Last week I covered choosing adaptability and why it’s an important trait for a leader to have. Being able to recognize that change is inevitable and that you are going to have to adapt to is it paramount in a leader’s skill set. Another trait that ties in with adaptability is your level of competence, or in a lot of cases incompetence.

Choosing your level of incompetence is something that only you can do. Nobody can make you incompetent nor can anybody make you competent. That decision, and responsibility for it, lands squarely on your shoulders. So what do I mean “Choose Your Level of Incompetence”. Who would ever choose to be incompetent at their job? The answer is: pretty much everyone. You have been promoted or hired to do a specific job. Based on your education and past work experience it is assumed that you know what you are doing. You are comfortable doing your tasks and have a base of knowledge that will get you through every day situations. Why bother to learn more? Because things change. Every job grows and changes and so you too need to adapt and grow.

You have to make a conscious decision to never stop learning your craft. You must decide to take courses, attend seminars and read books to constantly update your skill set. You may also have to constantly upgrade your knowledge in the field you are managing. For example, a bank manager can’t just take management seminars. S/He also has to learn changes to banking regulations, changes to bank policies and even changes to tax laws.

The fact remains that you decide your level of competence, or incompetence. Your choice to learn, or not learn, will be one of the main factors in determining whether you are able to perform your duties to the best of your abilities or if you are just skating through on what you already know.

Check back next time when I’ll throw another Leadership tool into your Arsenal to help improve your managerial skills and help you to avoid achieving your level of incompetence.

Recently I had the opportunity of judging someone’s actions and see if that someone did a good job or not, if the tasks have been completed and how. I am talking about a small legend in my country, an ethical person with high spirits that had to run a team.

It’s not easy to be “almost perfect” in your niche and to be forced to work with common people because you will ask them to perform just like you. They won’t be able to do it and the team will be drawn back.

Reasons why you shouldn’t do it

If someone experienced, is asking me to deliver something that I can’t or that I never did before, chances are for the job to remain undone and I could develop a bad sentiment of inferiority. This is what makes your team members to lose faith in their own powers or lose interest in doing something they consider not to be suited for. This is a no-return point from where you cannot motivate your team further to listening to you.

What should be done?

1. First thing to do in such a problem is to make a realistic assessment of the team. Unless you know what each member is capable to do, you won’t know what to ask from them and you may ask either too much or too less.
2. This is something I learned from my father since I was a little boy, if he doesn’t know, teach him. We learn things until the very last seconds of our lives. Teach your crew the best you can.
3. Another thing you should consider is winning the trust of the person, by maintaining a warm discussion. A low and calm tone in the voice tells a lot about a person and people tend to listen. You need to make sure your ideas are being heard and making them believe in your tactics and experience is a big step in reaching your goals as a team.
4. Be progressive. For this one I will use an example from fitness or sports in general. Do you know why you start slow when you go for the first time at the gym? The body needs to become aware of what’s going to happen, it needs to understand to send more energy to your arms to support weight lifting or into your legs if you’re running, but you need to do it gradually or you may get a big REJECT, translated in pains. Train your people one step at a time, because they need to be confident of what they can deliver.

Even if you managed to improve your team, don’t expect them to be as good as you are. Only ask things that are “askable” and start over with point #1 if needed.

In my last article I discussed taking risks, assuming responsibility and the importance of making informed choices. Today I want to go over why I feel that being adaptable is another important tool for your Leadership Arsenal.

Being a good leader means being adaptable. You must be able to change and adapt, at any given moment, to situations big and small. A good example of this was management in the 70s and 80s. They refused to believe that computer skills would become a necessity in their jobs. A lot of those managers found themselves without their current employment and unable to find a replacement job because they refused to accept and adapt to the computer age. Leaders are constantly faced with change. Just look at the tech advances ones must be well versed in i.e: laptops, blackberries, video conferencing…

However, not all change is large. A good leader needs the ability to adapt to all kinds of situations like changes in: company objectives, staff, deadlines, client expectations, company budget, company software to name a few. Some days it feels like these changes are coming at you all at once, you need to be able to adjust and adapt, not hang on to “the old way of doing things.”

I believe that the two most important aspects of adaptability are acknowledging that changes are inevitable and having a willingness to confront and deal with those changes. Doing things “the way they have always been done” does not help you, your team or your company.

