Before making any decision, decide what kind of leader you want to be.
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
Since the first day of our career, at the most basic position, we are shaping our leadership style. In the beginning, we are not fully aware of it, but every professional experience – good or bad – builds our knowledge about leadership.
Usually we don’t learn how to become a leader. One day we get promoted and then we start managing people and making decisions. At this point some professionals act impulsively and use intuition while others try to make conscious decisions based on previous experiences. I believe two things are necessary: a certain amount of intuition but also thoughtfulness. Otherwise, it’s just a continuation of a cycle and a repetition of an existing pattern.
It’s common to see professionals getting promoted and replicating the same leadership style that they used to complain about before becoming leaders. It’s not that difficult to understand the reasons behind this behavior: they are repeating what they experienced without dedicating any time for reflection.
The bad experiences can teach us “how not to do it”.
Empathy helped me to create some discernment as a leader. Before making decisions, I put myself in my team’s shoes and try to imagine the consequences of that decision. It’s not a difficult exercise to do, since most of the leaders have moved up from lower positions.
One of the downsides of being a leader is the impossibility of pleasing everybody. In some cases, consensus is not achievable but clarity is fundamental. It’s very important to assure that everybody understands the reasons behind the decision, even if they don’t agree with the chosen approach.
What differentiates types of leaders is the way they establish communication with their teams. Some leaders over communicate, while others don’t give any explanations about their decisions. Finding the right balance between these two kinds is not an easy task.
There is certain information that shouldn’t be passed along. Especially when it involves decisions that are not established yet, e.g. upcoming cost reduction or a company merging situation that is still in discussion. This kind of information would simply cause anxiety and lack of productivity on the team.
Transparency is not about sharing everything in the precise moment it happens.
The role of the leader is to manage information and communicate in the right moment with the suitable angle. Sometimes it takes time to digest and find the adequate approach. The priority should be to keep the team motivated.
Sometimes it’s the leader that feels unmotivated, under pressure and insecure. It happens and it’s normal. Although, in situations like that, it’s better to get some support from outside, avoiding to share these feeling with the rest of the team. Choosing a couch instead is usually a good decision.
The truth is that many leaders learn while they are leading.
Learning is a continuous process. As sooner we find out what kind of leaders we want to become the faster we can evolve and progress in the right direction.
(this article was published in Portuguese here)