Leading Leaders

No one ever said being a leader would be easy. 

You arrive home from work, emotionally exhausted from a day spent mediating employee squabbles, dodging complaints from employees about everything from the coffee to the retirement plan, and trying to negotiate a benefits package that won't break your organization's budget.  And yet, tomorrow morning you will get up with the alarm and do it all over again.

WHY?

There is a manager I know in Northern California that does a little bit of everything within her organization.  She plunges toilets.  Someone has to do it.  She also sweeps floors, washes dishes, and answers the phones.  What this wins her is a fall on double edged sword.  She knows the operations of the organization fluently.  She can help anyone do almost anything operational. She mentors all levels of employees, and has the respect of many (most) of her colleagues.  But she is also constantly undermined and talked down to by those considered to be her equals.  Why would this happen?

 It is easy to forget that the person you are talking to has two graduate degrees and a high level position within your organization when she is holding a plunger.  Moreover, people like my friend remind us that there are some out there who are willing to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes without complaint.  Many of us lack the dedication to go outside of our defined job responsibilities to take care of those around us.  Leaders like my friend take care of those around them so well that those around them often forget to appreciate it.

As students we are trained to be competitive. Our high school, undergraduate and graduate classes are ranked according to levels of achievement. Our very admission into a well known university depends on how we measure up, not just against our classmates, but legions of students around the world.

Throughout college we strive to be the best students we can. We study, we party, we sleep, then study some more. We graduate and enter the business world. And everything changes.

As business professionals we are expected to perform as members of a team not of our choosing. We are no longer measured simply on our own performance, we are required to act as a support system to people we may or may not socialize with outside of the office. These team members might be spectacular, or lazy, or ill-tempered.  So how then, are we expected to succeed?

Team settings can be extremely uncomfortable, and often downright intimidating. The person that can perform well in office team environments often finds that they do well in outside situations, as well. There are some fairly simple skills that you can utilize to make yourself an effective facilitator / team member.

1. Be the stick in the mud.  Okay, so this one is not so much fun, but work teams DO get sidetracked. Don't let your entire meeting pass with nothing accomplished outside of a brilliant re-hash of last night's "The Bachelor" episode. Maybe this is more fun, but it won't seem worth it when everyone has to come in on Saturday.  Keep the team focused and on-topic.

2. Be the voice of reason. Also, not as much fun as talking about TV, but still very necessary. People will disagree in meetings, this is perfectly normal. If, however, the conversation starts to get ugly it should be stopped. Preferably before someone throws a punch.

3. BEWARE THE BULLY - and don't let it be you.  Make sure everyone has a chance to speak their mind, even if their opinion isn't popular.

4. Be on time. Trust me on this one. No one likes the guy or girl that shows up late to every meeting. It's a sign that you don't respect their time or yours.

5. Take notes. Resolutions that are made within teams often go unfulfilled. Everyone leaves the meeting and forgets what assignments were given to them. Write everything down and update everyone via email after the meeting. This will ensure that no one is left with an excuse for not meeting their objectives.

The mastery of teamwork goes a long way toward building up our professional skills. It also teaches us how tailor our moods and responses to specific situations. These insulated work environments prepare us for uncomfortable client meetings, make us more comfortable speaking to crowds, and help us understand how to compensate for one another's short comings. (Likewise, how to take advantage of our co-worker's skill sets, when possible)

A successful professional life is not something you can achieve without learning how to work with others. Take advantage of these forced social experiments to acquire the skills you will need to go out and make things happen.

Regardless of what status you now hold within your organization,  you can make a positive difference. The power that you have to create change is immense. Don't believe me?  Think about the last time your co-worker vented to you about a work situation. How did you react? If you agreed with them, did they become encouraged and rant with more emotion? Of course they did, because you gave them an audience! Now imagine that same power, but steered in a positive direction.  This is leadership at the grass roots level.

Human beings look for companionship in almost all activities, and being miserable at work is no exception. If one of us hates the boss we should all hate the boss, right? 

Sure, if we all want to be unemployed.

Grass roots leaders make a huge impact by making small changes.  Some examples:

1. Rather than join group rants, look for ways to propose solutions to the problems you hear most.  Realize that the folks ranting are frustrated.  There isn't anything wrong or abnormal about being frustrated with the copier that continues to eat your TPS reports. The leader will move on from the frustration, however, and find a way to kill the copier while no one is looking.

2. Congratulate your co-workers for a job done well. Be sincere. Everyone loves to be noticed for the things that they do well, and it need not be the head honcho that speaks up in order to make a difference.  Do this often enough, and it will begin to change the behavior of those around you.

3. Tattle Good.  If you are in a position to do so, tell the big guys about the contributions others are making. It makes them look good, it makes you look good. Executives WANT to know these things. They deal with unpleasant things all day, and it is nice for them to hear something other than a complaint.

4. Manage UP. You cannot change your boss, you can only change you.  At the end of the day, we can only truly develop our own leadership skills. Learn how to become an effective people person, and you will begin to see changes in your reporting relationships.

Consultants have made a lot of money teaching executives how to create "motivational" environments for their employees. The environment that will sustain, however, is the one that the employees create for themselves.  

In my travels through various levels of management, I have found that every organization struggles with finding a balance between instilling leadership into their employees and enforcing a strict line style of management. They also misunderstand what it takes to truly inspire their employees to become engaged.

This website is a continuation of the work that I do with employees that want to learn how to inspire change from the bottom up.  As time passes, I hope to expand this movement into something more than the typical "Organizational Leadership" group of phrasology.  Additionally, I hope to take the tools that I have learned from watching the leaders within my own organizations and use them to help build up others.