| Ask any group of managers if they
view themselves as an elite within their organization and you can be sure
they will deny it. You'll hear comments such as: "I have an open-door
policy" and "I take pride in always being accessible and approachable."
And in most cases, these managers will really believe what they are saying.
What they don't realize, however, are the many invisible barriers -- the
"glass doors" -- they put in place.
Leaders remove these barriers and that is part of what separates them
from managers.
Management perks and privileges -- such as parking spaces or special
offices -- create separations. Similarly, employees find it hard to get any
sense of collaboration when their bosses hold exclusive meetings or
conferences, hang out in management cliques, use condescending or
dehumanizing language, or withhold financial statements or other
"confidential" information.
Leaders put a real effort into listening to and learning from people
throughout their organization. Listening is the clearest way we can show
respect and build trust.
By contrast, managers don't listen to "their people" -- usually because
they're too busy telling them what they need.
Managers spend major amounts of time in their offices, or in meetings
with other managers and specialists. They often control and command by
e-mail because they see it as a more efficient use of their time.
Occasionally, they might do an organizational survey, or hold a meeting or
special event for "their people."
Strong leaders, on the other hand, have their own kind of "closed-door"
policy. They're not trying to keep people out, it's just that most of the
time you'll find their office doors closed and the lights off -- because
leaders are so rarely satisfied with staying behind a desk.
Leaders know that an office is a dangerous place from which to manage an
organization. Leaders also recognize that few of their frontline people are
going to be assertive enough to break through the invisible management
barriers to come into their office and raise an issue or even send an
e-mail.
Studies show that in many organizations a majority of frontline people
are afraid to speak up. That's why leaders spend huge amounts of time with
people throughout their organizations. They're busy listening at breakfasts,
lunches, barbecues and town hall meetings. They're conducting surveys,
participating in cafeteria conversations, working together with people on
the frontlines and attending celebration events.
It's when times are toughest that true leadership becomes obvious. This
is when much-repeated claims such as "our people are our most important
assets" are proven true, or shown to be just hollow rhetoric.
How managers handle economic downturns and sudden cost-reduction
pressures, for example, speaks volumes about their leadership. If an
organization has strong leaders who truly care about people and want to
build long-term trust, layoffs are always a last, desperate step.
Leading successfully in tough times calls for openness, a willingness to
outline the difficult situations clearly, as well as an ability to express
you own pain.
Leaders use all the methods at their disposal - including surveys,
meetings, e-mail exchanges, focus groups and phone hotlines -- to
brainstorm, get input and set priorities.
Then, they communicate, communicate and communicate some more. Leaders
know it is almost impossible to tell people too much about what's going on
and why.
True leaders understand that there's no shortcut to reaching their
organization's preferred future. It takes clear vision, a steady hand, and
the discipline to avoid quick-fix solutions, however tempting they may be.
There are no leadership formulas. But managers keep searching for them
anyway. So they buy the books, hire the consultants, and set up the training
programs -- whatever happens to offer the latest steps, secrets, or systems
that will transform mundane Clark Kent managers into Superman leaders. Most
of it is just a waste of time and money.
After three decades of experience with hundreds of management teams, I
have found that many of the "latest" management theories amount to little
more than a rehash of what has gone before.
That's why I find myself in vigorous agreement with MIT's Sloan School of
Management professor Edgar Schein when he says: "We go through cycles. Every
few years we rediscover formal planning, then we rediscover the importance
of people, and then in another few years we discover cost control. When you
look over the last 40 or 50 years there is nothing much that is genuinely
new. It is a recycling and elaboration of something that has been proposed
as far back as Plato."
The fact is that meaningful change happens only by applying timeless
leadership principles. The results probably won't be instantaneous, but they
will last.
Leadership is an inside job. We change "them" by first changing "me." A
growing mountain of research, such as that on emotional intelligence, shows
that leadership begins "in here" and moves "out there." That calls for
changing our lifestyle. It means developing new habits.
Here are a few suggestions:
* Get feedback on how your leadership is perceived by those you are
leading. Find out what they think you should keep doing, stop doing, and
start doing.
* Set aside a regular time for reflection and renewal to stay focused and
review the progress of your personal improvement.
* Train, train, train. Take lots of development programs for the skills
you need.
* Teach those skills to others. Teaching takes us to a much deeper level
of understanding and mastery.
* Participate in personal growth retreats or workshops that help you
focus on the inner dimension of leadership.
* Complete self-assessment tests that help you understand your leadership
style and how you relate with other styles -- especially those most opposite
to your own.
* Monitor your job happiness. What turns you on? What turns you off? What
are your greatest strengths? How much of your job plays to your strengths?
Are you in the right job?
* Find a mentor who can give you the benefit of his or her experience.
* Hire a coach to assess your team's effectiveness and review your
leadership. Work with him or her to address key issues and make personal
and/or team improvements.
About the Author
Excerpted from Jim's bestseller, The Leader's Digest: Timeless Principles
for Team and Organization Success. Jim Clemmer is an internationally
acclaimed keynote speaker, workshop/retreat leader, and management team
developer on leadership, change, customer focus, culture, teams, and
personal growth. His web site is www.clemmer.net.
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