The Ripple Effect of Leadership

Highlights from “Stepping Up to Leadership with Your Head and Your Heart”, Women@Work Inspiration forum, 2/12/09

It’s the opportunity you’ve been waiting for your whole career. You know you can do this, but how do you step up and lead at this whole new level?

Step 1:  Embrace the “Shift Up”   A difficult aspect of taking on a major leadership challenge is the psychology of “shifting up”-  that is, thinking differently in a way that allows you to meet the challenges that you face and have faith in your own ability. 

1.     You must believe in yourself before others will believe in and follow you

2.     Acknowledge your fears and find a safe place for them.  It’s natural to be a little leery of taking on new things.  Change is always hard.

3.     Be proud of yourself:  But don’t be arrogant.  You’ve worked hard for this opportunity and have met the challenges that got you here.  Know that you are capable, and show it in your actions as a leader.

Step 2:  Know your own center:  Spend some time thinking about what your “core values” are and what is totally non-negotiable.  I often refer to this as figuring out “what hill you are willing to die on” as a leader.  For things that you decide may be negotiable for you, work hard to think as flexibly as you can. 

Also, think about the things that make you angry or emotional in the workplace and become very conscious of those.  Although feelings and being emotionally intelligent are critical parts of your success, it is never good to make a decision or deal with a difficult situation when your emotions are running high. 

Step 3:  Negotiate What Really Counts:  As you move into a leadership role, you need to know what you must have to succeed personally and professionally and ask for that.  Do not hesitate to request what you need, especially as you take on your new role.  Many of us fear that asking for things will reflect negatively on us, when in reality, asking clearly for what you need to get the job done that they are asking you to do shows decisiveness and an understanding of the road ahead.  Having said that, however, be ready to negotiate and back down or let go of things that are not necessary. 

Think about your core values in #2.  If one of them is family or personal time, be clear that this time is non-negotiable for you.  Do not be apologetic about it if this is a core value.  Honoring and protecting these types of time will ultimately make you more productive and effective as a leader and will help you avoid burnout. 

Step #4:  Be Open to Outcome:  There are a few ways to go about creating change in your organization, but in order for the change to be well-received and supported in the long run, as a leader, you have to share ownership of the process.  To make this process work for you, you have to develop the ability to be open to the outcome of such group sessions and not attached to a specific strategy.  As a leader, you can state the goal, throw out some ideas you have, and then, honestly, open the conversation up to your team(s) to let them decide on a course of action. 

It’s also important to be open to outcome in your own career.   It may be helpful to think back to your core values from #2 and map your ideal career trajectory onto those.  Keeping career and personal goals for the next year, 3 years, 5 and 10 years may be helpful in evaluating opportunities that come up, even if they are unexpected or unconventional.  Be open to these sorts of experiences, as they may lead you in an unexpectedly fulfilling direction.