Leadership Turn

The Key Issues Of Leadership

by Jonathan Farrington on July 1st, 2007

From the beginning, we must always operate on the basis that leading people:

• Takes time – you cannot get so bound up in your own workload that you skimp on time you should spend with others
• Takes effort – it is challenge, there are no magic formulae or quick fixes that will do the job for you
• Needs thought – the obvious or immediate answer may not be best, things may well need research, analysis and thinking through
• Is not a solo effort – seek and take advice from where you can, including your own staff
• Will not always go right – as Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is the name so many people give to their mistakes”: admit your mistakes (publicity if necessary) and learn from your experience.
 

Remember too that managing people:

Is a process of helping others to be self-sufficient – this implies trust and that management works best when you take a positive view of what people can do (and do not see your role as a sort of corporate security guard)

Is based on good, regular and open communication.

Needs to be acceptable to people before it can be effective – hence the crucial role of motivation as part of the management task.

Becomes self-sustaining when it works – i.e. if people find your management helpful (to the job, the organisation and to them) then they will support it and support you.

Overall, management is not what you do to people but the process of how you work with people to help prompt their performance. Work with people from day one, and go on doing it throughout your management career.

At the end of the day success comes down to a considered approach. Charge in, desperate to make an impression, go at everything at once in order to make an impression, and disaster may closely follow.

“Twas ever thus“:

“First organise the near at hand, then organise the far removed.
First organise the inner, then organise the outer.
First organise the basic, then organise the derivative
First organise the strong, then organise the weak.
First organise the great. Then organise the small.
First organise yourself, then organise others”.

General Zhuge Liang

Perhaps we should highlight the last sentence: “First organise yourself, then organise others”

Last Word:

Being a leader is a challenge but it is also almost infinitely rewarding to create and maintain a team of people who deliver excellent performance and produce whatever results are targeted. It is a task that takes time, requires effort and needs a considered approach.

All sorts of things can help, but only one person can guarantee that you become a good leader – and that’s you.

Tomorrow: In the Guest Author Slot - Kevin Dwyer “What Is A Team”

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POSTED IN: Leadership Skills