5 Secrets that Expand Your Ability to Lead
Successful leaders think more about relationships and less about technical skills.
Expanding your leadership is about people.
5 secrets that expand your ability to lead:
#1. Value casual interactions.
If you and your coworker are raising teenagers, for example, you have a connection point.
Small bits of personal information open your heart and increase your willingness to go the extra mile.
#2. Choose your best impact.
Questions to help you choose impact:
- What do you care about?
- What kind of relationships do you want?
- What strengths do you bring to others?
- What does the person in front of you care about?
- What kind of relationship do they want with you?
- What strengths do they have?
- What behaviors and attitudes might serve others well?
#3. Show up liking people.
Work is more fulfilling when it’s done with people you like.
7 ways to like:
- Show respect. What admirable qualities do you see?
- Notice work. What are they working to accomplish? How are they helping you?
- Recognize stress. What’s stressing them out?
- Acknowledge expertise and insight. What are they good at?
- Honor growth. How have they grown over time?
- Support aspiration. What do they hope to achieve in the future?
- Fuel authenticity. Who do they aspire to become?
Liking enhances your ability to serve.
The people you don’t like end up not liking you.
Tip: Leaders show up caring about the success of others.
#4. Believe you have a place.
Perhaps you hold back because you worry about bothering people.
You aren’t bothering people when you contribute to their success.
#5. Keep pictures handy. (For distributed teams)
View pictures of the people you work with to help keep them top of mind.
I go to the website of the teams I work with and scroll through the pictures. It reminds me of our conversations and helps me care about their success.
What behaviors and/or attitudes expand your ability to lead?
Bonus material:
How to Grow as a Leader (CCL)
Are you a boss or a leader? These characteristics will strengthen your leadership skills (SmartBrief)
10 Ways to Become a Better Leader (Business News Daily)
What behaviors and/or attitudes expand your ability to lead? Understanding we all are on a journey, some with separate paths, and others on the same path! Learning to have a positive attitude will get one farther than being a “downer” all the time! Life is to short accentuate the positive and turn off the negative! Spend more time working for a common goal with an end in site. Don’t hesitate to redirect and make changes for the better if you have the vision and powers to make it happen.
Let others lead when they desire to enhance their destiny, share ideas and let them follow through to fruition, planting the seed for maturing!
Provide a foundation to build on that the plateau is in reach for all!
Don’t make promises you can’t keep, “be a straight shooter” they will resrect you more in the long run!
Thanks Tim. Love your insights. One that stands out to me is, “Let others lead when they desire to enhance their destiny, share ideas and let them follow through to fruition, planting the seed for maturing!”
The thing I notice is, “when they desire to enhance their destiny.” One trait to look for in anyone you work with is aspiration. It’s the essential quality of anyone you coach.
Humility goes astray when we think it means we hide our aspiration to make things better, both ourselves and our service to others.
Show authentic gratitude for your staff and for your organization. It’s not always easy, because no organization or person is perfect. Being genuinely grateful can only enhance your leadership style, and your staff will appreciate it and, hopefully, reflect it in their actions.
Thanks Daryl. The challenge of gratitude is, as you indicate, the imperfection of people. It’s best to find a way to express gratitude to someone who irritates you in some way. No one is ALL bad. 🙂
Another great post. I can see how just adding some of the suggestions above to your repertoire can exponentially increase trust and a sense of community with people you are trying to lead sans perfectionism.
Thanks Anil. My favorite is show up liking people.
Oh yes ! This is what every leader needs.I recommend it to all leaders and would be leaders.Choosing the best impact is key in leading effectively.
Thanks Dan. These short versions always bring a smile to my face and the guidance I need on a scale I can ascribe to. And I always appreciate the comments of some very motivated people.
“What you permit your promote.”
Sorry. “What you permit you promote.”
Good afternoon,
Great post.
I would enjoy working for a leader who was real, authentic and showed a human side. Personally, I have never experienced this type of leadership/management. I enjoy working in organizations that have a “humane culture.”
Leadership and management should “value” and “celebrate” human life. Hopefully, the leadership and management of the future will become more conscious and “woke.”
After all, we’re all on a journey and walk a path in life.
It is great that you list casual interaction as the #1 secret to expand your ability to lead. Casual interaction, if sincere, will always open individuals to being more willing to carry out a directive. Smart followers tend to push back against directives they deem suspect or unnecessary. However, it is easier for those smart followers to trust a leader that they know on a personal level. No one wants a “yes man” around all the time. As leaders, we should want those that can and will challenge us enough to keep us on our best game. What better way to get true responses from your followers than to make them feel comfortable enough with you to speak up?
I have a team member who I call a few times a month for about an hour at a time. Most of the discussion is about work, but I would lean toward 30% of the call is catching up on their and mine’s personal life. Family issues, personal health issues, and sometimes finances. This discussion and others like it help me understand what my team is going through outside of work. It helps me understand why they may have had a bad week or month. We also share positives and reinforce good behaviors by encouraging each other to continue to be better.
I also work with others who just want to do their eight hours and go home, not bothering to get to know anymore than what is shared through directives or emails. This, to me, creates and supports silos. Now I don’t need to be up in everyone’s business, but knowing a little and encouraging folks to stay on the right track does help them being productive for your organizations mission.