Leadership is not management.
It’s not about controlling how your employees act, think or do in some Orwellian nightmare. Nor is it about using fear of some arbitrary policy written 10 years ago to create action.
Both of them won’t work in the long-term.
Instead, leadership is about influencing, motivating and enabling others to achieve a common set of organisational goals. To do this, there are several styles.
Here are the most common…
Authoritarian Leadership - the leader makes decisions without involvement from the rest of the team. It’s effective in crises, but risks demoralising members in the long-term.
Participative Leadership - the leader invites their colleague’s opinions, but has the final say on decisions. It engages members, but reaching a consensus is time consuming.
Delegative Leadership - the leader delegates initiative to the team, providing them with full autonomy. It’s constructive where members are competent and prefer individual work.
Transactional Leadership - the leader sets clear goals and outlines rewards and punishments for their achievement. It enforces compliance, but limits creativity.
Transformational Leadership - the leader inspires their team with a vision and encourages them to achieve it. It’s empowering for members, but can lead to deviation from procedure.
Which one should you use?
The answer is a mix of those that best suit the situation you’re in.
You’ll already have a preference for one style, but aim to become competent in every other approach. You’ll need them at some point.
To do this, focus on the principles that underpin all of them.
Here’s how you master leadership.
#1: Communicate Your Vision
You already have one. That idea of how the world will look, feel and taste when you’re done changing every last inch of it IS your vision.
But, it’s no use to you scribbled into a half-empty journal or drawn onto the 7th mind mapping software you’ve found this week.
The world needs to see it, hear it and feel it.
Here’s how…
1) Define your why
Have a strong cause and others will rally behind it.
This means defining why you do it (purpose), how you do it (mission) and what you do (positioning). Stand for something and you’ll resonate with your tribe.
An example:
Why - to shape the future of energy and transport.
How - accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy & electric vehicles.
What - a futuristic energy company that also makes great cars.
You already know which company this is.
That’s the power of a strong why.
2) Find their motivation
Every human has a unique itch they need to scratch.
Find what makes them tick and align it to your why. It can be money, learning, autonomy, impact or a combination of all of them.
Understanding their goals and priorities enables you to see the path they’re on. Once it’s clear, explain how working with you will help them take their next steps on it.
3) Bang the drum
Make some noise about the future you're creating.
Become the expert on your vision. Write about it on social media, talk about it on podcasts and record yourself living by it for the company vlog.
If it starts to sound repetitive, find new ways to say it. Tell them why it needs to happen right now, the quick wins they can do to get there and the bigger changes that need to be made.
#2: Inspire Your Team
Inspiration is the glue that holds a team together.
It comes in many forms; by the work itself, how the work changes the lives of customers and all the industry experts you get to collaborate with.
Maximise all three and you’re onto a winner.
1) Build feedback loops
Share your wins, always.
Feedback from clients is clearly great for pitching to new leads. But, it also has a hidden benefit - it’s THE best way to remind your team of the impact of their work.
The next time you get a “Wow, you’ve changed my life forever”, record it and send it to everyone in your team. Add it to an ‘impact bank’ and refer back to it on those dark days.
2) Celebrate your failures
It’s not always plain sailing.
When mistakes do arise, resist the urge to open fire on the culprit who’s clearly made the error. Take a blameless approach and focus on understanding the problem.
If someone fails at a new approach, then celebrate it. Hold a failure party, invite your team, reflect on what went wrong and discuss how to improve.
3) Make hard decisions
Indecision kills great leaders.
People will follow you because they believe in your ability to make choices. Changing your approach every other week before you’ve really tried it will lose their loyalty.
Ask for advice from experts to understand the problem, but rely on your own judgement to choose the best solution. Then commit to it and see where it takes you.
#3: Share Your Candour
Share what makes you human - your crippling self-doubt, your nervousness before a pitch and your uncertainty about what the next steps look like.
Being vulnerable is good for business.
It’ll show your defiance in spite of the problems you face.
1) Encourage authenticity
Enable your team to bring their full unfiltered selves to work.
Make it normal to talk about hobbies and personal goals. Become genuinely interested in their lives outside of the 9 to 5 and they’ll look forward to their Monday mornings.
2) Build psychological safety
Encourage speaking up when issues arise.
Create space by adopting a humble mindset and inviting participation on topics you know little about. Ask open-ended questions that are curious, thought-provoking and engaging.
Some examples:
“What might we be missing?”
“What other ideas should we generate?”
“Who has a different perspective?”
3) Express appreciation
Praise those who speak up.
Anything from a simple “thank you so much for letting me know” to an elaborate bonus structure that incentivises identifying areas of improvement.
Ensure the reward of talking is greater than the risk of being ignored, or worse ridiculed.
The Summary
Let’s recap; To master leadership you need to communicate your vision, inspire your team and share your candour.
That’s your 5 minutes. Now turn it into ACTION.
If you want further reading, here’s this week’s list: