Category: Leadership

How to be a better leader.

Leadership and Toilet Paper; Leading in a time of crisis.

Melody

What does leadership have to do with toilet paper? What does toilet paper have to do with a crisis? How good are you at leading in a time of crisis?

Toilet paper and leading in a crisis

Well unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that there is a current toilet paper shortage in Australia and other parts of the world. This is mostly due to panic buying to prepare for restrictions around the Corona Virus.

Does Covid-19 cause you to use more toilet paper? No. Do people need to buy lots of toilet paper? No.

Many people are annoyed (and impacted) by the panic buying. It seems senseless and people are angry. Many are laughing at people buying up big.

But the real reason that people are stockpiling toilet paper and other things? They are worried and scared about the world they live in.

It’s been a particularly hard year already in Australia. We have had devastating fires and now a world wide virus. People are stressed about changes that they cannot control. And stressed people do things that are not always logical.

So, what does this mean for you as a leader?

Now is the time to step up your leadership skills. As social distancing in starting across the country and workplaces may shut down or move staff to work from home, your employees need your support more than ever.

Leading in a time of Crisis

What are the best ways to lead in a time of crisis? How do great leaders support their staff? Great leaders:

  • CARE and UNDERSTAND: Great leaders try to understand the concerns of their staff. They address them if they can. They sympathise at the very least.
  • COMMUNICATE: Great leaders communicate often and in an open manner. If they do not know the answer they say so. No news is not good news in this case!
  • STAY CALM and IN CONTROL: Great leaders share their vulnerabilities but remain calm. They stay in control of their response to the situation.
  • ARE RESPONSIVE but NOT RUSHED: Great leaders do not make decisions rashly or rush around but are timely in their responses. Even in very urgent situations you generally have time for some reflection.

A wise leader once told me to be the reasonable person in the unreasonable situation. This applies today as we go into uncharted territory. Be that voice of reason in your workplace and in a world that is becoming frightening and unrecognisable.

This is great little article from my colleagues at Define Potential in Canberra about Leadership in Challenging Times which has some more tips you may find useful.

I wish you and yours continuing good health and remind you to focus on your mental wellbeing at this time as well as that of your staff.

Melody Leadership Coach

Coaching can help people through times of crisis and difficulty. You can participate in coaching sessions virtually – via phone or video link. Please contact me for more information.

Everyone Can Be a Leader

Melody

It’s true. Everyone can be a leader. Everyone can demonstrate leadership. It doesn’t matter what level you are at in your organisation or where you are located.

I often work as a coach with people located in Townsville in North Queensland, Australia. It’s a small city of approximately 175,000 people. While it’s a lovely town located on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef, job prospects are… tight to say the least. People generally work in smaller organisations, at lower levels for lower pay than people who live in, say Sydney or Canberra.

Does that mean there are less leaders here in Townsville? No. Emphatically, no.

Leadership has nothing to do with role. It has nothing to do with pay or location. Being a leader has everything to do with the type of person you are and how you behave in the workplace.

Be a Leader

Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Generally, it accepted that leadership is formal – that is you have a specific role that relates to leading others in the organisation or it is informal.

Informal leaders lead others in the organisation despite not having people report to them.

What does this mean for you?

You do not have to wait until the organisation gives a formal leadership role to be a leader. Naturally you can’t make decisions for your organisation that are not appropriate to your role but you can influence others, support the bigger picture, introduce new ideas, look for efficiencies and continuous improvements.

Developing your skills as a leader at any level, can lead to better outcomes at work and perhaps promotion and better roles in the future.

Want to read more? This Forbes article talks about some types of informal leadership.

Want to having a coaching session about how you can develop your skills as a leader regardless of your role? Contact me.

The Learning Leader

Melody

As an executive and leadership coach, I speak to people at all levels in organisations. While you can be a leader in your organisation in any role and at any level, it’s when people start to move up into management positions that they start to think about leadership. Many people I talk to in coaching sessions want to be a ‘better leader’.

One of the best ways to learn how to be a leader is to look at others, both in your organisation and outside of it. People in senior roles rarely act without intent. They consider how they communicate, how they present and how they act. If you want to learn how to lead people watch what established leaders do.

Watching leaders in your organisation also gives you clues about the culture and what type of leadership is rewarded. This doesn’t mean you have to follow this strictly but it can be useful if you want to be promoted or be offered different work.

“What about if all of the leaders around me are crap?” you ask.

Leadership

That’s okay – you can still learn from them. A friend of mine that grew up in a dysfunctional family said he learnt a lot about marriage from his parents. When I expressed my surprise he said, “Yes I learned what NOT to do!” It’s the same with leadership. You can learn what not to do from those not so great leaders.

How can I learn from other established leaders?

When you are watching a more senior colleague or associate in the workplace consider the following:

  • What style of communication are they using? What words do they choose? What impression or brand are they trying to present? For example are they being ‘one of boys’ or an ass-kicking manager or something else entirely? Are they authentic? Are their actions suitable?
  • Is their leadership style working? It is getting the desired result? (And what is the desired result?)
  • If their leadership is successful, can you emulate their actions and style? Would you need to modify it to be genuine and to make it work for you? How could you apply this in your role in the workplace?
  • If they are not successful, what are they doing wrong? What would you do to make it better? How could you apply your improvements to your role in the workplace and develop your leadership skills?
Successful Leaders

The answers to these questions will guide you on how to behave like a leader (or not) in your organisation. As always its a good idea to experiment to develop your leadership in the workplace. Start small if you don’t feel confident. Try out leadership behaviours with colleagues or peers where there is not too much at stake.

Talking to a coach about leadership strategies can help you to learn how to lead more effectively. Contact me for more information about coaching.