rules on how to be that kind of leader:

• Give more than you expect others to give.
  Buy Amoxil Online

• Combine optimism and perseverance.
• See everyone as a diamond in the rough.
• Express appreciation; accept responsibility.
• Keep your ego in check.
• Show respect for the people around you.
• Treat team members as family.
• Be a source of inspiration.
• Stress cooperation, not competition.
• Maintain a sense of humor.

(Toastmasters International)

To accomplish anything of significance, you must have the right people by your side. Finding a great hire often goes hand in hand with identifying potential leaders.

John Maxwell, Ph.D. credits his friend Fred Smith with helping him arrive at these 11 questions to ask when looking for a leader:

• Does the person question existing systems and push for improvements?
• Do they offer practical ideas?
• When they speak, who listen
  Buy Amoxil Online

  s?

• Do others respect them?
• Can they create or catch a vision?
• Do they show a willingness to take responsibility?
• Do they finish the job?
• Are they emotionally strong?
• Do they possess strong people skills?
• Will they lead others with a servant’s heart?
• Can they make things happen?

(Toastmasters International)

To help get the most out of yourself and become a better leader start with what you can do for yourself. Learn to take control of bad habits and turn them into good habits. If you can accumulate an abundance of good habits then you will be a better person, a better manager and ultimately a better leader.

Don’t Worry about Being the Best

Believe it or not, you just have to be better than the people around you. Instead of trying to be the absolute best, strive to be the best that you can be at whatever the task may be. It’s the experience of trying that really counts.

Make sure You Are The One Making The Choices

If you’re unsure about your choices, make the best possible choice given the information you have in front of you. Whether the decision is right or wrong, making your own decision will still be better than letting someone else make the decision for you. It’s part of the process of learning.

Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Teach You

No matter what the task, if you teach it to yourself, you’ll learn it better. This might require a bit of research on your part; you may need to end up asking a bunch of questions. Just keep in mind that the only “stupid” question is the one that you don’t ask.

Then the next thing that you have to do is to share the knowledge. Pass it along. Learn to be a mentor so that the next person gains the knowledge.

Always Follow Your Dreams

Every dreamer pays a price, but so does everyone who fears to dream. The price for not dreaming or ignoring dreams is much higher.

Every now and then, sit down and let yourself imagine. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. Let go and put no limits on yourself it is amazing what you can do.

Always Look For An Opportunity

We pass opportunities by every day. Be vigilant and take note of where you can help someone else. Always ask yourself the question “What can I offer that will be of benefit to that person or situation?”. Providing a solution to others’ problems can become a huge opportunity for you.

Don’t Sell Yourself Short – Ever

Don’t doubt your abilities, and don’t doubt your talents. Forget about what you’ve been led to believe by the media or people in your life. Recognize your strengths, and listen to your inner voice. Eliminate “I can’t” from your vocabulary.

Don’t Accept or Expect Mediocrity

Expect excellence of both yourself and of others. The minute you expect less of yourself is the same minute that your inner self will get the compromised message and start delivering less. Always push yourself to be the best you possibly can be.

Self Learning

Ruth Spellman suggests that with the right training opportunities the skills that make a great leader can be learnt.

Asked who they think is a good leader, most people tend to cite Richard Branson. Some also focus on sporting icons, with Andrew Strauss’ name coming to the fore since the England cricket team’s reversal of fortunes.

But bring the question closer to home and individuals tend to hold back. Very few people are willing to step forward and claim that they are the type of leader respected by others. It may be due to modesty. It may also be down to a fear that by claiming strong leadership skills, they may be setting themselves up for a fall.

Yet research suggests that there is a much deeper reason. A study conducted by Chartered Management Institute (CMI) reveals a startling lack of confidence amongst the UK’s management community. Just 7% think they are born to lead.

It’s an understandable perception given that business leaders have taken some huge knocks over the past two years, but it is worth remembering that Britain still has some good leaders at the helm of many organisations. They may not share the charisma of Branson or the natural aptitude associated with Andrew Strauss – but the best managers and leaders are those who work hard to acquire new skills and adapt to new situations throughout their careers.

It’s a message that the HR community has understood for a long time and now is the right time to ensure the business community accepts this message too.