Check back next time when I throw another tool in your leadership toolbox because you can never have enough tools in your Leaderhsip Arsenal.

Image copyright : Dunny

Last time I talked about Choosing Integrity and how a leader must choose to lead by an ethical example. I covered the importance of setting, defining and meeting standards. This week I want to cover taking risks and assuming responsibility for those choices.

If you want to be a good leader will have to take risks and assume the repercussions of those risks, good and bad.

My father had an opportunity, back before cell phones became so commonplace, to acquire a cell franchise with a national carrier. He balked and had 100 excuses why it was a bad idea. His biggest excuse was that he didn’t believe cell phones could become popular enough to make any money on, that only rich business men would ever have them. The family and his employees tried to convince him and even though cell phones fit in well with his audio visual store he didn’t have the foresight and, most importantly, he didn’t want to take the risk. Well, we all know how popular cell phones have become. His fear of risk cost him in a lot of ways.

As a leader these risks filled situation will come up often. You should, at minimum, be willing to explore and evaluate them. For example,

• Could switching your team to a 4-day work week decrease work hours but increase productivity?
• Could making your office “green” significantly increase costs short term but decrease them long term?

While you should never take uninformed risks, the fact is that some times the choices you make will go wrong. You took the risk and failed. If that avant-garde ad campaign you approved was an unmitigated flop, stand up and accept responsibility. Don’t try to pass on the failure to your team or others around you. Avoiding responsibility for your choices will only serve to make you look like you are led by your team - they make decisions without you knowing or approving - and will lose you the respect of those you are blaming as well as your superiors. You become ineffective to upper management and a source of resentment to your staff.

You could, like my father, simply avoid situations that have risk attached. Functioning in this manner will probably rarely lead to failure but neither will it lead to innovation and growth. Being a good leader means you don’t get to sit back and go with the flow, you don’t get to follow someone else’s orders. You are giving the orders, you ARE the flow. Embrace it!

Check back with us next time when I will discuss how important it is for a leader to Choose Adaptability. It will be just one more tool that you can add to your arsenal to help you become a better leader.

Last week I wrote about Choosing Your Vision. I explained why it is important to choose how you “look” at projects, your team and your company. This week I want to touch on integrity.

Choose Integrity

Merriam-Webster defines integrity as: “Firm adherence to a code of especially moral or ethical value.” The American Heritage Dictionary says: “Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code.” Integrity is as important in your business career as it is in your personal life!

It is part of your job as a leader to set standards and to expect those standards to be followed. More importantly, you must adhere to those standards yourself.

Integrity improves employee morale, it strengthens customer relations and loyalty and it improves the company’s image within the community.

Make sure your team members understand what is expected of them and what they can expect as consequences of unethical behavior. Lead from the top. Set an example for your team members. Treat each team member in a fair manner, avoid conflicts of interest, protect the company’s assets and do not personally benefit from your position within the company. It is hard to expect employees not to take home office supplies when you are padding your expense report.

One of the most important issues of integrity is confidentiality. If you are the office gossip people won’t trust you. Trust between a team leader and their team is paramount. It also extends to keeping your word. Do what you say. Keep promises and commitments. Doing so will earn the respect and trust of the people you work with, will set the example of what you expect from them and will set a harmonious work environment. Time won’t be wasted on resentment and talk behind your back about how you said you’d do something and didn’t follow through.

Have the same ethical expectations of yourself that you have of your team. Your reputation within your team, and your company, depends on it.

Next week I will talk about Choosing To Take Risk and Assuming Resposibility for those risks so stop by and give it a read. Every little tidbit you can add to your arsenal will make you a better leader so check out our Leadership Arsenal series.

The last part of Leadership Arsenal dealt with Seeking Out and Accepting Criticism. I talked about the benefits of getting the opinions and criticisms of your team and now I think it’s time to talk about vision.

Choose Your Vision

As a leader you will be faced with many choices. One of these will be how you “view” your team and your projects.

One choice may be to use “tunnel” vision. You may choose to focus solely on the task at hand. Focus only on the details that are specific to the one project. This will guarantee that no small part of the task is overlooked or MISDONE. You are assured to be aware the minute there are problems and be able to immediately correct them.

Another choice is to use “peripheral” vision. You are not focusing on the day to day grind of one specific project but are instead seeing the bigger picture. You are aware of how this one project factors into the larger scope of the company’s objectives. The drawback to this is obvious. If your team has made mistakes, you will be unaware and thus unable to make corrections.

