Leading is something you can't learn in the abstract. You've got to do it. There's not always a choice as to who you'll lead, and you have to be willing to change the how. The steady slogger who wants to be alone; the creative fireball who's frequently missing; the expert with personal problems; all have contributions to make. They need different approaches to bring out their best, and you have to adapt the way you lead.
At the same time, you have to be authentic. This means being true to yourself. Up to a point, you can adapt the way you approach people, and how you ensure they progress. It's you behaving like you, but with a different slant. It can get difficult if you try to step out of your personality, in order to deal with someone who's very different from you. You feel false. You sound false. It doesn't work.
At the same time, you have to be authentic. This means being true to yourself. Up to a point, you can adapt the way you approach people, and how you ensure they progress. It's you behaving like you, but with a different slant. It can get difficult if you try to step out of your personality, in order to deal with someone who's very different from you. You feel false. You sound false. It doesn't work.
Adapting is not the same as being manipulative. Refusing to adapt for other people would be trying to force them into your mould. In effect, you would be forcing them to be phoney. To get the best out of the people you lead, you need to give them the freedom to develop in their own way.
Different situations also call for different styles of leadership. In an emergency, dictatorial insistence may well be right. If people must be moved to a place of safety, there is no time to allow them to work it out for themselves. It might even be appropriate to bodily shift them. At the other end of the continuum, a long-term project on new ground needs all the initiative it can get. A leader who barks orders in this situation will lose every step of the way. The best way forward is maximum freedom, with time and opportunities for self-development. In between, there are times for protocol, times for urgency, times for new departures, and times for long slow incubation of ideas.
Part of leadership is creating the environment for work. You can introduce different schemes to empower people. These might include more flexible allocation of roles; allowing people to choose how they work and what hours; and enabling them to work from home. You might sometimes feel that for specific parts of the project you need to hand the reins to somebody else, either because they have special expertise, or their style is better suited to the situation.
Leadership is a fluid thing. Adapting is part of it, but this may bring problems if the style that seems best for the moment goes against the grain for you. McGonagill and Associates have developed a model that shows this graphically. You have your core style, which comes naturally to you. Outside that is your zone of adaptability, where you can make adjustments, but stay within a frame of authenticity. You are still you. If you try to push your adaptation outside this, you enter the phoney zone. This is not static. You can increase your zone of adaptability, and reduce your phoney zone.
This isn't a case of a personality change. If it's in your nature to want to organise everything and make regular checks, you're not going to be able to retire to a cell and let others take over. However, you can think about what you'll gain from empowering the workforce to make more decisions.
An important first step is to look at your leadership style, and think about how it's affecting others. Your style may be excellent overall, but still need adapting. For example, you might feel you have to be the big leader at all times. Ask yourself whether this is really necessary. Look for areas where your people are succeeding, and positively encourage them to take on more. Refrain from telling them how. They have already demonstrated they can succeed, so let them do it, and your organisation will benefit.
As the leader, mistakes are more likely to be attributed to you. Some react to this by a constant quest for perfection. This is counterproductive. As perfection is impossible, you can only fail. If you think you may be a perfectionist, relax. Trying to avoid mistakes prevents people from trying out anything new, and this stops them from learning. Think of the mistakes people made when trying to fly. How many carefully crafted winged machines have crumpled on the ground within yards. If they hadn't been willing to do that, we would not now be able to fly across continents, in our thousands, every day.
Metaphorical flying goes on the same principle. If you want your people to succeed, let them make mistakes.
Another area for adaptability is relating to people. There will be times when you have to make unpleasant decisions. If you pride yourself on being responding to other people's needs, it will be difficult to accept the feelings of having done something that others won't like. You need to apply the skills you already have in showing sensitivity and relating to people. This is adapting your style to suit the circumstances, not switching from relater to autocrat.
Leadership roles inevitably bring some conflicts of interest, and a risk of conflict of personalities. Conflict is not pleasant, but sweeping it under the carpet will not kill it. It has a habit of festering under there, and then suddenly exploding into life and creating havoc. If your habit is to smooth things over too much, you may create a lull before a storm. Adapting your style can involve bringing the conflicting parties together, and finding a solution. You may be a good mediator yourself; you could ask someone else in the team, or you could appoint an external mediator. Any of these will show an ability to adapt.
Part of leadership is recognising when you are the best person for the job, and when you are not. Everything is in flux. It always has been and always will be. We need leaders to help us through and push us forwards. These leaders need to real, realistic, honest, authentic, and adaptable.
© Copyright 2004 Trans4mation. Reproduced with permission. Any opinions or views contained in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Training Reference.
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