Chapter 3: Become a Leader

1. Chapter 3: Become a Leader • As you advance in your career, you will be given more responsibility. • Eventually, you may be responsible for others as their leader. • To prepare for leadership, learn what it means to lead and how to lead with vision and style.

2. Chapter 3 Objectives • Explain how a leader creates the balanced relationships needed to lead a team. • Create a leadership model and develop what it takes to become an effective leader. • Lead in a way that earns your team’s trust & respect, builds their confidence, & motivates them to do good work. • Identify & carry out leadership responsibilities. • Develop your leadership vision, test it, and present a proposal to make it happen.

3. 3.1 Understanding Leadership Dynamics • A company gives its managers authority (power to act or command) that separates them from other employees. • Managers can be leaders, but not all managers are leaders. • What separates the two is how leaders use their authority.

4. Leaders vs. Managers • A good leader uses that authority to: 1. Make decisions for their team or department. To implement these decisions, managers and leaders must know how to 2. Manage (run, handle, or direct a system, task or people). Most managers can make decisions & manage, but good leaders also: 3. Motivate their team, encouraging them to act to meet their goals by doing great work.

5. Leadership Dynamics • Leadership dynamics refers to the pattern of changing relationships between leaders and the people they lead. • A positive leadership dynamic occurs when a leader’s authority is respected and the employees are happy to follow their trusted leader. • You earn respect by your performance as a professional and in your leadership role. • You earn trust by looking out for your team’s interests and by behaving well as a person.

6. A Balancing Act • To create a positive leadership dynamic, a balancing act is needed. • You must find a balance between being a boss and being a buddy to your team members. - Boss: Sets boundaries; keeps discipline. - Buddy: Respects team members; treats them in a friendly way.

7. Have a Vision • A leader is defined by his or her leadership vision (the ultimate goal the leader directs the team toward). • Your vision is the great things you see the team accomplishing and how they’ll do it. • To motivate your team, share your vision and ask them to help you make your vision a reality.

8. 3.2 Modeling Leadership • A leader’s effectiveness is measured by the high productivity of her or his efficient team. • Plan to be a leader by creating a model of the type of leader you want to be. • A leadership model outlines the basic qualities you need to lead effectively. • Leadership qualities are personal traits, such as courage, sincerity, frankness, ability, creativity, patience, and optimism. • Different kinds of leaders have different qualities.

9. Kinds of Leaders - The instinctive leader relies on natural leadership ability. - The structured leader relies on structure, rules and tradition to lead. - The spontaneous leader uses creative energy and new ideas to lead. - The skilled leader relies on practiced leadership skills or training to lead. • Leaders start with the qualities they already have and adopt other qualities to use as needed with different people.

10. Work Environment • A leader controls the work environment (atmosphere or climate) because it effects employees & their work and reflects on the leader. • Create a climate that is fair, not frosty. - In a pleasant fair climate, relaxed and respectful employees work without tension or micromanagement (constant, meddling supervision) but still have structure. - In an unpleasant frosty climate, employees are unhappy with the unfriendly, overly-controlled, unproductive environment.

11. Your Leadership Style • Styles based on power and control are autocratic (giving orders) and formal. • Styles based on respect and trust are democratic (discussion & voting) and casual. • Choose an overall style that fits your leadership qualities & the work environment you’ll create. • Then be flexible to find a balance between the autocratic (bossy) style and the democratic (buddy) style.

12. Communicate Your Style • As a leader, practice your individual teamwork skills to set a good example. • In a meeting, listen carefully, decide what to say, and make your contribution with confidence. • When you give instructions, tell your ideas, or critique others, communicate clearly and with authority.

13. Make your content clear: - Think before you speak & say what you mean. - Make your point without rambling or wandering to another topic. - Tailor your words to your listeners. • Use good delivery to convey authority: - Speak deliberately & clearly without fillers like “um.” - Make eye contact & put on a friendly face. - Use gestures to illustrate a point.

14. Get Ready to Lead • Create your leadership model now & begin modeling yourself after it. • When you put your leadership model into practice, you’ll be a role model for your employees who will be motivated to follow your example.

15. 3.3 Cultivating Trust & Respect • A good leader has the loyalty of the people being led. • To gain employees’ loyalty, you need to gain their trust and respect by being a supportive leader who: - makes sure their needs are met, - puts their interests ahead of yours, and - encourages them to develop themselves as potential leaders.

16. Good leaders: good for business. • Taking care of employees’ basic needs for safety and comfort relieves their minds and lets them be more productive & efficient. • Encouraging them to keep learning results in higher quality work. • Giving people opportunities to try new things keeps them motivated and results in lower turnover. • Getting to know employees’ lives outside of work results in higher trust & ability to handle employee problems. • Standing up for your employees & praising their accomplishments yields increased loyalty to you.

17. Ways to be Approachable • Leave your office door open when you’re in. • Circulate; say hello; ask about what they’re doing. • Respond with positive language. • Take an interest in each person. • Use positive body language and direct eye contact. • When employees come to talk to you, stop working & give them your full attention. • Encourage them to come to you for advice. • Reward good work with praise and thanks.

18. Dealing with Resistance to Change • Many people fear change. • Competitive leaders often use innovative (new or original) ideas to stay ahead. • Some may distrust or resist your leadership if it involves change, especially change in how they work. • Persuade them that the innovation will be good for them, allowing them to grow. • Tell them you’ll help by being a mentor to them.