Your choosing of a vision style is similar to the previously discussed managerial style and again, balance is the key. While you should be narrowly focused on a specific project, you also have to keep in mind how it fits with other projects and with the company’s goals.

An example of this would be you deciding to have your project’s product manufactured by Company X. Company X subcontracts the work to a company in a country that uses child labour. Meanwhile, your company has been actively and publicly advocating against child labour. Your project comes in under budget but you have placed the entire company’s integrity in jeopardy. There was an episode of The Apprentice that also illustrated “vision” well. The team had to produce a commercial to be viewed by the audience of a movie theatre. One team member was narrowly focused on getting the “perfect” shot for each scene. Sometimes insisting on redoing the scene many times. The other team member was tapping her watch, keenly aware that if they didn’t hurry up there would not be enough scenes filmed to complete the commercial. Fortunately for the team, they managed to compliment each other well enough to finish the project. What they each would have needed was to be balanced on their own without having to rely on the other to such an extent.

Choose your own vision carefully. Guide your team members into also making a choice. If you see them leaning towards peripheral or tunnel vision too much, guide them back. Explain to them how having such a vision can handicap not only the team but the project and company also.

The next installment of Leadership Arsenal will cover Choosing Integrity. I will discuss the importance of corporate and personal integrity in the workplace so don’t miss your chance to add another tool to your leadership arsenal. Come back next week and check out our next piece of advice on integrity.

Last time I covered choosing the size of your head. I talked about ego and how to not let your managerial head get too big.

Choose to Seek Out and Accept Criticism

Seeking out other people’s opinions on your performance is not a sign of weakness but one of confidence. Obviously, you should not be running around saying “How’d I do? Did I do OK? Am I good?” every 5 minutes but regularly asking for feedback offers several opportunities.

Firstly, it makes you approachable. If you are open to criticism, the team members won’t feel threatened to approach you with their comments and ideas. Nobody is perfect and open, honest communication can only be of benefit.

Secondly, the hardest personnel evaluation you will ever have to perform is of yourself. It is easier to see the strengths and weakness in others than oneself so having other people’s perspectives gives you more information.

As a result, a third benefit is that this new information will, or at least should, force you to use that information in your self-review. Evaluate the criticisms, as well as the praises, for validity. If you find that there is something that is adversely affecting your leadership ability, find ways to change. Do not make it a self-esteem issue, stick to viewing it as a performance issue. Everyone can improve themselves and denying or ignoring that fact will not only limit your leadership abilities but will also, over time, erode them.

Check back in next week when I will talk about the importance of commitment to your company.

The last part of our Leadership Arsenal series covered problems like when and who to fight and how to do it. Now I am going to cover leadership ego.

Choose the Size of Your Head

So you are a leader. Either by default or by nomination. Big deal! How you handle your ego is telling of your ability to lead.

Arrogance will lead you down a path that is of no interest to your team members. People easily pick up on cues that someone thinks themselves better than others. This will lead to resentment that can manifest in counterproductive ways. For example: other team members may think “He’s so full of himself. Let’s see what happens when he falls on his face.” They may actively seek to sabotage projects knowing that ultimate blame for the project’s failure rests with the team leader. Even if they don’t resort to such tactics, there is an atmosphere of hostility that is damaging to productivity.

Be humble. Acknowledge what, and more importantly who, it took to get you to your position. Be willing to roll of your sleeves and work in the trenches. While your hard work and abilities have secured you the position, and you should never down play them, neither should you flaunt it. Effective leaders take their leadership role as a responsibility not as a privilege.

As always, there is a balance in this, as in all things. If you take too little credit for your work, if you downplay your achievements too much, you will be perceived as weak. Employees have the preconception that leaders should be better than themselves if they truly deserve their position.

Always remember that you earned your position, that you deserve it and carry yourself so that confidence is clearly visible. Confidence, not arrogance!

If you enjoyed this article stay tuned for next week when I will  tell you how to accept criticism.

If you don’t know our leadership arsenal section, then you should know that last time we covered Choosing Your Managerial Style. Today I would like to talk to you about some other things : who to fight with and how!

Choose your Battles and Your Battle Style

There comes a time when someone is not doing what is expected of them. It could be a myriad of any number of problems. Constant lateness, absences, not carrying their share of the weight or attitude problems. As leader you will be forced to deal with these and how you do so will reflect on your abilities. Again, you will be faced with a number of ways to act. You could be aggressive, passive or assertive.

An aggressive approach will usually lead to yelling, demeaning and threatening. “How could you be so stupid, I told you this had to be done by today. If you screw up again I will fire you.” The result is team members working in fear. Your aggressive behavior will erode their self-confidence and will likely lead to more mistakes. Workers grow resentful and become unwilling to contribute more than is minimally necessary to complete the job. Their stress levels are always at peak and can result in health issues that further reduce productivity. Your own health can be adversely affected by such an approach.

A passive approach does not deal with the existing problem. Perhaps you hope the issue will resolve itself. Maybe you take every little thing into consideration. For example: “It’s not their fault they missed another deadline. This time their cat died and they were upset.” Whatever the reason you do not confront the person in an upfront manner. This can lead to another batch of problems. Firstly, the problem does not get resolved and thereby leaves the door open for it to reoccur. Secondly, you won’t have the respect of your team. They will quickly come to realize that they can take advantage of you and are likely to do so at every opportunity. This passivity will most likely affect productivity and as a result substandard work will be produced.

Using an assertive approach is the most affective.

Take the time to evaluate the problem. Analyze the reasons the problem occurred and devise a solution. Once you have this clear in your mind, call a meeting with the team member. Clearly outline what you see as the problem and give them the opportunity to express themselves. Listen for any new information that may force you to re-evaluate and incorporate it into your plan. Ask the team member what they think is a solution. If it is reasonable alternative or if it is the solution you’ve already devised, implement it. If not, calmly and clearly explain what you expect and what the consequences will be should the team member fail to comply. Be sure to set a future meeting to ensure that your expectations are being met. A lot of companies expect such meetings to be documented and a copy given to the employee. This is a good idea because it ensures that both parties remember “correctly” what has transpired so there is no confusion.

Again, there are exceptions. At times, I’ve found that a full out “Come to Jesus Meetin’” was necessary to stir up the pot and get team members back on track. Other times, I’ve found it more useful to ignore a problem and let the team member(s) come to terms with it themselves. Each situation, each person, merits a different approach. Finding the right one is always the challenge.

If you enjoyed this article you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed and stay close for our next leadership arsenal article, soon.

Before this article where I’ll be covering managerial styles, I told you guys how too choose the right person for the job, and to how to work together. Let’s see how this new one can help you.

Choose the right managerial style.

You’ve picked your team. You’ve assigned the tasks. Now what? You have to decide how you are going to lead your team. There are reams of books you can read, endless classes you can take all with the goal of developing the best managerial style. However, if you don’t have time to get your MBA there are a number of simple styles that can be used. As with anything is life there are no absolutes. Every situation is different and every managerial situation may call for a different style.

First evaluate the type of people you have working for you. Do they function better with little guidance? Do they need constant supervision to ensure the task is completed? A balance of both these extremes?

If you have team members that function best under little or no supervision, you could just leave them be. You could choose to not expect updates and only review the work upon completion. This approach can lead to major problems if your team misses the mark with what was expected of them. The entire project may have to be redone.

You could choose to micro-manage your team. Hovering over them constantly to ensure that they are progressing in the task and that they are always on the right track. While this ensures that the job is being completed to your satisfaction it also fosters negative feelings amongst the team. They will most likely come to feel that you don’t value their abilities and have little faith in them. Chances are that they will be more concerned with your opinions and reactions than dedicating their focus to their task. They might even, consciously or unconsciously, resort to requesting your approval on inane things which decreases your productivity as well as theirs.

Personally, I find a balance approach the best. Make sure they understand that you are available for them should they need the help and make sure they are aware that you expect to be updated on their progress on a regular basis. This approach builds self-confidence in team members. They know that you respect their abilities and have confidence that they are capable of completing the task. They also know that should they need help you are willing, without reproach, to step in and guide them. Expect regular progress updates to ensure that the team is achieving the required objectives. Unexpected review of the job is also a good idea. This gives you a better idea of how the team works before they polish things up for your review.

One last point, should things fall apart, which they are prone to do, make sure you are willing to roll up your sleeves and get in there with your team. People respect those that are willing to pitch in, especially when not required, and help out.

[Photo Source: Flickr]