Advice to a young man about leadership
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I just received an email from a young man who asked for advice on becoming a good leader. Here is my reply to him, with some personal stuff removed.
Thanks for your note. You want to become a "good leader." Here are my thoughts.
Try on the role. Despite the romance of leadership, not everyone likes the job.
If you find leading to be a fit, seek opportunities to lead in small things. You will learn the craft on the job. If you do well, you will be given more and bigger opportunities.
Look for effective leaders to use as role models. When you confront a leadership situation ask, "How would my role model handle this?"
Get feedback. Feedback is the breakfast of champions. Critique your own leadership behavior and results. Always ask, "How could I do this better next time?"
Find others who will give you feedback. One of them might become a mentor.
Leadership is a set of skills that you will never master. You will learn most of it on the job. Feedback will accelerate your learning.
You may have noted that I haven't suggested any courses. Many of them are good, but they're usually best for specific skills, not leadership in general.
Read about leaders, not about leadership. Human beings learn best from concrete examples. And there are hundreds of leaders from history to learn from.
Boss's Bottom Line
Leadership development is a lifelong quest to get better. You'll do better if you seek out developmental opportunities and get lots of helpful feedback.
It's also your job to help your people develop. Some of them will want to lead. Help them find out if it's for them. Help all your people skills that will move them ahead.
Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.
Categories: leadership development, Leadership
Tags: Leadership Reading Leadership Development Leadership
Good point about learning from Leaders, not just reading about leadership. That is one of the reasons reading biographies is so important.
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Thanks, Michael. Sounds like I've got another biography lover for a reader.
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Wally - Some very good feedback. You often see advice about how you need to understand the people you are leading to be a better leader. We often forget that we must first understand (our strengths, weaknesses, what we like, what we don't like, etc.) ourselves before we can understand others. Starting with yourself and seeking feedback from others is a basic to great leadership.
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Good point, Ray. Self knowledge is tough, but necessary.
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Another important thing many managers that think of themselves are leaders don't practice is to focus on making everyone around them more effective. leadership isn't about being great yourself, it is about making others effective in accomplishing the aim of the enterprise.
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Excellent point, John. Once you become a boss, your job is to help your team members and the team do well. Thanks for sharing it.
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...I have heard no better advice on the topic of fostering leadership. Ever. ...The styles of an individual, the demands of the environment, all demand that leadership is as much a product of character as it is of circumstance.
The best we can do is prepare ourselves to be flexible to the changing needs of the people around us and the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
My own personal recommendation, besides exploring leaders great and small from the past, is to build a solid foundation in values-based thinking. Some grounding in logic, ethics, and the soft skills--social moral theory, social psychology, etc, these skills are critical for any manager in any industry or context. But leadership is an art-these are simply part of the artist's toolbox.
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Wow,Scott. Those are great comments. Thanks for your addition to the discussion. I especially love "leadership is an art-these are simply part of the artist's toolbox." I'm not sure I ever heard it quite that way and I'm going to remember it.
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... I think John Hunter hit the nail on the head about fostering the abilities of one's peers--this is the mark of real leadership (as contrasted with management).
My own view is that a leader (in any context or environment) has three primary tasks: Achieving/Facilitating Organizational Goals, Minimizing Operational/Environmental/Interpersonal Frictions, and Enabling Positive Change.
What you and John Hunter were mentioning earlier, about fostering the talents and abilities of those around you, is in my own opinion, often makes the difference between a good manager and a good leader, particularly within military and production environments, where continual skill development and envelope pushing is critical to both personal and operational success. ..That brings me to the next natural step from your conversation, as well, that by tying the success of the individual with the success of the enterprise on the "human" level, we can achieve a stronger level of personal engagement within the operating environment and the tangible gains of workforce morale are undeniable in any environment.
...Thanks for the compliment, too, Wally! I rarely post on blogs but I have been reading your work for some time now. I figured this would be as good of a time as any to throw my two cents in
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I don't know about 2 cents, Scott. Seems like at least 4 cents. I share your judgment that John gets kudos for zeroing in on "making everyone better." But I think you've added two important things in this post.
"Tying the success of the individual with the success of the enterprise on the "human" level" is something every great supervisor I've ever known, at any level, has done. It's part of creating a great working environment.
I think your linking of manufacturing and the military as two places "where continual skill development and envelope pushing is critical to both personal and operational success." I think that high risk environments (military, police, fire) and manufacturing are both learning labs for how one-on-one leadership works.
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Great post!
Leadership begins with parents and must be fostered all throughout the "developing" stage of life. Coaches are important, teachers are very important, and relatives are also key to creating better leaders for this world.
In our public school systems of "No Child Left Behind" we should consider renaming to "Every Child Left Behind". With that said, I like Obama's ideas on education and emphasizing values (whatever your taste!).
18 years of bad parenting and bad leadership won't give children the opportunity to excel as leaders in the workplace. To all single moms out there doing their best...
Let's also take this time (downturn, unemployment, etc.) to become better leaders at home!
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Thanks for adding that, Scott. It does start at home and at church. Then the schools pick up. Values are critical.
As for Obama's education policies, I haven't done enough research to know what they are, so I'll just stay silent for the moment.
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Wally, this is excellent advice. I am a graduate student, and for so long I have been looking in textbooks and to professors for guidance on leadership. Yet, now that I am in a full time position at work, I am learning so much on the job. I learning what to do, and even more so, what not to do. And I know that I will be learning my entire life...leadership for me has been a process and I am still developing and I hope to never stop.
Your last statement about helping others develop was especially inspiring. Having power hopefully means that you can share that power with others. Some of the most ineffective leaders are the ones that are terrified that someone might undermine their authority, but personally I think that collaborative leadership is a smart way to go. Thanks again for this great advice!
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Thanks for coming by and for those kind words, Tiffany. I love your enthusiasm for learning on the job. It's the best way. If you can increase the frequency and helpfulness of feedback, you'll learn even faster.
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