As the economy continues to be discussed to death in the press and opinions differ on whether or not we are heading for a double dip recession, what impact the projected job losses will have and whether the private sector can provide the opportunities needed to absorb the fallout, business still needs to be done.
There’s no doubt we are in tough times and bad news is that it’s not going to get any easier any time soon. People are worried really about the future. It’s now that real leadership is needed. In difficult situations people look for hope, possibility and inspiration.
I’m not talking about a company man standing up and giving a “rally the troops” speech about how great the future is. I’m talking about real authentic leadership.
Real leaders don’t need a title or a position in an organisational chart to make a difference, they just lead. Leadership is way of being it not something you do. By that I mean that how people behave day to day, how they see the world, how they communicate is more akin to leadership than the completion of tasks.
So how do real leaders behave?
I went back to a book I read many years ago that had a profound effect on me and the way I developed as a leader. Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of highly effective people has been a permanent fixture in my book collection for years. So people describe his work easy to understand but not so easy to apply. Below is my adaptation of some which I believe translates into practical behaviours for real leaders.
Be Proactive - It’s easy to get overwhelmed with information and the negative messages about the state of the economy but the real leader knows she cannot control all that. What she knows and understands is that she has a choice about these thing effect her. She has a choice about what her response is internally and towards others and she knows that is down to her. You cannot control everything in the world but you can control your relationship with it. For example if there is talk of cutbacks and redundancy, will you sit there worrying all day about it whether it will effect you or will you understand that you have no control other than to control how you go about your daily tasks? Which is more empowering to sit there as the victim waiting for something to happen or to be proactive and exercise choice? You may start looking for another job, update CV, you could start to think of plans and ideas you can put in place – none of them have to be executed yet but be ahead of the game.
Begin with the end in mind – Most people’s decision making is moment to moment. They’re a random collection of choices that may or may not help the person achieve what they want. First establishing the end game is critical to your success. If you know where you want to be then you can make better choice day to day. You’ll be more likely to be moving towards what you want rather than away from it. Think about it in terms of identifying cost savings and cuts. If would be easy to look down your departmental budget and pick out the big numbers to slash. This might win you some ground in the short term but what if those things that were cut are crucial to the long term success of your business? What if the very things that win you some space now are the cause of your demise later? Have a clear picture of what you want to achieve.
Put first things first. Whether your running you’re own business, working in fast paced corporate environment or soloprenuer, managing your time is one of the most important disciplines you can learn. It can be easy to be swept along and before you realise it discover that time is running out. Where as beginning with the end in mind was about the mental preparation and creation, putting first things first is about the physical creation. In a world of email, Twitter, Facebook and instant response you would find yourself being busy doing things all day, but are they the right things? Are they the most urgent or important? Or are you doing them because you like to do them? Email is a great example. How many of you have outloook or whatever mail client you have open and as soon as a message comes in, you have to respond to it? I bet you’re the same person that gets annoyed if you don’t get an immediate response, right? There are of course urgent emails to reply to but I bet if you really think about it very few actually need a response in seconds. So what are bog things you should be doing instead? If you don’t have a clear end game then how can you know? I never used to make time to read but know I understand that it’s one of my core activities.
Seek fist to understand and then to be understood. One of the greatest traits of leader is to listen…really listen. A lot people think they listen and will describe themselves as good listeners but in reality they can still be much better. In words of William Stringfellow – ‘Listening is a rare happening among human beings. You cannot listen to the word another is speaking if you are preoccupied with your own appearance or impressing another, or trying to decided what you are going to say when the other person stops speaking’. Truth be told most people when listening, cannot wait for their turn to speak and get their views across. I hear managers and leaders all the time saying “I understand where you are coming from but…” If you think about it in terms of proportion we have two ears and only one mouth, so what does that tell you? There will be difficult situations for many people, conversations about redundancy and restructure, about cost cutting and putting things on hold. If you approach these conversations with intent to understand and not to agree or disagree, but understand fully the other person, only then you will be more effective at creating the space to be understood.
Sharpen the saw – If you took an inventory of all of the things you know, all the knowledge you’ve gained from courses and books how long would the list be? If then asked you exactly how much of it you consistently practice, how much shorter would your list be. The real leader knows that practice is a constant. You will continually practice your skills in order to remain sharp and effective. If Tiger Woods, Roger Federer or Lionel Messi only applied their skills during game time, they wouldn’t be half as good as they are. The investment in practice is what helps them to step up their performance in live situations. Similarly, if you only practice listening in a conflict situation are you really going to be an effective listener? If you only put first things first on occasion how can you expect you plans to work?
The full seven habits are a great simple set of principles of life and business. I’m by no means perfect but these habits have had a positive influence on my life and I attribute much of my success to the practice of them. I hope that they will have an impact on you too.
