Leadership is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over time. For example, leaders can make several important decisions about an issue in the time it takes others to understand the question. Many people wonder how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often under immense pressure.
The process of making these decisions comes from an
accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of difference
circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures. More so, the decision making process is an
acute understanding of being familiar with the cause and effect of behavioral
and circumstantial patterns; knowing the
intelligence and interconnection points of the variables involved in these
patterns allows a leader to confidently make decisions and project the
probability of their desired outcomes.
The most successful leaders are instinctual decision
makers. Having done it so many times
throughout their careers, they become immune to the pressure associated with
decision making and extremely intuitive about the process of making the most
strategic and best decisions. This is why most senior executives will tell you
they depend strongly upon their “gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a
moment’s notice.
Beyond decision making, successful leadership across
all areas becomes learned and instinctual over a period of time. Successful
leaders have learned the mastery of anticipating business patterns, finding
opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they lead and
overcoming hardships. No wonder the
best CEOs are paid so much money. In
2011, salaries for the 200 top-paid CEOs rose 5 percent to a median $14.5
million per year, according to a study by compensation-data company Equilar for
The New York Times.
If you are looking to advance your career into a
leadership capacity and / or already assume leadership responsibilities – here
are 15 things you must do automatically, every day, to be a successful leader
in the workplace:
1. Make Others Feel Safe to Speak-Up
Many times leaders intimidate their colleagues with
their title and power when they walk into a room. Successful leaders deflect attention away
from themselves and encourage others to voice their opinions. They are experts at making others feel safe
to speak-up and confidently share their perspectives and points of view. They use their executive presence to create
an approachable environment.
2. Make Decisions
Successful leaders are expert decision makers. They either facilitate the dialogue to
empower their colleagues to reach a strategic conclusion or they do it
themselves. They focus on “making things
happen” at all times – decision making activities that sustain progress. Successful leaders have mastered the art of
politicking and thus don’t waste their time on issues that disrupt
momentum. They know how to make 30
decisions in 30 minutes.
3. Communicate Expectations
Successful leaders are great communicators, and this
is especially true when it comes to “performance expectations.” In doing so, they remind their colleagues of
the organization’s core values and mission statement – ensuring that their
vision is properly translated and actionable objectives are properly executed.
I had a boss that managed the team by reminding us
of the expectations that she had of the group.
She made it easy for the team to stay focused and on track. The protocol she implemented – by clearly
communicating expectations – increased performance and helped to identify those
on the team that could not keep up with the standards she expected from us.
4. Challenge People to Think
The most successful leaders understand their
colleagues’ mindsets, capabilities and areas for improvement. They use this knowledge/insight to challenge
their teams to think and stretch them to reach for more. These types of leaders excel in keeping
their people on their toes, never allowing them to get comfortable and enabling
them with the tools to grow.
If you are not thinking, you’re not learning new
things. If you’re not learning, you’re
not growing – and over time becoming irrelevant in your work.
5. Be Accountable to Others
Successful leaders allow their colleagues to manage
them. This doesn’t mean they are
allowing others to control them – but rather becoming accountable to assure
they are being proactive to their colleagues needs.
Beyond just mentoring and sponsoring selected
employees, being accountable to others is a sign that your leader is focused
more on your success than just their own.
6. Lead by Example
Leading by example sounds easy, but few leaders are
consistent with this one. Successful
leaders practice what they preach and are mindful of their actions. They know
everyone is watching them and therefore are incredibly intuitive about
detecting those who are observing their every move, waiting to detect a
performance shortfall.
7. Measure & Reward Performance
Great leaders always have a strong “pulse” on
business performance and those people who are the performance champions. Not
only do they review the numbers and measure performance ROI, they are active in
acknowledging hard work and efforts (no matter the result). Successful leaders never take consistent
performers for granted and are mindful of rewarding them.
8. Provide Continuous Feedback
Employees want their leaders to know that they are
paying attention to them and they appreciate any insights along the way. Successful leaders always provide feedback
and they welcome reciprocal feedback by creating trustworthy relationships with
their colleagues.. They understand the
power of perspective and have learned the importance of feedback early on in
their career as it has served them to enable workplace advancement.
9. Properly Allocate and Deploy Talent
Successful leaders know their talent pool and how to
use it. They are experts at activating
the capabilities of their colleagues and knowing when to deploy their unique
skill sets given the circumstances at hand.
10. Ask Questions, Seek Counsel
Successful leaders ask questions and seek counsel
all the time. From the outside, they
appear to know-it-all – yet on the inside, they have a deep thirst for
knowledge and constantly are on the look-out to learn new things because of
their commitment to making themselves better through the wisdom of others.
11. Problem Solve; Avoid Procrastination
Successful leaders tackle issues head-on and know
how to discover the heart of the matter at hand. They don’t procrastinate and thus become
incredibly proficient at problem solving; they learn from and don’t avoid
uncomfortable circumstances (they welcome them).
Getting ahead in life is about doing the things that
most people don’t like doing.
12. Positive Energy & Attitude
Successful leaders create a positive and inspiring
workplace culture. They know how to set
the tone and bring an attitude that motivates their colleagues to take
action. As such, they are likeable,
respected and strong willed. They don’t
allow failures to disrupt momentum.
13. Be a Great Teacher
Many employees in the workplace will tell you that
their leaders have stopped being teachers.
Successful leaders never stop teaching because they are so
self-motivated to learn themselves. They
use teaching to keep their colleagues well-informed and knowledgeable through
statistics, trends, and other newsworthy items.
Successful leaders take the time to mentor their
colleagues and make the investment to sponsor those who have proven they are
able and eager to advance.
14. Invest in Relationships
Successful leaders don’t focus on protecting their
domain – instead they expand it by investing in mutually beneficial
relationships. Successful leaders associate themselves with “lifters and other
leaders” – the types of people that can broaden their sphere of influence. Not only for their own advancement, but that
of others.
Leaders share the harvest of their success to help
build momentum for those around them.
15. Genuinely Enjoy Responsibilities
Successful leaders love being leaders – not for the
sake of power but for the meaningful and purposeful impact they can
create. When you have reached a senior
level of leadership – it’s about your ability to serve others and this can’t be
accomplished unless you genuinely enjoy what you do.
In the end, successful leaders are able to sustain
their success because these 15 things ultimately allow them to increase the
value of their organization’s brand – while at the same time minimize the
operating risk profile. They serve as
the enablers of talent, culture and results.
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