When I was first asked to be a leader in 1983, it was as a project manager for a large scale project with high visibility. I had been in my individual contributor role for less than a year in my first corporate job. I didn’t know what I didn’t know at the time and my excitement got the better of me until I started the new role and reality hit me.
I had been asked to be a project manager on Friday and arrived to work on Monday without having had any training or guidance. When I reflect on it, I assume that I was asked to take on the role because I demonstrated some traits and characteristics of my work ethic that fit with the leadership model. I am not sure that any other explanation makes sense.
That first leadership role was the beginning of my 35-year corporate career that would include a variety of leadership roles ranging from project leader to president in both operations and human resources.
Early on I developed the strategy to move in and out of roles in operations and human resources because I learned a lot more about being a leader in HR than I did in operations.
I was given numerous opportunities to develop as a leader while in HR roles in talent development, organizational development, and human capital. Each time I developed some new leadership skills while in HR I would then apply to move back into the operations leadership roles.
Over time I had developed my unique leadership style and was able to rely on it to guide me in any leadership role in any organization; hence my move from the service industry to the manufacturing industry late in my career.
It occurred to me that I had literally made it up as I went along with the support fo some amazing leaders, coaches, and mentors. Additionally, many of the companies that I worked with over my career were generous in my professional development.
As a result of all of my experience in developing my unique leadership style and seeing over and over again the lack of support for others to develop their own style, I created this a leadership style that promotes the concept of each leader developing their own unique leadership style.
The acronym LEADERS makes it easy to remember and draw on in any leadership scenario.
LEADERS stands for Listening, Empowering, Achieving, Directing, Educating, Recognizing, and Serving. Each of these words represents a trait that I intentionally focused on and habituated over my corporate career.
Here is a snippet of each of the 7 essential traits of my unique leadership style.
- Listening requires focused attention and lots of stating back what was just said. Eye contact and paraphrasing what was said go a long way in building credibility as a leader.
- Empowering differs from delegating when a leader encourages someone to stretch beyond their current skills and competencies into a new are of learning. Leaders develop Leaders by empowering them.
- Achieving is the why for any business or company. They exist to achieve results and profits, or they cease to exist.
- Directing ensures that the vision that a leader has for their organization is clearly shared with everyone. A win-win outcome is only possible with assertive language.
- Educating LEADERS value investing in themselves and those around them. Gaining knowledge, skills, and competencies result in higher-performing individuals and teams.
- Recognizing calls on LEADERS to develop their people skills in an authentic way. Being genuine is essential to being respected.
- Serving flips everything upside down for LEADERS. Asking open-ended questions and supporting others in achieving their career development goals is a key part of a respected leadership style.
While this is my unique leadership style that I am happy to share with you; I recognize that it might not be for you. The real call to action as a result of reading this article is to Develop Your Unique Leadership Style with focus and intentionality.
I know from my own experience as a leader of nearly 40 years that developing my unique leadership style has increased my confidence in almost everything that I am expected to do as a leader, has reduced my anxiety and hesitation in taking on new challenges and risks that others passed on for fear of failure, and has given me access to some of the best resources in the leadership development space like coaches and mentors and their books and programs.
The benefits of Developing Your Unique Leadership Style are limitless and up to you to experience.
When will you start to approach your leadership role with the same intensity and intentionality as other parts of your career?
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