Defining Leadership (#140)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
The other day, we attended an assembly for our high school junior. The school hosted the event to commission the rising seniors in their role as the top leaders among the student body for the coming year. The official ceremony was impactful and a call to action all leaders should think about.
““To those whom much is given, much is expected.”
— President John F. Kennedy (quoting Luke 12:48)
This Week’s Edition
How should we think about the definition of leadership relative to our role as a leader?
Clarify Your Thinking
As I sat in the auditorium watching each high school junior walk to the front to receive their leadership medallion, I wondered each student might be thinking:
- What is leadership and what does it have to do with me?
- Who do I know that is a leader? Do I respect them?
- When will this event be over?
Then it dawned on me that business leaders ask themselves similar questions?
- What is leadership really?
- If I am a supposed to be a leader, am I a good one?
- When will these leadership challenges be over?
Routinely, in our line of work we encounter leaders who express doubt about 1) their role as a leader, 2) their leadership efficacy, and 3) their ability to solve unfamiliar challenges.
Some leaders feel as it they have fallen into the role accidentally.
- “I was one of the top sales people in the company so they made me the manager of the entire sales team. What do I do now?”
Some express feeling ill equipped for the role.
- “I’ve got the title, but I don’t how I am doing. I’ve never been trained to be a leader. I feel like I am fumbling in the dark on key leadership issues.”
When people don’t think of themselves as leaders or question their ability to fulfill the definition of leadership, they may not be able to execute with confidence. Where confidence is lacking, doubt is present. Doubt changes a leader’s performance every time. Their thinking is tentative and hesitant at best.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
Leaders who question the very nature of their role fail to maximize their leadership potential in given situations. Consider these three steps you can take to increase the confidence of the leaders you lead.
Step 1: Define what “leadership” means for your organization.
It’s important to know what you (and your team) mean when you say “leadership.” A quick Internet search reveals an estimated 850 different definitions of the concept. What is your organization’s definition of leadership?
Step 2: Train all your leaders in the organization’s definition of leadership.
Lack of a shared definition will leave each leader discharging their leadership responsibilities independently. This creates lack of alignment – ten leaders approaching leadership ten different ways.
Step 3: Based on the leadership definition, discuss expected behaviors for the main leadership scenarios in your organization.
Clarity around leadership norms for common organizational situations creates alignment, consistency and overall leadership momentum.
Alignment. Consistency. Momentum. In business these hard to come by leadership elements are difference makers.
Boost Your Performance
The principal of my daughter’s high school knew what he was doing. He gave the rising seniors a lofty call to action. Watch this week’s video to learn more about how he spoke directly to them in hopes to engage them more fully in the leadership work for the coming year.
What’s Your Opinion?
What is your definition of leadership? Share it with me at robin.pou@robinpou.com.
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
Do you want to lead with more confidence?
If you’re feeling uncertain and questioning your next strategic move,
welcome to the club! I see you.
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- Step out of Doubt
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