Wondering how you can exert influence as a leader with your own team? Discover the things to avoid if you want to become a more effective leader.
If you’re a front-line or mid-level manager, it’s a safe bet you spend some of your time (maybe too much time) resolving conflicts between team members. Personality clashes, individuals who offer the bare minimum, personal problems brought into the workplace. You name it, you deal with it.
And if you’re a new leader, you may even be thinking quietly to yourself that you’ve been promoted beyond your abilities. How on earth are you going to prove yourself and to your boss if you can’t even exert influence as a leader over your own team?
Don’t panic.
You can learn to become an influential leader. However, before you run off to discover what you can do to grow your influence, first consider the five things you shouldn’t be doing.
5 Things Not to Do to Become an Influential Leader
- Don’t believe that leaders are born with all their skills
We’ve probably all had the misguided notion at some point that good leadership is intuitive. That is so not true. Believe me. Leadership skills are learned, not inherited. That means we all have the capacity to be a leader.If you’re tempted to look to magnetic leaders who are media darlings as models for success, please don’t. The reality is that real leadership goes far beyond making a charismatic speech or witty words. Ever wondered why the military produces so many great leaders? Because the military believes in building leaders from the ground up.
- Don’t think leadership can be given to you
Travis Bradberry, co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and President at TalentSmart offers an excellent definition: “Leadership is a process of social influence which maximizes the efforts of others toward the achievement of a greater good.”
In other words, leadership does not come from authority or power. It comes from social influence. This means you don’t need a specific set of personality traits or a certain style. You just need the right mindset to encourage others to achieve an intended outcome that is for the good of all. “Leadership is a mindset in action. So don’t wait for the title. Leadership isn’t something that anyone can give you–you have to earn it and claim it for yourself.”
– Travis Bradberry, Author, Emotional Intelligence 2.0 - Don’t waste your energy developing one specific style of leadershipWhat works for one group may be completely ineffective for another. You may think you’re best to adopt a transactional style of leadership, but your team may think otherwise. Some individuals may require an equal say on a project’s direction (democratic style); others may want more and more challenging goals as they grow with the company (transformational style).What all good leaders have in common is their ability to utilize their skills to understand people—their strengths, blind spots, motivations, and pet peeves. Personalities are diverse and complex. Once you know what makes a colleague tick, you can figure out the best way to inspire and motivate them.
- Don’t think that developing leadership skills is a waste of time
Back in 2014, a Zenger–Folkman study examined some 300,000 feedback reports of around 30,000 managers. The results were remarkable. They revealed that the top 10% of leaders more than doubled their companies’ profits compared to the remaining 90%. Conversely, the bottom 10% of leaders can actually lose money for their companies.This in-depth study demonstrates that leaders can positively or negatively influence the factors that lead to profitability. Those factors include employee commitment, retention, and discretionary effort. So, if you as a leader can inspire people to perform at a higher level, you can actually increase organizational productivity. And that leads to bigger profits.“Good leaders create more economic value than poor leaders, and extraordinary leaders create significantly more economic value than the rest.”
– Dr. Jack Zenger & Dr. Joe Folkman: How Extraordinary Leaders Double Profits - Don’t settle for mediocre leadership developmentI count myself fortunate that, early in my career, I received leadership training in the Army (Hooah!). While I’ve had other, effective leadership training since, nothing compares with the military’s multi-faceted approach to leadership development. It’s planned to the nth degree, it’s dynamic, and it’s based on a mix of education, experience, and training. True, most organizations can’t provide the comprehensive and intensive, real–world experiences that the military can. However, they can all ensure that their leaders are assigned suitable mentors, receive consistent and frequent feedback, and receive regular development opportunities that relate to the real world.
There’s little doubt that sustained quality leadership development—development that focuses on competencies, self-awareness, motivational feedback, and personal development plans—helps leaders increase their influence on those around them. Investing in your leadership skills is worth it. To you, your team, and your company.
Are you a new or emerging leader who’s hungry for development but find traditional training ineffective? Check out Leader Workout Group™. This virtual, budget-friendly group program will guide you to form good habits and make sustained behavioral changes—without the need to travel to a classroom.