Are you a boss or a leader? These characteristics will strengthen your leadership skills
This
summer, two of my sons traveled to Long Island in New York to sell
pest-control services. This job requires their employees to work in
teams and go door-to-door doing summer sales. They work 12 hours a day,
six days a week, in all types of weather dealing with all types of
people.
After being on the job a number of weeks,
during our weekly call I
asked the older of my two sons what he was learning. After a deep sigh,
he said, “I wish our team leads were more like leaders and less like
bosses.”
His distinction prompted me to ask, “What do you feel is the
difference between a boss and a leader?” In his answer, he identified
that bosses do more directing and leaders are more collaborative and
partnering. Pressing him further, I asked him to tell me some things
that he felt a good leader would do. He identified a number of great
leadership behaviors.
Here are the 12 characteristics my son identified that strong leaders
possess, as well as some additional thoughts about each one.
1. Be open to new ideas. Some bosses think they know
everything, so they are not really interested in what anyone else
thinks, nor are they willing to consider others’ experience and what
changes or adjustments could made. Leaders are open to hearing what
others have to say and how they can best contribute to the goal at hand.
2. Solicit everyone’s ideas. Some people are quiet
and won’t readily volunteer their thoughts, especially if their ideas
seem to run contrary to what others are thinking. Each person has a
different experience and enjoys a unique perspective. Leaders who seek
to understand those ideas and perspectives may generate learning lessons
that would benefit everyone.
3. Willingly discuss challenges and opportunities.
Bosses may discuss challenges in the context of blame and accusation.
Rather than take the time to really understand what challenges employees
are facing, they may blame workers for not following company protocol
or procedures. Leaders will seek to uncover the reasons for their
employees not performing as expected and then do what they can to
provide support and offer additional training and resources as needed.
4. Be approachable. Some bosses rarely take a
personal interest in their workers. They can be aloof and
unapproachable. This may result in individual team members trying to
help and support one another exclusively, rather than going to the boss
for help. If team members are new or inexperienced, they may lead one
another astray because of the lack of their own experience with the
business. Strong leaders take the time to get to know their reports.
They invite their people to share concerns and questions and are willing
to do all they can to help their team be successful.
5. Consider decision impact. Sometimes bosses make
decisions quickly without considering the long-range impact of their
decisions. Taking a moment to consider the outcomes and results of those
choices on the clients, the employees and the company would save the
wasted time, money and frustration that will likely occur as a result of
hasty decision-making.
6. Engage with everyone. Sometimes bosses are more
interested in the comments of a select few people they know and trust,
rather than their entire team. With others, they may not be engaging or
even pleasant. As a result, the ill-favored team members may begin to
disengage for fear of being responded to negatively. Over time, their
performance will also suffer. Leaders should work toward making all
their team members feel valued by inviting their opinions and
suggestions, noticing the good they are doing and interacting with them
regularly.
7. Make decisions. Sometimes supervisors have
difficulty making decisions, so they contact other supervisors to
solicit their opinions or wait to make a decision until they have
received more information from other sources. This takes a lot of time,
so efficiency suffers. This unwillingness or reticence to make a
decision can lead team members to question the boss' leadership
capability. It is almost as if no decision is better than the wrong
decision. Leaders make decisions based on their training, experience and
research. They confidently make the choice and move forward, keeping
their team on time and on track.
8. Listen and ask questions. Oftentimes bosses
interact with their team members only to tell them what to do -- not
allowing for questions or discussion. When people feel brave enough to
ask questions or ask for help, they aren’t given the time to make sure
they are understood. In their haste to move forward, bosses may assume
they know what team members are asking, so they attempt to answer
questions without complete information or follow-up. When this happens,
team members usually don’t want to tell their boss that they didn’t get
their questions answered or their concerns addressed. Problems continue
to go unresolved and results remain the same. Strong leaders will give
direction and then allow time to accurately answer any questions that
may arise. Asking clarifying questions will help leaders ensure they
have truly answered team members’ concerns.
9. Offer encouragement. Some jobs are really
difficult. Door-to-door sales, for example, in the summer heat is hard.
Sometimes bosses are more interested in making numbers than in
supporting team members and encouraging them to do better. When bosses
don’t acknowledge the challenges and the effort required to do difficult
tasks, they strain working relationships. It’s hard to work with people
who don’t seem to care about you. Good leaders will understand what is
required of each team member and will support and encourage them in ways
that motivate them to do their best.
10. Allow for autonomy. Some bosses seem to be too
controlling. It is important to remember that people often learn through
personal experience what works and what doesn’t. When something doesn’t
work, if possible, individuals should be allowed to figure out why and
make the needed improvements. Leaders will check in with workers and
invite them to suggest how they might complete their tasks better. If
something isn’t working, the leader should have a discussion with that
person, invite him or her to offer suggestions of how to improve. We all
want to succeed and should be accountable for learning and making
needed improvements rather than just being told what to do.
11. Share experience. Our bosses occupy their roles
because they are very good at sales. Sharing what works and what doesn’t
on a daily basis would help their team members learn from those who
have more experience. When bosses withhold information, they limit the
growth of team members and keep them from developing their skills
quickly. As team members, the challenge is to learn quicker and not
continue making the same mistakes. Learning would be greatly accelerated
if our leaders shared more of their experience.
12. Shadow performance. Team members, especially
younger workers, would value being periodically observed and given
feedback about their skills and abilities. While this isn’t always
possible due to the bosses’ responsibilities, it is often difficult for
team members to know specifically what they need to work on without
direct feedback. Leaders could greatly improve the success of team
members if they could find a way to provide specific, meaningful
feedback -- helping them know what to do to improve their performance.
I was very impressed with what my older son learned in a few short
weeks of a difficult summer job. His list offers great insights for
effective leadership and the deliberate effort that each of us needs to
take if we want to lead our team members to succeed.
John R. Stoker is the author of “Overcoming Fake Talk” and the president of DialogueWORKS, Inc. Connect with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
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