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7/19/2017 |
Insights |
Becoming A Trusted Leader |
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Becoming A Trusted Leader by Sue Dyer If I were to ask you what makes a person a leader, you are likely to say that it is the person with the top position, the right title, or the authority or expertise; maybe it's the person with the right track record. A leader is the person in charge! These are the things we usually think of when we think of leaders. Here's a new perspective: There is no leader without followers, and following is completely voluntary. You can't manage your team to success. It is only through leadership that your team will follow you, with a strong sense of purpose and commitment, and accomplish together what you set out to do. Why do people volunteer to follow? Because they trust the leader. When people follow, they make themselves vulnerable to the leader. In order to feel comfortable with this vulnerability, they need to feel confident in, respect for and admiration of the leader. This is your responsibility as the leader — to develop this type of relationship with your followers. It is important to note that leadership is not limited to those who have authentic power. Leadership can be established at all levels of the team. Leadership is available to anyone in your organization and should be encouraged. Continuum of leadership There is a continuum of leadership. At one end of the spectrum is the trusted leader who develops high-trust relationships and builds a high-trust atmosphere. At the other end there is the dictator, who uses fear to drive people. Let's look at what happens within the team under these different leadership styles. The trusted leader With a trusted leader, people are following because they choose to do so. They feel they have a choice. When everyone on the team is there because they chose to do so, cohesion begins to develop between the team members. This leads to a sense of commitment to the team, the leader and to their mission. From this cohesion, creativity begins to emerge. The team finds new ways to do things, and this leads to improvement. Improvement allows the team and organization to grow and succeed. The dictator On the other end of the continuum is the dictator. Under a dictator, people do what the leader wants because they are afraid not to. They fear they will be punished. The coercion spreads among the team members until they too begin to coerce others. This sense of coercion leads to compliance, where people just go along. They don't want to make waves. Compliance results in stifled communication and decision-making. No one is going to tell the leader the truth. No one is going to stick his or her neck out and point out a problem. Over time, the organization and team become rigid, unable to respond to changes. Eventually the team fails and, potentially, the organization dies. Read full article on MultiBriefs.
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