PART 3
Question: Are there common missteps that a leader can learn from as they move forward?
We strive to do better work by being more diligent, doing the right thing, and being more ingenious. But don’t leaders always strive to do the right thing? Even kind people who are truly motivated to do the right thing need to be reminded, at times, of why to do it well. They need to be structured and strategic in their listening, ask good questions, and put themselves to work on delivering what the client, or guest, is asking for. Gathering their input and specifically exploring and actioning what they want from the project is doing the right thing. Doing these things well is effective project management. It’s called moral leadership.
As a strong leader adding value to a project for a client, your role isn’t to redesign your client’s quest into something YOU want. An authentic leader is not motivated by the ‘leadership sins’ of self-interest, presumptuousness or arrogance. A strong leader listens carefully to the client’s goals and sets to work on delivering on those in a timely manner.
Some leaders do the easiest or most convenient thing, or the most politically correct thing, because there are many pathways to go down. It’s not important to do it YOUR way, it’s important to discover the right way. All sustainable relationships rely on doing the right thing consistently, being highly diligent, and striving to be more ingenious. Focusing on these three things – as a leader, a manager, a friend, wife or husband, mother or father – have the potential to take you and others to a place where dreams actualize.
Don’t complicate things! When you have done your job exceptionally well, and have parked your self-interest, you will gain the confidence of those you serve. Remember, as you give you get. Let your clients know they have a person of value on their side. You have their back. Transcend to a place of confidence by listening, observing, and delivering – it is the natural progression of authentic leadership.
We gain confidence and credibility as we go – they don’t magically appear. We work very hard, remain attentive and learn as we go. Go wide with what you observe. There is so much to be learned about leadership if you’re open to it – it’s all around us. It doesn’t just happen in a boardroom. There are learning moments in every moment! Even minor missteps are learning moments, because, as you are aware, we do make mistakes. As leaders, we mitigate our missteps through diligence, ingenuity and doing the right thing, always.
1. As a leader, how do you communicate and reinforce your shared vision?
2. How do you check-in to ensure everyone is still on board throughout the project?
You are invited to share your thoughts, ideas and comments…
Part 2
Question: Are there common missteps that a leader can learn from as they move forward?
It may seem a simple task, when striving to do better work, to be conscious of the three priorities: being more diligent, doing the right thing, and being more ingenious. But how often is ingenuity completely forgotten! It is so easy to simply do things like we did last year, last month, last week. It’s just more convenient to simply dust it off and send it out again.
An authentic leader needs to be disciplined in forcing yourself to think differently. Without question, people can barely take the time necessary for this kind of discipline, as they race through their jobs, check their mobiles, eat, sleep and get ready for tomorrow. However, there is much value in reflecting, in examining an issue mindfully and from multiple perspectives. This creates greater insight and more well-rounded decisions, which leads to a sound path forward. To think differently requires that you take the time to be more attentive and mindful. This is vital if you are trying to be more ingenious.
May I suggest that instead of engaging in the same safe conversations day after day, that you infuse a new tendency and capacity to think of things differently. Find a way to force yourself out of your entrenched ways of doing things and out of your comfortable pew! Try to think of things the way someone else sees, hears, thinks and experiences things. It is vital when building a relationship with your client, to see things from their perspective and, ultimately, multiple perspectives.
To truly make this a priority, you may need to schedule reflective time at first. And it may seem indulgent to do so, but deep reflection and examining an issue from multiple perspectives is vital. The time it takes is an investment into building strong relationships and successful projects. It is the way to bring ingenuity to your approach.
You are discarding opportunities if you don’t infuse ingenuity as your expected way to do business. As an authentic leader, you don’t want to miss a single opportunity. Bring ingenuity to each of your working relationships and projects, and you will expand your view of what is possible. The horizon is very broad!
Questions:
1. What are you doing mentally and intellectually to bring a fresh approach to the projects you are leading?
2. How do you purposefully allow new perspectives into your way of doing business, without losing sight of your team’s shared vision?
You are invited to share your thoughts, ideas and comments…
Part 1
Question: Are there common missteps that a leader can learn from as they move forward?
We already know that, first and foremost in any kind of relationship, it important to do your job exceptionally well, to deliver your work in a timely manner and add value to it whenever you can.
To create a winning relationship for everyone involved, it’s important to understand the common pitfalls that can make the relationship break down. When you’re building towards your common goals together, no matter how sound your vision, a follower can quickly hit an impasse if they are motivated by self-interest, presumptuousness or arrogance. All three of these leadership sins are a case study in project failure and it is likely that every leader, no matter what point on their journey, has had to address this type of negative pull, at one time or another, from a member of their team.
Fortunately, the signs that you possibly have a rogue team member often begin to surface early on in a project. Fortunately, this situation can be turned around before irreparable damage is done. For instance, if someone is dictating a route to go when 11 other people are saying something else, that’s normally a sure sign of dysfunction. As a leader, you must take steps to address this negative pull immediately. This is very different from healthy dialogue, creative brainstorming and building the plan together – which are all part of functioning as a sound team. This example of opposition is more abrasive and can assert itself when a negative team member is striving to position themselves in a place of unearned importance in the project. If not checked, the impact in this type of situation is highly distracting and can ultimately lead to a blurring between right and wrong.
It is often said that if you wish to do better work than you’re doing today, you need to be conscious of three things: being more diligent, doing the right thing, and striving to be more ingenious. All strong relationships rely on evidence that all three of these priorities exist on a consistent basis. Building strong relationships and ensuring every team member shares the same core values allows each person to flourish.
Questions:
1. What processes to you have in place to ensure your team member(s) share the same vision and core values as the rest of the team?
2. How do you deliver results, while still holding firm to that vision?
3. How do you engage individuals and your full team, while continuing to honour individual talents and interests?
You are invited to share your thoughts, ideas and comments.
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