Stepping up and Stepping out 10 ways to be a better leader By Rowdy (Ron) McLean J.P, M.B.A, F.A.I.M, C.C.M The very essence of leadership is that you have a vision Theodore Hesburgh
Stepping up and Stepping out 10 ways to be a better leader by Rowdy (Ron) McLean Great leaders never stop growing. To be the best leader you can possibly be you need to be prepared to learn on an ongoing basis. Continually reflect, review & re-evaluate & stay at the leading edge. We are all leaders in some shape or form whether we believe it or not. We are leaders as parents, in the sporting and business teams that we belong to and we also leaders in our own lives. As leaders we must look for ways to continue to grow and develop. However, before you start to grow you must discover your own unique leadership style. Know where your strengths and weaknesses are. This becomes your foundation for growth. Knowing exactly what your development needs are allows you to focus on your development in a way that makes you a better leader. 1.Style, Strengths and Weaknesses To discover you unique style you can complete a number of online profiling assessments that will give you some excellent information on your preferred style of leadership. Once this has been done the next step is to conduct a 360 degree feedback exercise with your team. This feedback exercise allows you to review your performance and compare it to the view of your team. It will highlight where your strengths and weaknesses lie. It is important that you understand what you do well and what you may do better, however you should not try to be all things to all people. By all means develop skills in the areas of weakness that you can.
Was it because you planned well, practiced, studied? Were you bold and brash or calculating? There will be some areas however, where you will either not want to develop these skills or not be able to. In these areas make sure: Did you persist and persevere or did you jump in the deep end and swim hard as you could? Were you part of a team and what was your role in that team? Did you make good use of your resources and support structures? Did you do more than anybody else? Did you work harder or did you work smarter? a) That you are aware of the weaknesses and thoroughly understand it and b) Make sure that a member of your team has strengths in this area so that you can make use of their skills in supporting you. If you don t have someone with the skills to support your weaknesses, employ someone with strengths in that area. 2. Review Success and Failures Then you should finish with how did you feel about each achievement. Was it what you expected? Did you relish the achievement personally or did you take pride in the attention and recognition from you peers, friends or family? Was it competitive and did you enjoy the competition? How did you respond to the challenges, stress and pressure? Were there any major obstacles and how did you overcome them? And finally, what would you do differently and why? Take some time to review all your success and failures. Make a list of every success you have had in life, from the earliest memory you have. It could be your first grade spelling test, a sporting triumph, relating to others, riding a bike, achieving a financial or business goal. You will be amazed at what comes out of this exercise. You will discover trends and behaviours, skills and abilities, personal attributes that contribute to your leadership style today. Write down every success from that first memory through to the present. After each one, write a brief description of why you believe you were successful.
You must complete the same exercise for your failures. How have they grown and developed? What support mechanisms have they had? While this may not be much fun, it is the only way you can discover what you don t do well or may do better. This also ensures you are not making the same mistakes over and over. The definition of insanity is repeating the same behaviours and expecting different results, or if we always do what we ve always done - we will always get what we always got. The definition of insanity is repeating the same behaviours and expecting different results Specifically what can you learn from them and their history? What behaviours, skills and attributes do you share? It is very useful to have a mentor or a group of mentors. These are people that you can discuss ideas, issues and strategies with. I have several mentors who help me clarify and focus in a number of areas. I also mentor others and find this gives me a great opportunity to reflect on my leadership as well as help others grow and develop. Joining professional groups or organisations is an absolute must. If you are going to stay at the leading edge then you must expose yourself to the leading thinkers and writers. These professional bodies are a great source of information and support. 3. Study Others Write a list of leaders that you admire. Define the reasons you admire them and then define their style, skills and abilities. Look at their background and development? Now that you have discovered your own personal unique style, strengths, weaknesses, attributes and behaviours you have a foundation for stepping up and stepping out. A place to step up and step out from. A place to begin that journey, to being the very best. It is very useful to have a mentor or a group of mentors
4.Attitude Great things never get done without some degree of attitude. One of my favorite quotes is Whether you think you can or whether you think you can t. You are right Henry Ford Some people never step up or step out because they are beaten before they begin. You need to develop that I Can, I Am and I Will attitude. Go back and look at you successes and the attitudes that went with them. Find ways to duplicate and repeat those behaviours and create that attitude on a consistent basis. Great things never get done without some degree of attitude. You need to be able to look in the mirror and be confident that the person you see will get the job done. Our attitude can be seen a mile away, so be careful with the images you create. Dress to look the part. Walk tall. Arrive on time or early. Do the things you say you are going to do, when you say you are going to do them. Get a winning attitude. Some people say winning isn t everything I say the person that said that never won anything! 5.Awareness Blindly stumbling in one direction or another is not a strategy for success. You need to plan and strategise. Set a direction and have a purpose. Knowledge and information are the key to success. Research and discover what others and doing. What are your competitors up to? What are your colleges doing? Where is your organisation going? Explore what has worked well in the past and what have the hurdles been. Know what innovations and technology exists. Gather as much information as you possibly can. An educated decision is far better than a guess. The old boy scout motto comes to mind Be prepared or prior preparation prevents poor performance. Leadership and Learning are indispensable to each other John F. Kennedy