19. What Does a Mentor Do? M = Motivate E = Encourage N = Nurture T = Teach & Train O = Open eyes to possibilities R = Reward good work

20. Going for the Goal • When your team believes in you, you have its loyalty. • When your team believes in your vision, it has a personal stake in making that vision a reality. • Then your team becomes truly a team with a shared goal and the desire to reach it.

21. 3.4 Identifying Leadership Responsibilities • The leader’s main job is to have a vision, decide how to make that vision happen, and then have others work to make it so. • Leaders use their skills, talents, resources, and strength to fulfill that responsibility. • Leaders set ultimate goals and break them down into prioritized action steps.

22. Delegating • Leaders can’t do others’ work because they need to focus on team goals and the big picture, so they delegate (appoint someone the authority to do a task). • After delegating, the leader then must oversee the progress, guide the work, and help the employees overcome obstacles.

23. What’s the Big Picture? • It’s the business system or company as a whole as it fits into the U.S. system of capitalism, a profit-and-competition-driven economic system. • The law of supply and demand says that companies exist to supply the goods & services that the consumer demands. • Profit is the money made by businesses from selling goods or services after deducting production costs (how much it costs to produce the goods or services).

24. In business, the big picture is how a team’s work will help the company make a profit. • Leaders keep their eyes on the big picture to ensure their team is going in the right direction and that the team’s goals fit with the company’s goals.

25. Other Duties • Leaders have many administrative and managerial functions. They may: - Recruit new customers or employees. - Gather statistics and other information. - Prepare budgets. - Write reports. - Lead & contribute to meetings. - Give presentations. - Evaluate employee performance. - Promote or dismiss employees.

26. When Evaluating Employees, Consider Their: - Positive attitude. - Promptness. - Cooperativeness. - Professional behavior. - Ability to take initiative. - Ability to work independently. - Creativity in ideas and solutions. - Willingness to ask for clarification. - Encouraging others; setting a good example. - Correct use of protocol and chain of command.

27. Dismissals • Dismissals due to lay-offs damage team morale & can erode trust in the leader. Let your team know you did everything you could to avoid the lay-off. • Even with preventive measures like posted codes of conduct, misconduct may occur, requiring immediate action. Take care to have evidence & follow company procedures before firing someone for misconduct.

28. Promotions • Employees need incentives (awards or benefits that motivate) to do great work. • Incentives include more pay, more responsibility, and recognition of good work. • Promote your employees based on merit.

29. Busy leaders often multitask (work on more than one task at the same time) to get everything done, but they should not lose their focus or ignore employees. • To prevent burn-out, leaders must balance their personal & professional lives to be content and to keep their perspective so they can see that big picture.

30. 3.5 Thinking Strategically • Use your life and work experience to create your leadership vision of how things can be done better. • Your leadership vision is how you picture your goals in your mind. • Your vision gives you a goal to aspire to (aim for) and a picture of an ideal (perfect model). • Use your vision to inspire your employees (stir their emotions to motivate them) so they’ll want to make your vision a reality.

31. Developing Your Leadership Vision • Ask yourself, “What don’t I like about my job/team/company/industry/society? Why?” • Look for common problems, obstacles, & flaws in how things are done. • Ask yourself, “What can I do to make the situation better?” and think about how you can improve it. • Then turn your ideas into a written statement of your vision for improvement.

32. Writing a Vision Statement • First, write your vision describing your goal in one sentence or phrase. • Then flesh out (add substance to develop your idea) your vision statement by thinking about how you can accomplish the goal & why you should. • Work backwards from the goal to figure out the steps needed to make the goal happen. • Think of how you can accomplish each step. • Prioritize those action steps.

33. What Will Your Vision Take? • Determine what risks you & your team will have to take to reach your goal. • Realize you’ll be challenging the status quo (standard practices) developed by your superiors. • Prepare yourself before presenting your proposal to your superiors.

34. Vision Cross-Examination • Test your vision before presenting it to anyone by asking yourself: 1. What is the benefit of my vision? Increased profit, productivity, or efficiency? Beating the competition? 2. What am I basing my case on? Does my research data prove my idea will work? Have others used my idea successfully? 3. Can I make it happen? What’s my strategy for achieving the goal? What do I need? How do I get it? What must I overcome? • Now share your vision with your team to get their input & ownership.

35. Presenting Your Proposal • Present your vision to your superiors in a well-researched proposal (idea presented for approval). • To help get your proposal approved: 1. Use visual aids to bring your ideas to life. 2. Show how your vision incorporates or builds on best practices (ideas used in your industry) to beat your competitors. 3. Follow up with a thank-you memo that highlights their positive suggestions & outlines the steps you’ll take to implement them. If you don’t hear “Stop!” from them, you’ve given yourself permission to get started.

36. Let the Journey Begin! • Your vision is developed. • Your team is inspired. • Your superiors have approved. • You have the skills, ideas, and courage to make a difference. • You are on your way to becoming a true leader and professional.

37. Chapter 3 Recap • To create a positive leadership dynamic, be professional yet personable and cultivate trust and respect. • Model yourself after an effective leader to develop the right qualities, environment, and style. • Earn your employees’ loyalty, trust, and respect by your actions as a person and as a professional. • Keep your eye on the big picture as you carry out your many responsibilities and delegate other tasks. • Develop your leadership vision to make a difference; test it; present it to your team and superiors; and then implement it.