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Five reasons why you need to act like a leader
No matter what level you may be in your organization, there are opportunities to act like a leader. But I’m just a low level employee with no power, you might say. How could I be leader? And moreover, why should I take on leadership responsibilities – especially when I’m not given the title or money to go along with those responsibilities?
In the past, the term leadership was often reserved for those who are in positions of power, for those that oversee people, departments, and operations. But this, I believe, is not an accurate perception of leadership. We are all given the power to be leaders – to own our thoughts and actions, and truly drive success for both our organizations and ourselves.
Key qualities of leadership, such as communication, the ability to inspire, confidence, and commitment, naming just a few, are not just for CEOs or vice-presidents. (There are many articles outlining leadership traits such as this Forbes article). These are often qualities that many people do exert in their daily lives to some degree whether they are parents, marathon runners, or organizing a family reunion, but haven’t truly recognized in themselves. For some reason, once these same people enter the work environment, filled with hierarchy and titles, they think about and live these qualities very differently.
We can each be leaders within our own right, at whatever position we may occupy at work. And there are several benefits to acting like a leader to benefit both yourself and your organization. Here are five reasons to start acting like a leader today.
Become more productive
Acting like a leader changes your mindset. It becomes more apparent that there are things to do and goals to accomplish. This brings you to action. Acting translates into doing, and this helps you get things done and become more constructive and productive in the process.
Achieve your goals
By virtue of being productive, you are better positioned to achieve your goals. Acting like a leader brings into focus what needs to get done and helps you clearly define near-term and long-term goals. Being productive, defining goals, and achieving results turns into a positive cycle, which boosts your confidence and further encourages the same behaviour. What you thought you should and could do becomes action-oriented goals setting and achievement.
Create opportunities
Acting like a leader means taking the initiative, searching for solutions, and understanding what your resources and options are. It also means looking at things from different perspectives and integrating information across subject areas. The curiosity and resourcefulness that is required to act like a leader can lead you to create additional opportunities as you act on immediate opportunities.
Think like a leader
According to Herminia Ibarra, an expert on professional leadership and development and author of Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader, “people become leaders by doing leadership work.” So instead of thinking like a leader first and acting like one later, getting to action first will clear the path to truly thinking like a leader. As you act like a leader and take control of your job, you will learn how to think like a leader in order to resolve challenges and take advantage of opportunities.
Become the leader
Acting like a leader will help you to eventually become the leader. Your behaviours, thoughts, and results will attract the attention of others in your organization and network as well as the deserved recognition and treatment. Over time, you will also develop those qualities that you admire in certain leaders as you practice and hone your skills.
As you build your reputation as a leader, be prepared for the additional opportunities and accompanying rewards to come your way, reinforcing you to act like a leader.
Five ways to show your communications culture some love
The goal to build an authentic and transparent culture is all the rage right now. That’s because organizations are finally realizing that these values deliver tangible value and produce desired results such as attracting great employees, building effective partnerships, and developing customer loyalty.
But how do companies shape their cultures to embrace key attributes such as authenticity, transparency, and openness? Well, the tone starts at the top. Leaders greatly influence the behaviours, attitudes, and morale of an organization and can implement certain practices to bring out the best in their people as individuals and as part of a greater ecosystem.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, here are five actions you can take as a leader to show your organization some love and start creating a culture in which your people can shine and work together towards success.
1. Share objectives and progress
Clearly communicating the strategic objectives set by the company’s leaders is an important first step to mobilize understanding and support. Clear objectives provide a framework in which teams can function, giving them an opportunity to understand their purpose and to set their own objectives that are relevant to the organization.
Updating teams about progress made on various levels and across the company is also important to demonstrate success as well potential areas of improvement. Sharing objectives and progress contribute to improving transparency in the organization.
2. Be present and visible
When the volume and complexity of work starts to increase, it becomes even more important for leadership to be present and visible across the organization. There are a couple of reasons for this. First, it sets an example. Employees can see the efforts you are making to steer the ship while working to accomplish goals. As a leader, not only do you have knowledge and expertise, but you also have the relationship and communications skills to engage and motivate employees to take that journey with you towards a common objective. This encourages others to follow suit.
Second, you can learn a heck of a lot as you make your rounds, having personal conversations and building rapport with employees. This increases your brand value and reputation as long as it is coming from a genuine place. This enhances the authenticity of your interactions.
3. Communicate, frequently
Communicating frequently with your teams helps you keep your finger on the pulse of the organization. This is not just a one-way conversation, however. Make sure you are having a continuous dialogue, asking questions, hearing opinions, and addressing concerns. You may use formal or informal methods such as hallway discussions, newsletters, an internal social media network, small meetings, or town halls. There are many tools at your disposal to keep the conversation going.
