Transforming Your Workplace Through Sound Leadership

Introduction

Welcome to the journey of sound leadership. They say that leaders are born, not made. While it is true that some people are born leaders, some leaders are born amid adversity. Often, people who have never been in a leadership role will stand up and take the lead when a situation they care about requires it.

A simple example is parenting. When a child arrives, many parents discover leadership abilities they never knew existed in order to guide and protect their offspring. There are self-made gang leaders in some societies who are feared because of the activities they are involved in.

Clearly, leadership potential exists within each of us. That potential can be triggered by outside events, or it can be learned by exploring ourselves from within. This book takes the latter approach. Once you learn the techniques of true leadership, you will be able to build the confidence it requires to take the lead. The more experience you have acting as a genuine leader, the easier it will be for you. It is never easy to take the lead, as you will need to make decisions and face challenges, but it can become natural and rewarding.

Leadership is not telling others what to do. Leadership is inspiring others to do what needs to be done. Many people around the world who are in leadership positions are not leaders. The position does not make you a leader. Dictators call themselves leaders, but they are not – they are tyrants. There have been many presidents of countries all over the world, but few were real leaders.

Genuine leaders take a stand and motivate others to join them in a noble purpose. One such leader was former US president Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery in the United States. Another was John F. Kennedy, who inspired a nation to go to the moon within a decade, and it did. The US general George Smith Patton had a completely different but no less effective leadership style. South African icon Nelson Mandela – who came out of prison – became a leader who ‘preached’ reconciliation. Paul Kagame, the president of Rwanda, introduced real reforms. These are just a few examples.

What is it that makes a leader, and what separates the good from the great? This book will explore different leadership theories and examine what makes a great leader.

Influence is subtle, yet incredibly powerful. You can order someone to do a task, but you cannot order them to do their best. It simply does not work and usually has the opposite effect. You can influence people to do their best by providing a strong, motivating example in addition to positive reinforcement. Leadership addresses tasks, while influence addresses attitudes and awareness. Influence is the soul of leadership.

Chapter One

What is Leadership?

The purpose of this book is to help those in leadership positions to lead well and enjoy their leadership responsibilities. Leadership is difficult – there is a price to pay, so prepare for the opportunity. Your leadership ability always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact of your organisation. Before you can lead you must understand what leadership is. According to leadership expert John Maxwell, leadership is influence –nothing more, nothing less. Fred Smith, himself an outstanding leader, mentions in his book Learning to Lead, that Leadership is influence. This is simple, yet profound. A person may have a position of leadership, but if he is not affecting the thoughts and action of others, he is not a leader.

What these leaders are saying about influence is based on the following acrostic:

- Integrity: builds relationships on trust

- Nurturing: cares about people as individuals

- Faith: believes in people

- Listening: values what others have to say

- Understanding: sees from their point of view

- Enlarging: helps others become ‘bigger’

- Navigating: assists others through difficulties

- Connecting: initiates positive relationships

- Empowering: gives them the power to lead

If you work hard to do all of these things with the people in your organisation, you will overcome the ‘influence challenge’. The whole secret is to think influence, not position.

Put another way, if you understand that as a leader your primary responsibility is to influence people, then you are on the right track. The question may arise: Can anybody be a leader? The answer is, Yes. A father at home is a leader – he leads his family. A principal of a school is a leader because he/she leads the school. A manager at work leads a team of workers to get the job done. These are just a few examples of leadership positions.

As a leader you must master the essential skills of listening and thanking. You should listen to people’s answers to your questions without judging, interrupting, disputing or denying them. You do this by keeping your mouth shut, except when to say, Thank you. This is powerful! You will get the results that you require because people would like to work with such a leader – one who listens and appreciates.

The position of a leader should be an exciting one once you fully understand that you get results through other people. If you understand this, then your focus should be on the people who give you results. I guarantee you, if people are motivated, there is nothing that can stop them from producing excellent results.

I say this from experience. When I was a factory manager at Cullinan Brick, we produced remarkable results because my focus was on making sure that people can contribute positively towards the business when they are allowed to do so, are listened to and appreciated for their contribution.

One of the most important aspects of leadership is feedback. Everybody would like to know how they are performing. At home, after my wife has prepared dinner and we had our meal, she expects feedback on how we enjoyed the food. This type of feedback gives her the motivation to continue doing her best because we show appreciation. Not only that, I take it upon myself to do the dishes so she can relax. This gesture speaks volumes in my show of appreciation. The same counts for a team of workers when they are allowed to do their part and the leader does his/her part. The saying that ‘feedback is the breakfast of champions’ is true because everybody is a winner when there is feedback!

