The world needs better leadership. Australia needs better leadership. Our institutions like the banking industry and the Catholic Church need better leadership. Our organisations needs better leadership. I reckon it’s a safe bet that you wish you had better leadership at your work. Am I right? Most people I know want to be better leaders, they simply just don’t know what to do. Here’s a couple of steps towards better leadership.
Be authentic. The opposite of authentic is fake. No one will follow you or be prepared to be influenced by you if they think that you are faking it. Be true. Tell the truth. Be prepared to do the tough stuff. Don’t cut corners or take the easy way out. If you don’t know what to do or you don’t know the answer, admit it. There is power in showing vulnerability. It means you are human and people like to see that side of their leaders.
Don’t just manage. We manage things, we lead people. Managing is more about the present, leadership is focused on the future. Many of us are head down, bum up, thinking about today and possibly tomorrow and that’s because stuff needs to get done. The challenge is: how do we handle the present but have an eye to the future? Leaders have their eye on the bottom line, as well as on the horizon.
Prioritise. No one has enough time to do what needs to get done. We will send ourselves around the twist if we even try to do everything we think we need to. The key is twofold – first, accept that we can’t do everything; second, discern the essential tasks and actions that simply must be done, and focus on them. We just simply have to say no to the rest.
Be the leader you wish you had. If you are like me, you have had some stinkers of bosses. You might have been lucky enough to have experienced an inspirational leader that brought the best out of you. Think to yourself about what you would like your leader to be and do, and then do that for your people.
Focus on making others better. There are possibly hundreds of things that an effective leader does well. If I was to distill it down to just one focus area, it would be to make others better. As a result or your leadership, have the people around you become better? Have they stayed the same? Or perhaps they have gone backwards. If we accept that leadership is about how we lift others and help them to be the best they can be, everyone wins.
Sadly, good leaders are few and far between. We don’t have to be perfect leaders, just committed to being better. With some determination, some focus, and some simple steps, we can all be better leaders.