Know what s going on or find out, it will put you in the best position to set a direction or path to success. My motto is continuous improvement is far better than delayed perfection. You have to begin. Most people just don't start. Just by beginning you are setting yourself apart from most people. And don't give me that I am waiting until rubbish. You have created the right attitude, developed an awareness. Now get on with it. The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that our aim is too low and we reach it Michelangelo 6.Action Sure sometimes you will make a few mistakes and you will learn a great deal from these. People who procrastinate make just as many mistakes and they don't get as much done. Be prepared to fail fast. If I am going to do something the wrong way, I want to know and I want to know now! So that I can set a new direction or scrap it. All the time I am refining, reviewing and redeveloping. This means I am miles ahead of my competition and peers and I am always at the cutting edge of creativity and innovation. Henry Ford said You cannot build a reputation on what you are going to do How many people do you know that don't walk the talk or do what they say. Its easy to say you will do this or you are going to do that. It is another thing entirely to actually get it done. What are you waiting for? People always say When I After this After that Tomorrow I ll or Next week I ll My motto is continuous improvement is far better than delayed perfection.
7.Dream Stealers There are plenty of people out there who will tell you That wont work You cant Forget it Your not good enough Guess what! These so called experts of everything have never done anything. They are only too happy to be negative and will hold you back because of their own inadequacies. They couldn't do it so they think you can t do it. I love dream stealers. I love proving them wrong!!! If the world were run by dream stealers we would not have the little things in life like paper clips, mobile phones, post-it notes or computers. We also would not have the big things. India would still be run by the British, Nelson Mandela would still be in prison, John. F Kennedy would never have put a man on the moon and the Berlin Wall would still divide Germany. Don t let the dream stealers stop you from being your best. You will lose some friends in the process but you will also make some new ones. Positive, motivated ones. 8.Luck is not a Strategy Luck is not a strategy. If you think someone is going to come along and drop success in your lap, you are dreaming. Nothing worth having takes no effort. You need to get off your backside and have a go! No one is going to do it for you. Attitude, awareness and action don't come in boxes. You can t go to Officeworks and buy them. You can not get them on the internet. You will not find a company that sells Attitude and Awareness and then gives you Action for free. You need to take responsibility for developing a can-do attitude, building awareness and creating some action to achieve success. If you could buy it, everyone would have it. I LOVE dream stealers. I love proving them wrong. To stand up and step out you need to get out of the box.
9. Balance I am not suggesting that you create an environment that is all work and no play. There is no fun in that, you need to enjoy life. So be sure to schedule in the things you like to do. Lunch or dinner with friends, a game of golf or some retail therapy. Whatever you choose is fine, but choose to create some balance between life and work or you ll become old and grumpy before your time. Oh yeah! And look after yourself. It is no good becoming successful if you are going to have a heart attack before you get an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of success. Go to the gym or least walk the dog. Eat right - okay, eat right most of the time. These things will only make you a better leader, a little less stressed and cool under pressure. 10.Hire Smart People It is amazing how many leaders make the same two mistakes when recruiting people for their team. Mistake 1: They hire people with exactly the same leadership profile as them. In the interview they ask a question, listen to the answer and go great that s what I like, that s what I would do. They hire clones of themselves and then wonder why there is no creativity or innovation. Mistake 2: They are scared to hire people that may be smarter than themselves. Great leaders understand that hiring smart people supports their weaknesses and helps them to grow. Leaders that hire and manage smart people are the really smart ones. Hire smart people, coach them, mentor them and learn from them. As they grow you will also grow. So my final words for Stepping Up and Stepping Out are: Be Bold, Be Brave. Leaders that hire and manage smart Fire up (attitude), Set up (awareness), Step up (Action) and you will Finish up at the top. people are the really smart ones.
Rowdy conducts FOCUS seminars designed to help leaders to Step Up and Step Out. To receive a 10% discount on his next seminar send an email to: focus@creatingsynergy.com with the word e-book in the subject line. Rowdy also runs on-going monthly leadership seminars called Flame :: Business Leaders to find out more go to: flamebusinessleaders.com and register for an information pack. Rowdy also speaks at conferences on leadership and motivation, he would be happy to fire up your team or organisation visit: www.rowdy.com.au