Where to start as a leader

To be an effective leader you must have a sense of calling

True leaders have an inner urging to take on their position. They feel a sense of responsibility. I believe that the moment a father and mother see their new-born child, they experience a strong sense to be a godly example to that precious new life. For a church leader or pastor, there is a specific calling from God, a deep, innate feeling or desire that causes him to do what they are called to perform. For the business leader, there is an urging to rise to the challenge, to take the helm and move forward.

To be an effective leader you must be a generous contributor

The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve them, but the number of people they serve. Real leaders have something to give, and they give it freely. John Maxwell said, Remember these truths – a person must forget himself to be long remembered. He must empty himself in order to discover a fuller self. He must lose himself to find himself. You must forget yourself into greatness, empty yourself into adventure, lose yourself into immorality. Great leaders are great givers.

To be an effective leader you must act consistently

There are many people who are consistent, but are not leaders. No-one has ever been an effective leader over the long run without being consistent in their actions. The moment people learn that we are not dependable or responsible is the moment they will not recognise our leadership. A leader must be consistent in three areas. These are people – this builds security; principle – this provides direction; and projects – this builds morale. Leaders let other people know where they are coming from. A study showed that people would rather follow a leader they disagree with than one they agree with if the latter constantly changes his position on something.

Your leadership ability always determines your effectiveness and the potential impact in your organisation. You have to start by leading yourself exceptionally well before you can lead others – leadership is a great responsibility and it needs lot of discipline. Brand Pretorius, in his book In the Driving Seat, puts it this way: If you cannot lead yourself, you will never be able to lead others.

The key to leading yourself well is to learn self-management. Once you demonstrate without a reasonable doubt that you can manage yourself well, only then you can lead others. If you want to gain credibility with your boss, colleagues and others, focus on the following seven areas first:

1. Manage your emotions: It is important for everybody to manage emotions. Nobody likes to spend time around an emotional time bomb who may ‘go off’ at any moment. It is critical for leaders to control their emotions. Whatever they do affects many other people who are around them. A good leader learns to display emotions at appropriate times. There is nothing wrong in showing the team what you are feeling as long as it is done in a non-threatening way.

2. Manage your time: As a disciplined time-keeper, it frustrates me when others can’t keep time and sometime even try to justify their action. I personally have no respect for a leader who does not respect time. Time is valuable. Psychiatrist and author M. Scott Peck said, Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. If you want to be a real leader, you have to lead by example, especially where time is concerned.

3. Manage your energy: To do your best on any given day, you must learn to manage your energy level. On your to-do list, write down all the tasks that need a lot of energy and perform those in the morning. When your energy level drops in the afternoon, concentrate on matters that need less energy. Learn not to exhaust all your energy at work – you may have a family to go home to after work who also needs your energy for their activities.

4. Manage your priorities: If you don’t prioritise your work, you may find that a lot of time is being wasted on non-essential activities. The old proverb is true: If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. Plan your work schedule in such a way that 80% of the time is for work where you are strongest, 15% of the time is for work where you are learning, and 5% of the time spent is on work in other necessary areas of the business. Where possible, delegate some of your responsibilities to your team members who are capable to execute the function. This may not be easy to achieve, but it is what you should strive for.

5. Manage your thinking: Matthew 12:34 – For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. When you are too busy, you don’t think straight, so be careful. The best way to keep track is to write down all the important things you need to do on any given day. Dedicate time when the pressure has eased off to do them. You will get much value from this if you learn to manage your thinking. This way, nothing will fall between the cracks.

6. Manage your words: The saying, Action speaks louder than words is true. People would rather see you do things than speak about them. If you wish to make sure that your words carry weight, then weigh them well. The good news is that if you manage your thinking and take advantage of focussed thinking, you will probably see an improvement in the area of managing your words too. If you have something worthwhile to say, say it briefly for people to understand. If you don’t, sometimes the best thing to do is remain silent.

7. Manage your personal life: Many leaders do a good job at work but are failing at home – it is because they cannot keep a balance. If you want your family – husband, wife and children – to love and respect you, make time for them. For eight hours or so every day you are at work, and they understand that, but after hours they need your undivided attention with so many things. Your wife/husband/partner wants to talk about their day, your children may need help with homework. They don’t want to share your time at home with your work. Remember, if you want to lead others, you must lead yourself first. If you can’t lead yourself, others won’t follow you, respect you and partner with you. That applies whether the influence you exert is on the people above you, beside you, or below you. The better you are at making sure you are doing what you should be doing, the better the chance you have for making an impact on others.

What makes great leaders stand out

If you are wondering whether or not you ‘make the grade’ as a leader, I’ve compiled a few of the top habits of successful leaders to develop high-performance teams and deliver results. These are the core habits that can be adopted on a daily, weekly and monthly basis to skyrocket your leadership career.