Of course we need strong leaders to drive the UK’s economic recovery forward, but employers also have to realise that leadership is about taking a long-term view. If just 7% think that they are born to lead, the next logical step must be to appreciate that good leadership cannot be developed overnight.

The right training opportunities

The characteristics of a good leader, such as decision making and the ability to communicate an organisation’s vision, certainly take time to acquire but, with the right training opportunities, the skills that make a great leader can absolutely be learnt. At present, however, it would seem that too many UK managers are falling below par, suggesting the management community isn’t taking the time to continually develop skills in what is a constantly evolving business environment.

Recent CMI research found that more than half of the UK workforce thinks the dominant management style within their organisation is negative; the three most common management traits are authoritarian, bureaucratic and secretive. In light of this, managers need to carefully consider their leadership style and its impact on others. From an HR perspective, this means ensuring that the leaders at the top of your business must take a step back and develop their own skills.

It can seem a daunting prospect to ask an individual to analyse their own weaknesses as well as strengths, but a manager’s management style can make or break both their own career and their company’s prospects. There is no excuse for managers who fail to take personal development seriously. Just as importantly, there is no excuse for the HR community to fail to address this issue with their business leaders. Considering the current economic climate, a manager committed to improving their skills base is not only critical to success but a prerequisite for survival. Good leaders are passionate about learning new skills and will focus on their personal development in order to improve business performance and engagement. Good HR practitioners will be the ones who ensure business leaders take note.

Imagine you’ve recently started a new job as a team leader. At first, you’re completely overwhelmed with all there is to do. You’ve got to get to grips with the group’s objectives, assign tasks, keep everyone motivated, and adhere to a strict schedule. And that feels like just the tip of the iceberg!

You also know that, under your predecessor, several of the team members were struggling a little, so you devote a lot of your time to coaching these individuals. This seems to be working well, with the team members concerned growing in confidence as a result of your hard work. But after a few weeks, you start to realize that things are going badly wrong in other areas.

The group isn’t working cohesively as a whole, and an unpleasant blame culture has sprung up amongst several team members. And an important deadline is missed. You’ve been so busy coaching people that you didn’t see these things till it was too late.

Managing a team is very much like juggling several balls at once. Drop one ball, and it spoils the whole pattern.

Unfortunately, this is an easy mistake for managers to make, as they spend too much time on one responsibility at the expense of others that are just as important. This is where a management model like Action Centered Leadership helps you monitor the balance between the key areas for which you’re responsible, helping you avoid dropping any balls along the way.

In this article we’ll detail what Action Centered Leadership is, and how to use it with your team.

Action Centered Leadership

Action Centered Leadership (sometimes known as ACL) is a model that was first published in 1973 by leadership expert, John Adair.

It’s so-called because it highlights the key actions that leaders have to take when managing their teams. And it’s particularly helpful because it groups these responsibilities together under three key areas:

• Task: Achieving the team’s goal.
• Team: Developing and building your team, so that it’s ever more effective.
• Individual: Helping individuals develop their full potential in the workplace.

These areas are represented by the three interlocking circles, as shown in Figure 1 below.

The model states that leaders must balance the actions they take across all three key areas if they want their group to succeed. The areas are interdependent; if a leader focuses too much on one area and neglects the other two, then the group will experience problems.

The shaded areas in Figure 1 show where one element relies on one or both of the others for success.

Here is an example that illustrates this interdependency:

Imagine your team is working well together, and everyone has the skills to accomplish the final goal. However, there’s one team member who isn’t carrying his share of the load. He’s lacking motivation, and missing deadlines. The entire group’s morale starts to suffer because this one member is dragging down their productivity, and the team misses its deadline because he hasn’t finished his work.

Here, issues with the individual are negatively affecting the task as well as the team.

Alternatively, imagine what would happen if you didn’t articulate your team’s goal properly. Everyone may have great individual skills, and people may work really well together, but because no one is sure what they should be trying to achieve, progress isn’t being made towards your goal.

In this example, both the individual and the team needs are being met, but task needs are being ignored. Because the group isn’t sure how to accomplish their task, they’re headed towards failure.

How to Use the Tool:

Review the activities you’re carrying out for each of the three key leadership areas, and make sure that you’re dividing your time amongst all three appropriately.