4. Address the good and the bad
Addressing both the good and the bad speaks to balance, which lends itself to transparency. Balanced communications is essential to building trust and credibility with your audiences. While employees love hearing about successes, it is important for them to hear about the challenges and risks facing the organization.
If there are issues that need to be addressed, don’t ignore the elephant in the room. Employees need to have a realistic picture to assess whether they are on the right track or if they need to make adjustments to their work plans to support the bigger picture. Also, problems can’t be solved in the C-Suite alone, and a great way to source ideas is to include your employees in creating the solution.
5. Obtain feedback and act on it
Proactively obtaining feedback about the organization’s communications and then taking actions to make improvements when reasonable and as possible, encourages a culture of openness, sharing, and innovation. Acting on the feedback you receive is very important to demonstrate the authenticity for asking for their opinion in the first place. If some recommendations cannot be implemented for whatever reason, explain why not, and let that employee know what else is being done to address his or her concerns should there be any. Feedback is an important component of any communications endeavour. It should be measured and evaluated to continuously improve communications efforts and to build a stronger rapport with your employees.
So show your organization and employees some love this Valentine’s Day and let its effects spread to build a productive and healthy communications culture.
How executives can help strengthen their organization’s reputation
Warren Buffet
A CEO has the power to influence and shape the perceptions of an organization’s stakeholders – be they customers, employees, or investors. By that power, he or she can bolster or bruise, a company’s reputation. On the ‘bolster’ side, think Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway or Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, while on the ‘bruise’ side, think Chip Wilson, founder and former CEO of Lulu Lemon and Michael Jefferies, former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.
What did these CEOs do to gain their fans’ worship or critics’ disapproval? Ultimately, it comes down to the way they communicated with their audiences.
Warren Buffett, also known as the Oracle of Omaha, is renowned for his articulate, intelligent, and transparent communications to shareholders. He his held in high regard not only for his legendary investment picks, but also for his honest annual letters to shareholders and his adherence to a strong value system.
Jeff Bezos is also known for his honest approach. In a response to employees commenting that teams at the company needed to communicate more, Bezos famously said, “No, communication is terrible!” While this shocked his teams at the time, the clear, concise, and confident way that Bezos himself communicates with his internal and external audiences has made Amazon one of the top technology and retail companies in the world.
On the other hand, both Chip Wilson and Michael Jefferies, past CEOs of retail clothing companies managed to exclude a massive market (mainly female shoppers who did not fit these CEOs’ perceptions of skinny cool) through their hurtful words, ignoring a growing and influential market segment. (Read more about Wilson’s and Jefferies’ controversial comments). Their times with their respective companies eventually came to an end as a combination of bad press and declining performance happened under their watch.
Most executives don’t win the exaltations of a Buffet or Bezos, and they likely do not seek the notoriety of a Wilson or Jefferies. However, company executives occupy positions that are presented with frequent opportunities to strengthen the reputation of both themselves and the companies they run through their communications.
Executives should consider the following three points when in the presence of or communicating with their constituents:
1. Be aware of non-verbal cues
As Amy Cuddy famously posited in her popular TED Talk, “Your body language shapes who you are.” While Dr. Cuddy focused on power poses during her lecture, the whole package of how you say and do things – from postures, to gestures, to expression, and tone – are all important indicators of how you are being perceived by your audiences.
Since executives are constantly under scrutiny, remaining aware and building behaviours that convey confidence and respect contribute to the perception of an individual and the credibility and sincerity of a message.
2. Content matters
What you say is actually just as important as how you say it…especially when it’s on record. Communicating accurate information in an intelligent fashion helps build credibility and supports the integrity and reputation of an individual. Before sharing your thoughts with your stakeholders, vet your information. Also provide context for your comments to minimize the chances of misinterpretation. Give your audience crisp sound bites so that they can digest information easily.
3. The medium makes the difference
In 1960, a young John F. Kennedy squared off against Richard Nixon in America’s first-ever presidential debate on television. This televised debate is credited for JFK’s winning bid for the presidency. JFK appeared handsome, calm, and confident, while Nixon appeared sickly from a recent hospitalization.
It is said that those who listened to the debate on the radio thought Nixon had won. Unfortunately for Nixon, 88% of American families owned a TV in 1960, making JFK the star of the night. Television fundamentally changed political campaigns after that night as well as the importance of crafting a public image.
Ultimately, human beings are social creatures. This means that nothing really beats face-to-face communication, and TV or video may be the next best thing. Executives have an opportunity to create a greater impact with their audiences through in person communications. This is why in person meetings are so important when trying to make a sale, negotiate a deal, or resolve a conflict.
Building awareness of non-verbal cues, developing credible content, and appropriately gauging the communications medium through which messages are being delivered can help executives improve the effectiveness of their communications activities and enhance their organization’s reputation.
The PR Sound Post 