Mistakes Team Leaders Should Avoid
Robert M. Gignac
Taynac
& Associates
54
Crawford Rose Drive
Aurora,
Ontario
L4G
4R4
(905)
841-0837
The events of September 11th,
2001 have brought the question of leadership to the forefront of many business
publications. The search for the answer to - “What does it take to be a
leader?” - is not just a recent phenomenon; consultants have spent years analyzing
the differences between leaders and managers.
Typically, these comparisons end up presenting leaders as more creative
and valuable to an organization than managers.
I’m not sure that categorizing leaders and
managers this way serves us well as business people. I've worked with
organizations filled with too many leaders, who were struggling due to their
inability to manage and implement day-to-day business issues. I've also worked
with organizations staffed with plenty of excellent managers, who were
struggling due to lack of innovation, motivation or an ability to keep their
eye on the competition, which began eating their lunch.
An organization needs management and
leadership. Don’t get caught up in the latest fad of turning everyone in your
organization into a ‘leader’ while trying to eliminate anything resembling
managerial behavior. Why? You’ll end up with chaos and a total lack of business
focus. Ideally, we should develop managers who can lead and leaders who can
manage. Successful organizations manage
things, but lead people. Manage finances, inventory, processes, technology, and
leadership development. Lead people, their perceptions and mindset, and foster
motivation.
I've seen the following two scenarios
repeatedly: a manager/supervisor suddenly promoted to a position of leadership;
an entrepreneur who must grow their business beyond their sphere of personal
control. The transition from manager to leader can be a rocky one, and the
attempt to train and develop leaders is easily botched. Why? While we seem to
understand management, we fall short on knowledge about leadership.
Leadership Defined
At its most basic level, leadership is
getting people to follow you. If you have no followers - who are you leading?
Unfortunately, much training on leadership is designed around a
control/authority model. Leaders figure out what has to happen, tell people
what is needed, and then expect things to happen - while this is a gross
simplification of the actual process, it is surprising how many organizations
attempt to lead this way. They forget the psychological reality that people
will only do what they want to do, and people will follow and work only as hard
as is necessary if their needs are not being met.
If that is the reality, skilled leaders ask,
“What words or actions will get people to do what I need them to do?” To create
followers you need to understand two deceptively simple principles. First,
people will do what their logic and emotions tell them, not necessarily what
the leader says. Second, the follower provides all the motivation. No leader,
however skilled, can motivate others. Leaders can only cause followers to
motivate themselves. This might seem like semantics, it isn’t. Accomplished
leaders are adept at reading and feeding people’s needs in order to optimize
the success of their organization.
Dr. James N. Farr suggests the best leaders
incorporate three basic types of leadership - directional, implementational and
interpersonal - into their thinking process. Directional refers to strategic
leadership, answering the question - where should the organization go?
Implementational leadership creates the blueprint - how will the organization
make it to destination? Interpersonal leadership is the process of getting
people aligned to the organizational goals and objectives. An integration of
these three types of leadership will place you on a strong foundation to
successfully move and inspire the organization.
But as with all processes and initiatives,
mistakes will be made. For those assuming a leadership role for the first time,
the following are common when learning the ropes (and are sometimes committed
by those who should know better).
Mistakes
Team Leaders Should Avoid
Mistake 1: A refusal to accept personal
responsibility/accountability. Leaders understand mistakes happen, and refuse
to blame others when things go wrong, even if it was out of their control.
Leaders refuse to fall for the victim mentality, realizing that sometimes
people will let them down, and if it happens, they get over it.
Mistake 2: Concentrating on the problem
rather than the objective. Leaders know people will work hard and endure hard
times because the effort will produce a result that is greater than the effort
expended. The moment the result is no longer worth the effort - they’ll quit,
and the team will falter. When you are up to your butt in alligators, the fact
your intention was to drain the swamp somehow seems less important. Leaders
keep people focused on the goal, not the problem.
Mistake 3: Trying to control results rather
than influencing thinking. Leaders influence and motivate, but in order to
influence, don’t just tell them - teach them. In order to connect Part A to
Part B, leaders do not fall back on the basics of a) activity produces habits,
b) habits produce results, and c) results produce success. Instead, they get
people to focus on the thinking that produces feelings, and how those feelings
allow you to produce the activity to get the results.
Mistake 4: Overestimating where their people
are. A leader knows they can’t make people run faster than they are capable,
but should make sure that they are running as fast as they can.
As your organization grows or changes, be
entrepreneurial about developing your leadership skills. Manage your personal
leadership development. Be assured that what comes naturally or feels
comfortable will not always be good leadership. Remember, if you look behind
you, and people aren't following, then you are probably not leading.
Bio:
Robert Gignac is the owner of Taynac &
Associates, offering keynote speeches, seminars and workshops on personal and
team development, motivation, and leadership. Contact him at: rgignac@taynac.com or check their website
at www.taynac.com.
Copyright 2002 - Taynac & Associates