Leadership is often defined as getting other people to do what you want. Using this definition it is no wonder that many people revert to using underhanded tactics to try to "trick" their followers into doing what they want. This is a shortcut to leadership and doesn't result in long term value.
It is this type of "leadership by trickery" that makes people automatically suspicious of their leaders. If you want to develop a long term foundation for leadership, these types of short cut tricks will only prevent you from achieving your goals. Once some of your followers realize that they have been tricked you will lose any credibility you started with.
If you want a solid leadership foundation you must take the long view and consider how every action will impact your ability to lead further down the road. To build trust with your followers you must act with integrity.
Leading with integrity means doing what you say you will do. Many leaders get themselves into trouble by making commitments off the cuff and then not following through on those commitments. If you are careful what you say, you will increase your integrity with your followers simply because you won't have to back out of commitments you made with out thinking. When you do make commitments make sure they are tied to realistic timeframes. If you tell someone you are going to give them a raise next year, you are making a commitment with many factors you can't control. Sometimes saying that you will give them a raise when sales reach $1,000,000 will be a better commitment because it is tied to a goal that will enable you to give the raise.
Sometimes leading with integrity means going through with something to keep your word even when you would rather not. Not keeping your word will often hurt you much more than any inconvenience that is caused by keeping your word. If you ever have to go back on a promise, don't hide it under the rug. Take the time to apologize to the people you made the promise to. Apologize and try to come up with some way to work things out even if you can't make the original commitment.
Another important part of leading with integrity is delegating responsibility. Many leaders fail by delegating responsibility and then taking back over when their delegate does something they don't want. When you delegate you need to be willing to part with the responsibility. If your delegate does something differently than you, you need to support their decision. That doesn't mean you can't steer them in a different direction, but always support their decision whenever possible. If you delegate responsibility and then pull it back, you will demotivate your followers and make it difficult to delegate other items in the future.
Leading with integrity is avoiding the shortcuts that many leaders take. By avoiding shortcuts you can build a strong foundation that will amplify your leadership skills as you develop trust with your team.
How would you rate your leadership style on a scale from 1-5.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Pandemic Review
Can you believe the latest news on MSN today " Swine Flu Has World on Alert".
Boy, I thought 5 years ago that when I began to put in place a Pandemic Plan that it would never be needed. Same goes with the Disaster Recovery Plan, which we updated each year. Looks like we may need to dust those plans off and begin practice runs on utilizing them.
As an HR leader, I am sure you have built a plan. If not you should take the lead now.
Boy, I thought 5 years ago that when I began to put in place a Pandemic Plan that it would never be needed. Same goes with the Disaster Recovery Plan, which we updated each year. Looks like we may need to dust those plans off and begin practice runs on utilizing them.
As an HR leader, I am sure you have built a plan. If not you should take the lead now.
Job Hunting on Online Social Networks Like Twitter and LinkedIn
Think back: where were you in 2002? I was in Grade 11, working a sweet job in a video store, considering my options for post-secondary education and seeing a lot of (bad) live music in local shows.
In 2002, Jonathan Abrams launched Friendster, the first social networking website. In 2003, Myspace and LinkedIn (yes, it’s been around that long) arrived on the scene, followed by Facebook in 2004, and Twitter in 2006. Now there are nearly 150 popular sites available for you to join, many of which cater to specific interests and subcultures.
But have you ever seriously thought of using some of these sites to help you find a job?
LinkedIn can be beneficial if you’re keen to work for a particular company or in a specific industry. Searching quickly, I saw job positions available at many top Canadian companies.
Although LinkedIn is currently under-utilized by students and graduates, many academics have been using it for some time. If you’re interested in doing post-secondary studies, check out the number of professors that use LinkedIn – perhaps you can get introduced to someone through another contact and get a foot into graduate studies that way? Tech-savvy professionals are also starting to use LinkedIn to stay on top of their networks.
Admittedly, LinkedIn functions similarly to some of the larger job-searching sites like Monster and Workopolis. But have you ever considered using Twitter? Yes, you read that right, I said Twitter. You can tweet your way to a new job.
Twitter is an interactive network that can be used through text messaging on your cell phone, or updating through computer. Users are given 140 characters to update their friends on what they are doing, similar to the “Status” function on Facebook. This doesn’t seem like anything really important, except I am leaving out one small detail: users can choose who receives their tweets. Thus, you can target your tweets for a specific readership.
If you’re looking for work, what you do is strategically post so your tweets reflect the industry you are looking at. If you have followed (added someone as a friend) people who are in the job market you’re interested in, this makes everything much easier.
For example, if you tweet is something like, “Looking for a summer marketing internship in the GTA. Does anyone know any companies who are hiring?” You may get a series of responses from people in marketing – however, your network has to include people who might be able to answer your question or you’ll just end up spamming the few people who do follow you.
Times have certainly changed since we were in high school. Employers no longer rely completely on word of mouth or print ads to display the jobs they are posting, and you should not be relying on the same methods either. It is time to start spending some of your time setting up your profiles on these key social networks.
Are you in the 21st century yet?
In 2002, Jonathan Abrams launched Friendster, the first social networking website. In 2003, Myspace and LinkedIn (yes, it’s been around that long) arrived on the scene, followed by Facebook in 2004, and Twitter in 2006. Now there are nearly 150 popular sites available for you to join, many of which cater to specific interests and subcultures.
But have you ever seriously thought of using some of these sites to help you find a job?
LinkedIn can be beneficial if you’re keen to work for a particular company or in a specific industry. Searching quickly, I saw job positions available at many top Canadian companies.
Although LinkedIn is currently under-utilized by students and graduates, many academics have been using it for some time. If you’re interested in doing post-secondary studies, check out the number of professors that use LinkedIn – perhaps you can get introduced to someone through another contact and get a foot into graduate studies that way? Tech-savvy professionals are also starting to use LinkedIn to stay on top of their networks.
Admittedly, LinkedIn functions similarly to some of the larger job-searching sites like Monster and Workopolis. But have you ever considered using Twitter? Yes, you read that right, I said Twitter. You can tweet your way to a new job.
Twitter is an interactive network that can be used through text messaging on your cell phone, or updating through computer. Users are given 140 characters to update their friends on what they are doing, similar to the “Status” function on Facebook. This doesn’t seem like anything really important, except I am leaving out one small detail: users can choose who receives their tweets. Thus, you can target your tweets for a specific readership.
If you’re looking for work, what you do is strategically post so your tweets reflect the industry you are looking at. If you have followed (added someone as a friend) people who are in the job market you’re interested in, this makes everything much easier.
For example, if you tweet is something like, “Looking for a summer marketing internship in the GTA. Does anyone know any companies who are hiring?” You may get a series of responses from people in marketing – however, your network has to include people who might be able to answer your question or you’ll just end up spamming the few people who do follow you.
Times have certainly changed since we were in high school. Employers no longer rely completely on word of mouth or print ads to display the jobs they are posting, and you should not be relying on the same methods either. It is time to start spending some of your time setting up your profiles on these key social networks.
Are you in the 21st century yet?
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