1. Establish regular feedback loops

Any professional wanting to elevate their career benefits from regular feedback loops, not only with their management body, but also their teams. To have the most powerful impact, feedback comes from your full 360-degrees to help you uncover your blind spots and develop yourself professionally. I can personally attest to the fact that proper feedback, if leveraged wisely – and delivered well – can transform your career trajectory for the better!

Great feedback loops fall under several categories: (1) feedback for self and (2) feedback for others, such as your team. Let’s discuss what this may look like for you.

You set up regular reviews and personal development meetings with your management, a mentor or a coach to obtain feedback and get the most traction in your career.

You solicit feedback from your direct reports or colleagues (or both!) to get a 360-degree view of your leadership style and where you can adjust to make improvements.

For their development, you deliver timely, well-thought-out and appropriate feedback to your direct reports in one-on-one meetings. If you are not yet managing others, perhaps you could provide sensitive, yet candid feedback to your colleagues or those you influence – if welcomed or requested.

Top feedback fails when it is delivered in front of others, when it is not asked for, or when you are in an emotionally-charged situation. If the feedback is in any way considered critical, be sensitive to the person receiving it. Unless you are their direct manager, you may not be the right person to deliver feedback. On the other hand, if delivered properly, feedback can be an amazing tool – it is not something you should take lightly.

If you find it necessary to give critical feedback to a direct report, I recommend giving them time to process the feedback. If feedback challenges a person’s self-identity, they may become defensive (this is natural) and they may need time to contemplate. Specific examples and the use of reflective inquiry help feedback recipients to process and adapt more quickly, as opposed to the ‘dump-and-run’ method without any explanation.

2. Consider other people when communicating

Most people tend to communicate from the inside out (from habit) and that is thinking backwards. In order to communicate effectively, it is best to keep the other person in mind. If you deliver information in a way that is not aligned with another person’s frame of reference, you may have just wasted your time. Effective communication is when information is actually exchanged and understood. Let’s discuss some guidelines:

Communicate with others in mind. Consider how others may perceive your tone of voice, word choice, and phraseology. Too often we speak from ‘habit’. Be intentional about your message.

Shift from definitive language to more collaborative language to encourage others to be more receptive. Be cautious of phrases like you/we will, you/we should or, you/we need to. Instead, use phrases like, I’d like your thoughts on… or, What do you think about…?

Practice being the last to speak. Not only does that allow you to absorb another’s ideas, but you are better able to present your thoughts in a collaborative manner that incorporates and respects others’ ideas.

Listen, listen, and listen some more. Listen longer than you would normally. Ask clarifying, caring and thought-provoking questions. Listen attentively to what the other person has to say, not waiting impatiently for them to stop talking so you can jump in!

For a leader (or someone who desires a leadership role) good communication is critical. You probably already know this and you may also think that either (a) you do a fine job already, or (b) it is really tough to nail down!

If you think you do a great job of communicating and don’t feel like you have any adjustments to make, you may want to check yourself before you wreck yourself. The problem is that we develop habits over time – habits of thinking, behaving and communicating. Fortunately, some of these habits aren’t an issue, but I have yet to see anyone who have communication nailed down (including myself!).

Do you have habits that are no longer serving you?

In order to make sure that you are not missing the mark when it comes to communication, ask for feedback as outlined in #1 above. You will probably get valuable insights into where you can tweak your style to be more effective. For example, when I was a young professional I felt that everyone should think, behave and act as I did. This was mostly due to ignorance on my part. I got a very strong wakeup call after receiving feedback that I was too ‘abrupt’ in my manner and not ‘friendly’ enough.

As a result, I adjusted my communication style with those that I knew appreciated more of a personal touch – with outstanding results. In fact, there are a few habits I have developed with everyone I communicate with, such as thanking people. You will be amazed at how something so small, yet significant can make such a positive impact!

3. You acknowledge others and celebrate them

There is one universal law that I have seen demonstrated clearly time and time again: you get what you give. If you are negative, focus on all the gaps and only see the worst in people, then that is the world you perpetuate. On the other hand, if you are giving, see the best in people despite their faults and see opportunities through challenges, then that is the world you develop for yourself.

You get what you give – it is really that simple. As a leader, when you acknowledge others and celebrate them (I don’t mean throw them a party every day), it compounds your trustworthiness as a professional. Not only do people like you more, they are also more willing to collaborate with, work for, and be inspired by you.

Think of it this way: how likely are you to go the ‘extra mile’ for someone who is negative and unappreciative? Probably not very likely.