Here’s a list of common tasks for each of the three management responsibilities. You can use these as a guideline; and tasks can be added or eliminated based on your specific situation.

Task

• Identify the purpose of the group, and communicate that purpose to all team members.
• Clearly state the final goal of the group.
• Make sure everyone understands the resources, people, and processes that they should be using.
• Establish deadlines for project tasks, and explain the quality standards you’re expecting.
• Create a detailed plan for how the group is going to reach their final goal.

Group

• Identify the style the group will be working in (very formal, relaxed, etc.)
• Make sure that everyone in the group has the skills and training to accomplish the final goal.
• If your team will be working in smaller groups, appoint a leader for each group, and make sure that he or she is effective and properly trained.
• Monitor group relationships, and resolve conflicts where necessary.
• Work on keeping the group motivated, and morale high.
• Give regular feedback on the group’s performance.

Individual

• Make sure that you spend some one on one time with each member of your group for assessment: identify their strengths and weaknesses, their needs, and any special skills they can bring to the group.
• Make sure each group member has the skills to perform his or her role successfully.
• Appropriately praise and reward individual team members for their contribution to the group.
• Help define each individual’s role within the group, and agree the tasks they’re responsible for.
• If any team members seem to be lagging behind, coach them until they’re back on track.

Key Points

Leaders have many responsibilities when it comes to managing their teams. And, it’s easy to get so focused on one area that the others slip by the wayside, leading to an unbalanced, poorly-functioning group.

Using a tool like Action Centered Leadership can help any leader stay on top of the most important responsibilities, and keep the group working efficiently, happily, and productively.

(ACL model from John Adair – Mind Tools)

Perhaps some people feel that this will no longer be their problem when they retire.

Many people assume that executives are born with leadership qualities. I don’t buy that premise.
Leaders tend to have different personalities. Look at Michael Jordan. He definitely had some natural talents, but he was the first guy in the gym and the last guy to go home—and that had a lot to do with what others viewed as a God-given gift.

Just about every article I’ve read on the topic of succession planning over the past few years has stated that there is a lack of qualified leaders to replace Baby Boomers as they set off into the sunset (that is, if our 401(k)s have enough wind in their sails!). What are we doing about that?

Perhaps some people feel that this will no longer be their problem when they retire. I say that true leaders know that developing other leaders is perhaps the most important responsibility they have. But how can we develop the next generation of leaders?

First of all, the CIOs of 2020 and beyond must possess a different focus and a changed set of skills from those the CIOs of 1990 had. The role will focus less on running a utility (although you’d better keep the lights on), and the operational piece of running IT will be assumed as table stakes.

The real role is to engage with your customers, executive-level peers and board members to help drive the strategy of your business—and to lead and influence business executives to carry out that strategy. Strategy without execution is a dream; it takes both sets of skills to be effective.

But there’s a problem: Most graduate schools don’t teach many of the skills CIOs need to succeed. And these experiences are often hard to come by in the day-to-day work of midlevel IT executives. Therefore, we need to make a conscious effort to provide opportunities for our future leaders to learn these skills and gain exposure to the situations they need to grow.

While there are many skills required for success at this level, I would highlight a few that I have found lacking in aspiring IT leaders. These skills include the ability to develop relationships at the board and executive level; marketing the efforts of your team to key stakeholders; capturing the attention and obtaining the funding required to drive strategic initiatives; managing partner relationships; truly viewing yourself as part of the business (not “aligning” with the business—I hate that expression); and recruiting, developing and retaining high-performance teams.

Most organizations have not instituted processes and support systems to develop these skills in their people. They don’t have mentors or coaches for their budding leaders. They assume leaderships will somehow evolve through osmosis. Good luck with that!

I believe passionately that you must work to coach and mentor people in the areas they need to develop before you throw them into a baptism of fire.

I am so passionate about the need for executive coaching at this level that I have started a practice to help new and aspiring IT executives develop these skills.

Does your organization have a plan in place to identify developmental areas for their upcoming leaders? For that matter, do you have a plan in place to address your own areas of development? (We all have them.)

If not, how do you expect to get from where you are to where you hope to be?

By Larry Bonfante
2010-03-01