Professional Development – Page 43 – STL

There has never been a time like it in history, where the explosion of corporate expansion has led to the constant need for great leaders. Where companies have grown in size to match the economies of a small country, the prize of a truly great leader has never been so important nor so highly rewarded.

If you are a leader yourself, or are looking to recruit a top leader to manage a team, here are 4 characteristics you should be constantly looking for and developing:

4 Characteristics of Influential Leaders

Role model

Reflect and model the behaviours you feel are important. Lead by making the changes you see need to be made and stand by these changes as if they are a personal conviction. If you want your team to behave in a certain way, then you have to be willing to demonstrate by example and expect to be challenged. You set the tone of the business environment.

Purpose

Establish a purpose to believe in and let others see this is what is expected of them. Highlight the importance of their roles, and be specific about their skill-sets and where you see the opportunity for their development. Illustrate what success will look like for them, as well as for the organisation. How the advantage of having a positive attitude to solve problems will raise their professional capital and their self-esteem. Outline clearly how their position connects with the outcome.

Coach

Sometimes being obvious works neatly into time frames and objectives, especially where multiple partners or teams are being managed. However, being subtle in your approach, especially when dealing with inexperienced managers, can also be extremely effective.

Allowing people to discover their answers or experience their mistakes can be an invaluable learning process.

Watch for the rhetorical questions, the statements that contemplate – and then lead through a line of questioning that sets a path of discovery. Remember that the ideas and answers that you uncovered for yourself are still some of the greatest moments of transformation you have had, so why deny anyone else the opportunity to experience these moments for themselves.

Accountability

This simple concept goes hand-in-hand with taking ownership of your position. You cannot have one without the other. Being accountable is a reflection of direction and no-one should make a choice without being accountable. Your team needs to realise, and quickly, that as a leader you are more than just responsible for the decisions, and therefore you own them.

You will always get somethings wrong, you will make the mistakes, owning them is one of the great strengths a leader can display. It sets a foundation of trust. It encourages transparency. It builds and strengthens bonds and it raises a level of integrity that will resonate throughout the company.

Summary

There are many qualities that are important in great leaders, but role modelling, a strong purpose, a natural coaching style and courage to be accountable are some of the most important.

To learn more, take a look at one of our management and leadership programmes, in particular our leadership development training course is perfect for developing these specific skills.

Pressure? What pressure?

We all need a little pressure in our lives, both at work and at home. The right amount motivates us to get things done. But what happens to us if the pressure becomes too great, and we can’t handle it? This is where resilience comes in.

Stress is defined as ‘a situation when the pressure placed upon us exceeds our perceived resources and we feel we can longer cope’. So, we need to be better at managing the everyday pressures – we need to be more resilient.

We can break resilience down into 6 key areas:

A sense of purpose

This is the foundation for all of the other elements. The stronger your sense of purpose, the better equipped you are to handle challenges and obstacles which may spring up. If you can see the target you’re aiming at, you can hit it! Are you clear about your direction and goals? You’ve got to believe in something!

A positive mental attitude

How do you stay positive? This is something of a balancing act, between being able to think positively about situations whilst being realistic about what can be achieved.

It is not about naïve optimism, but involves being able to generate positive thoughts and feelings about situations. A positive attitude makes you happier and more resilient, it improves your relationships, and it even increases your chances of success in any endeavour. It also makes you more creative and can help you to make better decisions.

Connecting with others

Sometimes you can’t do it all on your own! Building supportive and caring relationships is essential. Your interpersonal communication skills can be an important element of your ability to be resilient, based on how you handle difficult situations.

It is also essential to be able to offer appropriate help and support to others and ask for it when needed. Having a support network of colleagues, friends and family is vital – it is easier to bounce back when you know somebody is there for you.

Determination

Let’s get things done! How good are you at seeing things through to completion? When faced with challenges do you adopt a “can do” approach, and take timely and appropriate action? How well do you finish the tasks that you have started? Are you able to keep going in the face of adversity rather than giving up?

Taking control

Control comes from how you think and react to situations, your emotional agility. Do you take responsibility for yourself and your actions? Are you able to recognise the challenges or situations which are beyond your control, and let go of these to focus on the things that you can do something about? Make sure you are devoting your time and energy here, and where you can take control, you do. Anything else is a futile waste.

Looking after yourself

If you cannot build your resilience levels you will find it harder to deal with pressure. You will become stressed and you might begin to suffer physically, mentally, emotionally, or all of the above!

Looking after yourself is essential to help you deal with stress. Is your lifestyle a healthy one? Have you identified your ‘coping networks’ which enable you to deal with stressful situations? Are you able to ‘switch off’ and relax sometimes?

For some people, it means going to the gym after work, or hobbies and other pastimes, or taking the dog for a walk in the countryside, or just talking about the stress with a loved one or colleague: ‘You will not believe the day I’ve just had!’ Book yourself some ‘me time’ and stick to it!

Conclusion

If we’re going to be better at handling pressure, we need to work on our resilience levels. Consider the 6 areas above and evaluate your resilience – if you feel you are lacking in any of them, then these are your areas for development. Ask yourself this: When the going gets tough, do you get going?

If you’re interested in learning to manage your stress and build the practical skills of resilience, take a look at our Personal Resilience training or Stress Management courses.

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