In case you did not know it, being a manager does not automatically make you a leader. To become a leader, a manager must act in ways that bring about desired PROGRESS, by INFLUENCING others.
In this article, I share my personal experience based insights about how to do just that.
At the end, I include a link to Gen. Collin Powell’s excellent paper titled “A Leadership Primer”, from which I gained useful insights to achieve rapid career advancement, as a high performing manager, during my 7 year stay in Guinness Nigeria.
1. Forget What They Teach You In Management Courses.
Okay, maybe you shouldn’t “forget”, but don’t let it hold you back at work.
Management school studies present issues in an orderly manner. Real-life situations often present themselves in the EXACT opposite way, even as they demand YOUR prompt action!
I suggest you identify individuals you look forward to relieving, and focus on studying what they do that makes them competent to occupy their positions.
Also, read books based on real-life studies/true stories about successful career persons. Apply what you learn.
2. Continually Ask Yourself Questions That Remind You Of Your Boss’ Expectations.
Ask yourself what role you need to play to help him/her and the entire team, succeed.
Do this often enough and you will soon be thinking like him/her, and sharing his/her concerns – and taking appropriate action to get the desired results.
It’s only a matter of time before s/he stops “worrying” about following up with you to be sure you’re doing what s/he NEEDS you to do in order that s/he might deliver the results the management expects.
3. Demonstrate(And Act Based On) Keen Awareness Of The Company’s Priorities – And You’ll Get Noticed.
If you can work hard enough to understant WHAT is important to your boss(and/or company), WHY it is important, and HOW you can do YOUR own job to help achieve those important goals, you WILL ALWAYS be a valuable member of the team.
Do this long enough, and s/he(plus “others” who watch) will be unanimous in recommending you for assignments or secondments to higher positions.
4. Master Your Area Of Interest Or Intended Activity – And Word Will Spread About You.
Your demonstrated competence on the job and proficiency in implementing related tasks will boost your chances of doing well when you get the opportunity to act in a higher position.
This is why you MUST work HARD on yourself – relentlessly. In addition, make it your number one priority to gain as deep an understanding/insight as the person you know to be BEST in each area you expect to be responsible for, while on secondment.
For instance, if there is a particular problematic machine whose performance determines how well your department will perform in terms of output, you want to find out ahead of time.
(a) What is required to keep it working with minimal stoppages?
(b) Who the best hand(s) is(are) to get it back in working order if it does stop working?
(c) What alternative options are available to you in the event that it REFUSES to work despite efforts to revive it?
Pssst: Here’s a secret about learning “valuable but hidden insights” from subordinates/others with YEARS of experience…
Many times the old hands, usually in the lower cadres or rungs of the ladder know the answers you seek.
Not because they have more education, but because they’ve been around so long, and seen so much of it happen again and again, with the benefit of also witnessing what solutions worked and WHO came up with them.
Get them on your side, and they will open doors of insider information/pockets of wisdom frequently inaccessible to persons unwilling to get down from their high-horses.
5. Show That You Are NOT Scared Of Taking Tough Decisions, Intelligent Risks And/Or Initiating Change.
Collin Powell once said “Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”
To convince decision makers that you can hold important positions, you MUST show that you can take needed decisions/actions – regardless of who is affected.
Also, you must not suppress your creative instincts in doing the things outlined in 1 to 4 above. Successful companies know progress depends on periodically re-inventing themselves internally and externally.
That’s why they value people with the guts to break from established tradition to develop new ways of thinking and doing things – which inevitably help the company.
Actively(and responsibly) explore opportunities to introduce useful change.
Sometimes your instincts will tell you the recommended “way” will not yield the best results, and a different solution would pop into your head. If you have worked hard enough on yourself as suggested above, you will KNOW when it would be right to follow YOUR instincts. Anytime you feel that way, DO IT! When you succeed, the news will get around.
Sometimes you may not succeed :-).
But that would not be bad. You would have learnt something useful. If your boss is smart, s/he will acknowledge you for taking a decision that required courage. Decision makers could even take that to be evidence that you have the makings of someone who can lead others/occupy higher positions(YOUR desired goal)!
Final Words: The following quotes provide a fitting end to all I’ve said in this piece.
Keep them in mind, and apply them always, and you will not go wrong:
‘Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.’- Anonymous
“All successful employers are stalking people who will do the unusual, people who think, people who attract attention by performing more than is expected of them.” — Charles M. Schwab
“Powell’s Rules for Picking People:” Look for intelligence and judgment, and most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego, and the drive to get things done.
Click here to Download Collin Powell’s Colin Powell’s tips for leadership (NB: This opens into a new browser window and takes you to www.policeone.com/. You’ll see the download link close to the page top when you get there. If you find the font for titles or subtitles in the power point file displays funny characters, simply highlight it and choose Arial or some other common font available on your system)
PS: This article was first published in the Monday 12th June 2006 issue no. 2 of my Monthly Self-Development Digest Newsletter, then hosted on spontaneousdevelopment.com – my former domain (Click here to read “What happened to Spontaneousdevelopment.com”).
