Leadership Action to Move Forward

Leadership is not something you “do”…it is a quality of who you “are”

What are you willing to take action on, whether you feel like it or not, in order to help you drop the old way and empower the new way? One of the prime differences between leaders and followers is that leaders go out and make something happen, while followers wait for something to happen. In fact, there are three kinds of people in business. See which you most resemble:

1. Those who make things happen.
2. Those who wait for something to happen.
3. Those who wonder, “What happened?”

While leaders have numerous qualities, the following helps you start to move forward as a leader.

Leaders Focus on Strengths

Besides assessing and identifying your own strengths, as a leader you need to focus on the strengths of your employees and of the organization. Leaders know that by focusing on and developing strengths, they gain momentum and can become exceptional in an area(s). Leaders focus on strengths because they know it takes more time and energy to go from miserable to mediocre than it does to go from good to great and great people make an organization great and great people and organizations make things happen!

Leaders Set the Tone and Climate for their Workplace Each Day

Effective leaders are the ones who make the work environment a place in which employees: (a) want to show up for work and (b) want to follow the leaders.

Leading by example is the best way many employees view of their top company execs are doing and especially of how they feel about the company they lead. Many employees like to wait and see how their leaders handle various types of situations before believing they are doing well for the company. Other employees go along with the flow and perceive their leaders at the moment of what they say and how they present to employees their vision, expectations, etc.

Be Forward Looking

The whole point of leadership is figuring out where to go from where you are now. For leaders to be able to look ahead in the present context means that they need to be able and willing to stay informed continuously about developments.

Leaders are charged with taking organizations forward, and rely on information systems to see what’s coming ahead.

Forward looking leaders need to know when to take a few steps back to see what is in front of them and how to solve the challenge(s) they face. Some leaders know that it is hard to see the bigger picture when you're inside the frame. That's why they regularly step back to see themselves, their team, or their organization through the eyes of others.

Optimism

There are some who are naturally pessimistic, while others are naturally optimistic. Successful leaders are part of the second group. They know that they cannot control every eventuality but they can control how they respond. They focus on solutions, not problems. Optimistic leadership help you not just look for the positives, but gives you energy that inspires others.

Sometimes leaders need to look at things from an open perspective. “The mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work unless it’s open.” -Unknown Author

Be Decisive

A leader who does not make decisions, who waffles, gets his management team into a position of standing still — ‘If s/he’s not going to make a decision, I’m not going to make a decision because I don’t want to go out on a limb.’

When you start getting that groupthink of, ‘Inaction is what he or she wants,’ then you develop a company that is focused on inaction. Then you have your customer facing managers who need something to happen and confused about what corporate is doing. Then the frustration starts to build, customers start to feel it, and your business starts to go sideways.

Leaders Plan for Success

In planning for success, leaders encourage their employees to take risks, and look for breakthroughs by empowering employees to complete tasks/projects/assignments by using their thinking skills. Asking questions to get people to think more critically helps them solve challenges and helps them improve their self-confidence.

It is now time to take action.

"We have good corporals and good sergeants and some good lieutenants and captains, and those are far more important than good generals." - Gen William T. Sherman

For a 30 minute complimentary session to see how we can help you, please contact us at 602-405-2540, or email nburgis@successful-solutions.com