Man : The Boss (Being the Boss)
Being the Boss
Maybe you’ve been doing it for
a while or this is all brand new roles to you - Being a Leader. It is not going to be easy and full of days
from hell. Regardless of your tenure, a few simple rules and realities that all
leaders need to keep top of their mind and thinking about this all the time.
Role of Being a Leader
a.
It does not mean being an autocratic,
micromanaging, iron fisted ruler…
b. Neither does not mean being a push over, laissez
faire, or “don’t rock the boat” carefree to employee
c.
Being a Leader is Not a Popularity Contest
d. Being Their Friend and Their Leader (Boss) is a
slippery slope – navigating carefully on. It requires changing roles between
“on and off duty”. And when you are on duty, it means…
Taking Charge – Taking Command (but in a shared leadership approach)
Taking Charge – Taking Command (but in a shared leadership approach)
e.
It also requires Managing Expectations:
i. Simply
put, tell me up front what you want from me.
ii. It
is Positive Discipline – Rules, Regulations, Expectations, Policies understood
up front
iii. It
is giving clear direction, managing expectations, and holding one accountable
to these expectations.
Bully Leadership
Bully Leadership is a fast
track way to get your business, productivity and profitability back in line!
Masses of managers have found that ruling by fear
is easy and effective: barking out orders, blaming others; being disrespectful;
recruiting henchmen, valuing only a select few; building divisiveness;
threatening consequences; using harsh directions, and frequently imposing
disciplinary procedures for non-compliance, you too can get results!
Definitions of a Bully Leader.
-
Coward
-
Disrespectful
-
Aggressive
-
Controls
-
Interferes
-
Dominates
-
Plagiarizes
-
Random and impulsive
|
-
Intentional causing pain
-
Tyrant
-
Command and Control
-
Duplicitous
-
Autocratic
-
Dictator
-
Inconsistent
|
Reason for being Bully Leaders
- Quick Result
One
reason is because their approach delivers quick results. Bully leaders are into
the quick fix. They want instant results and they are not willing to invest the
time in their people. For bully leaders, fast results are more important that
building a team. Bully leaders are impatient – they want change now!
- Old Boys Club
Another
reason is that Bully Leaders were promoted by other bullies. The “old boys
club” is alive in well in the workplace today. You promote like thinkers.
Bullies promote other bullies. It is just common sense. And one promoted, there
is pressure on the new bully from the other managers to continue the abuse.
- Victims
Finally,
Bully Leaders were bullied themselves. They are victims of past injuries, and
they now have an opportunity to unload their shame on their subordinates. There
is a huge science behind victimization that I will not get into now. But
suffice to say, some bully leaders have serious issues and they need help now.
Leadership is about inspiring the preferred
future through your people. It is hard to get inspired when you are
micromanaged, and not trusted.
A simple rule…
Go Hard With the Issues, But Soft on People
You Manage Things – You
Lead People
You do both. Depending on your role, you may be required to be more of
a manager than a leader.
Management
–
A Balanced Leadership
|
The
Management Roles
|
The
Leadership
Roles |
a. You are both a Manager and a Leader
b. You Manage Things
c. You Lead People
d. Mistake Commonly Made is…Treating People Like
Things
|
i.
Policy
ii.
Rules
iii.
Process
iv.
Money
v.
Systems
vi.
Standards
vii. Measurements
|
a.
People
b.
Context
c.
Culture
d.
Purpose
e.
Principles
f.
Inspiration
|
The Most Misunderstood Aspect of Great Leadership
The most misunderstood and often overlooked
element of a great leadership; affording leaders the greatest opportunity for
personal, professional, and enterprise growth are – letting go (surrender).
i. Letting
go (surrender) – not for the faint of heart
The
words leadership and surrender are rarely used together
in a complementary fashion. Humanity has labeled surrender as a sign of
leadership weakness, when in fact; it can be among the greatest of leadership
strengths. The need to learn the subtle art of letting go.
A
leader simply operates at their best when:
a. they understand their ability to influence is much more fruitful than
their ability to control
b. the purpose of leadership is not to shine the spotlight on yourself
c. to unlock the potential of others so they can in turn shine the spotlight on countless
more.
