TL;DR: What leadership is and what it’s not. The good and the bad.
TL;DR
People often think that being in a leadership position means a comfy seat, a big salary and giving orders. We also often feel that all this comes with a lack of real knowledge and not taking any responsibility. Basically, being an asshole… That’s how bad leadership looks like.
Strong leadership is the greatest single factor in a team’s performance.
Being a good leader might not come with an official position, but it comes with responsibility for everything within the team. It means leading down and helping others, but also leading up and supporting their boss. A leader’s role is to provide direction and intent, fight battles nobody is even aware of and lead the change. Be the example everybody wants to follow, and not because they have to… That’s how good leadership looks like.
Lousy leadership in a gist.
We sometimes see people in organisations with a nasty attitude, and we ask ourselves, “How the hell did he get a job like that?”. They usually represent all the things we despise. The stereotype of a typical corporate manager who talks a lot, do little and doesn’t understand what is happening. Bad decisions are common, and they all come with no explanation of why. We hate these people, we don’t trust them and their judgment. In the end, they will take responsibility for nothing, and it will be our job to save the situation.
Giving orders.
They don’t care. They have all the answers and solutions already, so giving orders is a norm and people should blindly execute them. That also means they don’t listen to feedback and are afraid to promote better ideas. I was asked in the past a couple of times by my senior managers to lie to my team. Not a nice feeling and not something I’m willing to do.
Holding all the power.
They believe in the ultimate power to do whatever they want and fire anybody who disagrees with them. It’s often an excellent example of leading by fear, which has more to do with tyranny than inspiring leadership. You can often see such behaviour when certain managers work with contractors or teams in India.
Comfy position and good salary.
They treat their position as a reward, not as a duty. Now they can relax and forget about where they came from and what made them successful in the first place. The “I arrived” mentality and disconnection from reality, living in a bubble of their large ego and self-awesomeness.
Summary
If you know any of the so-called leaders, you should stay away from them. You will learn nothing worth spreading. These type of leaders (or managers) have been likely great talent in the past but ended up being promoted based on their hands-on skills and not leadership potential — a common mistake.
Good leadership and what it means
The leader is truly and ultimately responsible for everything.
On the other side of the spectrum, we have these unusual people who don’t always have fancy titles, but they know what they’re doing. We can always count on them and challenge their decisions. If we ask questions, it means their message wasn’t clear enough, and it’s their job to fix it. They lead by example, and we follow their lead. We’ve got each other’s backs and we truly work as one team.
Supporting the team.
They always support their teams and help them get through challenges and remove roadblocks. “Leading” means taking care of people, and good leaders know how to do it well. In return, they can always count on the team’s support.
Taking full ownership and responsibility.
They are solely responsible for all team’s failures, missed deadlines, unexpected problem, and conflicts between members. As a leader, it is their responsibility, and they have to own it. To make it worst, sometimes tough decisions need to be made, and it’s their job to make sure everybody understands why.
Leading up & down.
They have to lead the team and “steer the boat” , but also “lead up”, even their bosses. People above expect a certain communication style — brief, not too technical, confident. There is a need to adjust the language to provide a clear message, pick the battles and work with other leaders to achieve specific goals.
Asking questions and seeking for feedback.
It’s their job to get the information they need to get your job done and lead effectively. They can’t be afraid to ask questions because it might look stupid. More importantly, they need to listen to the answers, and that’s a real skill in the world of information overload.
Providing direction, not orders.
It’s not their role to give orders but to provide a direction. It starts with WHY and WHAT, and the team will help to define HOW and WHEN. It builds trust and gives the team the autonomy to act.
Building trust and space for honesty.
They want people to speak up without the fear of being punished. When something goes wrong and the team screwed up, everybody needs to know it’s OK… Shit happens. As a group, they can work together to fix the issue and make sure it never happens again. If people don’t trust their leader, they will hide their mistakes, damaging the company’s reputation when things go seriously wrong.
Summary
Good leaders should aim to make themselves redundant, this is called “decentralised leadership”. Everybody in the team is taking responsibility for their work and actions, and they are capable of working autonomously. When they reach that point, they succeeded. Don’t worry; it won’t render leaders useless in the team.
Read more about what good leadership is in my other post…
Strong leadership is the greatest single factor in a team’s performance.
That’s probably the most important thing you need to remember. When you see problems in teams or organisations, start with the leadership. You will most likely learn that they don’t know how to communicate, don’t take ownership for given projects and people, and ultimately don’t care. If, by any chance, they still do care, the problem is probably somewhere higher…
