Brian Arbuckle
Whole Stack Solution's Vice President of Business Development & Marketing
Partner Advisory Council
An informative graphic about leadership was circulated recently, which inspired our team to expand upon some of the ideas which that chart promoted. Leadership is one of those qualities we all think we understand, but few of us actually execute.
There are several key qualities and behaviors that make an admirable leader, including the ability to effectively build a team and reserve demonstrations of authority for opportune moments. A strong leader knows how to develop team members through genuine praise and mobilizes his or her team to unite under a common, larger goal.
As we move through our careers, at some point may find ourselves in a position of authority. We often believe that, since we have a real title, we can now call ourselves a leader. That is mistake number one. Leadership is what you do. Leadership is an ongoing set of attributes and attitudes that inspire, motivate, and support. Let’s explore a few avenues of leadership that result in a happier, higher-functioning team.
Love Your Team
Rarely are we allowed to build our dream team all at once. Most of the time we inherit a lineup someone else assembled and, over a stretch of time, we get to add our own flavor to the group. Regardless of who is on our team, we need to learn to love them.
Think about your favorite coach or mentor and consider why that individual is your favorite. When that person corrected you or helped you learn something new, they surely did so from a position of love. They likely wanted what was best for you. Work teams operate in the same fashion. When we coach and mentor our people from a position of wanting what’s best for them, the desired response becomes much more profound and positive.
Give Real Praise
It’s way too easy to critique. Most of us can name at least one bad boss we’ve had. Naturally, this particular manager loved to critique, but rarely praised. Correction and critiquing is important, no one questions that, however, if the praise you give is attached to a critique? It’s not genuine praise.
Find one thing each member of your team does well and give them authentic praise for it. Be consistent! And then step back and watch your team become more confident, inspired, and ready to battle for you day in and day out.
Seldom Use Your Power
You finally have that title. People finally have to do everything you say. Right? You’ve made it; you’re the boss. In a recent Gallup poll, a full 70 percent of survey responders indicated they were disengaged from their jobs. One of the top reasons given for this lackluster attitude? The manager.
One of the key differentiators between a leader and a manager is that a leader inspires. A leader pushes people beyond what they once thought themselves capable of achieving. A manager tells their people what to do, when to do it, how to do it … and to do it faster. If some of those 70 percent of disengaged workers work for you, how effective do you think your team is going to be?
Cast Your Vision
A leader’s superpower is his or her ability to not only share their vision, but to get others to believe in it. When John F. Kennedy gave his We Choose to Go to the Moon speech, he had no idea how to actually do it; the details were irrelevant to his vision. His job was to create buy-in and energize his team, and the nation. It was no longer just Kennedy’s vision — it was our vision as a nation.
How did he do that? Did he have a lot of charts and graphs or use a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo? Did he have all of the details ironed out? No! Your job as a leader isn’t necessarily to figure out the details. Your job is to sell the vision. And more so, make the team members embrace the vision as their own.
Big (and small) things don’t get accomplished simply because the boss says so. We were able to land a man on the moon because each person involved in the project believed in it. Everyone believed in the vision and believed in the dream. To accomplish more as a leader, you have to instill that same concept of ownership in your team in order to sell your vision.
Brian Arbuckle is vice president of business development and marketing for WholeStack Solutions and a member of the CompTIA Partner Advisory Council.