Control
is about power – not leadership. Surrender allows a leader to get out of their
own way and focus on adding value to those whom they serve.
ii. Letting go (surrender) – control freaks need
not apply
Leadership
need to focus on letting go, not control, consider this:
a.
Control
i. It
restricts potential, limits initiative, and inhibits talent.
ii. Controlling
leaders create bottlenecks rather than increase throughput. A signal of a lack
of trust and confidence, and often come across as insensitive if not arrogant.
iii. It
demands the ego-centric leader to be served
iv. Experienced
weak teams, micro-management, frequent turf wars, high stress, operational
strain, and a culture of fear, you are experiencing what control has to offer
v. Simply
attempting to consolidate power
vi. Control
messages selfishness
b.
Letting
go
i. Letting
go (surrender) fosters collaboration, encourages innovation and enables
possibility.
ii. Allows
the savvy leader to serve
iii. Established
a culture of leadership.
iv. Prefers
loose collaborative networks over rigid hierarchical structures allowing
information to be more readily shared and distributed.
v. Thinks
of goodwill of community, ecosystem, and culture – not organizational chart.
vi. Allows
the dots to be connected and multiplied, the calculus of a leader who
understands letting go is built on exponential multiplication.
vii. Facilitating
the distribution of authority, build into others more than glorifying self and developed
a level of leadership maturity that values surrender over control.
viii. Mind
setting the desire for leaders to give credit rather than take it, hearing over
being heard, dialogue instead of monologue, an open mind over a closed mind, to
value unlearning as much as learning.
Letting Go – when not to
- Letting go is honorable. Letting go to their ego, to the wrong priorities, or to other distractive habits.
- A positive realization, leaders are not the center of the universe – the need to let go to something beyond themselves in order to accomplish more for others.
What
you do or don’t let go to will define you. Assuming you surrender to the right
things, surrender is not a sign of leadership weakness, but is perhaps the
ultimate sign of leadership confidence. I’ll leave you with this quote from
William Booth: “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his
surrender.”
The problem of letting go.
Organizations
grow when new competent talent steps in.
Reasons
letting go challenges longstanding leaders:
1.
Identity: Who am I after I let go?
2.
Confidence: Will I perform as well?
3.
Ability: Can I learn new skills and behaviors?
4. Uncertainty: How will new leaders perform? There are
no guarantees new people will perform. In the short-term they may not do as
well as long-termers.
5.
Place: Where’s my place in these new patterns?
6.
Meaning: Are new roles fulfilling and meaningful?
7. Preparation: How has new talent been prepared for new
leadership roles? Lack of leadership-development may be the number one reason
leaders won’t step back so others can step forward.
A must:
Letting
go isn’t optional – organizational success demands it. New talent produces new
perspective, innovation, fresh vitality, and forward momentum.
You
can’t:
You
can’t step away even though you must let go. Bringing on new
talent is never exemption from your leadership-responsibility.
Letting
go without giving in:
1.
Attend
fewer meetings.
2.
Coach,
mentor, and train new leaders. Privately prepare new leaders to lead the meetings you led. Guide the
process, enhance their skills, and let them run.
3.
Talk
less ask more.
4. Talk
values with new
leaders before ventures. Values-alignment anchors safe, stable environments.
5.
Suggestions
become imperatives.
Your casual suggestions, even if you aren’t leading the meeting, become company
policy. Make fewer suggestions. Explore the suggestions of others.
6.
Conduct
after-action meetings
with new leaders.
7.
Expect
reports; create
accountability.
Becoming a
manager is, for many, a thankless job. But with the right preparation and the
right mindset it can be fulfilling career option, one that leads to powerful
self awareness as well as a greater gift, the ability to get things done
through the efforts of others. All it takes is a willingness to learn and a
commitment to growth and development.
Excerpt and extracts taken with thanks from :
http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/2012/01/07/how-to-let-go-without-giving-in/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/12/26/the-most-misunderstood-aspect-of-great-leadership/
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