Glenn Llopis, Contributor
The immigrant perspective on
leadership & workplace innovation
Leadership
is learned behavior that becomes unconscious and automatic over time. For
example, leaders can make several important decisions about an issue in the
time it takes others to understand the question. Many people wonder
how leaders know how to make the best decisions, often under immense
pressure. The process of making these decisions comes from an
accumulation of experiences and encounters with a multitude of difference
circumstances, personality types and unforeseen failures. More so,
the decision making process is an acute understanding of being familiar with
the cause and effect of behavioral and circumstantial patterns; knowing
the intelligence and interconnection points of the variables involved in these
patterns allows a leader to confidently make decisions and project the
probability of their desired outcomes. The most successful leaders
are instinctual decision makers. Having done it so many times throughout
their careers, they become immune to the pressure associated with decision
making and extremely intuitive about the process of making the most strategic and
best decisions. This is why most senior executives will tell you they depend
strongly upon their “gut-feel” when making difficult decisions at a moment’s
notice.
Beyond decision making, successful
leadership across all areas becomes learned and instinctual over a period of
time. Successful leaders have learned the mastery of anticipating business
patterns, finding opportunities in pressure situations, serving the people they
lead and overcoming hardships. No wonder the best CEOs are paid so
much money. In 2011, salaries for the 200 top-paid CEOs rose 5
percent to a median $14.5 million per year, according to a study by
compensation-data company Equilar for The New York Times.
If you are looking to advance your
career into a leadership capacity and / or already assume leadership
responsibilities – here are 15 things you must do automatically, every day, to
be a successful leader in the workplace:
1. Make Others Feel Safe to
Speak-Up
Many times leaders intimidate their
colleagues with their title and power when they walk into a room.
Successful leaders deflect attention away from themselves and encourage others
to voice their opinions. They are experts at making others feel safe to
speak-up and confidently share their perspectives and points of view.
They use their executive presence to create an approachable environment.
2. Make Decisions
Successful leaders are expert
decision makers. They either facilitate the dialogue to
empower their colleagues to reach a strategic conclusion or they do it
themselves. They focus on “making things happen” at all times – decision
making activities that sustain progress. Successful leaders have
mastered the art of politicking and thus don’t waste their time on issues that
disrupt momentum. They know how to make 30 decisions in 30 minutes.
3. Communicate Expectations
Successful leaders are great
communicators, and this is especially true when it comes to “performance
expectations.” In doing so, they remind their colleagues of the
organization’s core values and mission statement – ensuring that their vision
is properly translated and actionable objectives are properly executed.
I had a boss that managed the team
by reminding us of the expectations that she had of the group. She
made it easy for the team to stay focused and on track. The protocol she
implemented – by clearly communicating expectations – increased performance and
helped to identify those on the team that could not keep up with the standards
she expected from us.
4. Challenge People to Think
The most successful leaders
understand their colleagues’ mindsets, capabilities and areas for
improvement. They use this knowledge/insight to challenge their teams to
think and stretch them to reach for more. These types of leaders
excel in keeping their people on their toes, never allowing them to get
comfortable and enabling them with the tools to grow.
If you are not thinking, you’re not
learning new things. If you’re not learning, you’re not growing – and
over time becoming irrelevant in your work.
5. Be Accountable to Others
Successful leaders allow their
colleagues to manage them. This doesn’t mean they are allowing others to
control them – but rather becoming accountable to assure they are being
proactive to their colleagues needs.
Beyond just mentoring and sponsoring
selected employees, being accountable to others is a sign that your leader is
focused more on your success than just their own.
6. Lead by Example
Leading by example sounds easy, but
few leaders are consistent with this one. Successful leaders
practice what they preach and are mindful of their actions. They know everyone
is watching them and therefore are incredibly intuitive about detecting those
who are observing their every move, waiting to detect a performance shortfall.
7. Measure & Reward
Performance
Great leaders always have a strong
“pulse” on business performance and those people who are the performance
champions. Not only do they review the numbers and measure performance ROI,
they are active in acknowledging hard work and efforts (no matter the
result). Successful leaders never take consistent performers
for granted and are mindful of rewarding them.
8. Provide Continuous Feedback
Employees want their leaders to know
that they are paying attention to them and they appreciate any insights along
the way. Successful leaders always provide feedback and they welcome
reciprocal feedback by creating trustworthy relationships with their colleagues..
They understand the power of perspective and have learned the importance of
feedback early on in their career as it has served them to enable workplace
advancement.
9. Properly Allocate and
Deploy Talent
Successful leaders know their talent
pool and how to use it. They are experts at activating the capabilities
of their colleagues and knowing when to deploy their unique skill sets given
the circumstances at hand. 10. Ask Questions, Seek Counsel
Successful leaders ask questions and
seek counsel all the time. From the outside, they appear to know-it-all –
yet on the inside, they have a deep thirst for knowledge and constantly are on
the look-out to learn new things because of their commitment to making
themselves better through the wisdom of others.
11. Problem Solve; Avoid
Procrastination
Successful leaders tackle issues
head-on and know how to discover the heart of the matter at
hand. They don’t procrastinate and thus become incredibly
proficient at problem solving; they learn from and don’t avoid uncomfortable
circumstances (they welcome them).
Getting ahead in life is about doing
the things that most people don’t like doing.
12. Positive Energy &
Attitude
Successful leaders create a positive
and inspiring workplace culture. They know how to set the tone and bring
an attitude that motivates their colleagues to take action. As
such, they are likeable, respected and strong willed. They don’t allow
failures to disrupt momentum.
13. Be a Great Teacher
Many employees in the workplace will
tell you that their leaders have stopped being teachers. Successful
leaders never stop teaching because they are so self-motivated to learn
themselves. They use teaching to keep their colleagues well-informed and
knowledgeable through statistics, trends, and other newsworthy items.
Successful leaders take the time to
mentor their colleagues and make the investment to sponsor those who have
proven they are able and eager to advance.
14. Invest in Relationships
Successful leaders don’t focus on
protecting their domain – instead they expand it by investing in mutually
beneficial relationships. Successful leaders associate themselves with “lifters
and other leaders” – the types of people that can broaden their sphere of
influence. Not only for their own advancement, but that of others.
Leaders share the harvest of their
success to help build momentum for those around them.
15. Genuinely Enjoy
Responsibilities
Successful leaders love being
leaders – not for the sake of power but for the meaningful and purposeful
impact they can create. When you have reached a senior level of
leadership – it’s about your ability to serve others and this can’t be
accomplished unless you genuinely enjoy what you do.
In the end, successful leaders are
able to sustain their success because these 15 things ultimately allow them to
increase the value of their organization’s brand – while at the same time
minimize the operating risk profile. They serve as the enablers of
talent, culture and results.
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