{"id":181,"date":"2018-01-31T16:39:43","date_gmt":"2018-01-31T16:39:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=181"},"modified":"2018-01-31T19:43:30","modified_gmt":"2018-01-31T19:43:30","slug":"java-with-joe-lead-from-where-you-are-make-this-your-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/?p=181","title":{"rendered":"Java with Joe: Lead from Where You Are…Make This Your Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>These days, many of our traditional ideas about leadership are changing. For example, if you think that the only people who really make a difference to an organization\u2019s success are those at the top of the org chart, you might want to reconsider.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s world, change\u2026often technology driven\u2026is constant and often (to use a clich\u00e9) disruptive. As a result, the pace of business has accelerated, and organizations have a pressing need for more timely decision making. In this environment, the traditional top down, bureaucratic, command and control model just doesn\u2019t work as well as it once did. Which is why more and more organizations are coming to understand that decision making\u2026and leadership in general\u2026needs to be much more widely shared.<\/p>\n

What this all means is that today\u2019s business environment is loaded with opportunity for anyone willing to step up and lead!<\/p>\n

Another idea about leadership that needs to change\u2026one that\u2019s related to the idea that organizations need to tap a much wider pool of leadership talent\u2026is the idea that leaders need to be charismatic, larger than life people. That may have true at some point in the past, but today\u2026not so much. As regular readers of this blog know, I believe strongly in Servant Leadership, which depends far less on personal charisma and personal glory than on a commitment to helping others succeed. Again, as regular readers will know, servant-led companies typically outperform their competitors on a wide array of critical metrics, which goes a long way toward explaining why Servant Leadership principles are being adopted by more and more organizations.<\/p>\n

The point is that you don\u2019t need a \u201cbig\u201d persona to be an effective leader. And you don\u2019t need a big title either. Not every leader has accepted this, of course, especially if they\u2019ve got one of those high visibility positions in the org chart. And not every organization is ready to open the doors to a wider pool of leaders. But I think the tide is running against those people and those organizations. I think this is a great time for any one who aspires to help their organization succeed, anyone who truly wants to help the people around them succeed, to step up and be a leader.<\/p>\n

If this is your year to take that step, what can you do to increase your chances of success? Here are a few ideas on that subject.<\/p>\n

Embrace Who You Are.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Self- awareness and acceptance is absolutely critical to being an effective leader.\u00a0 In my career, I\u2019ve seen many people who are naturally introverted try to remake themselves into extroverts, in order to fit the model of the charismatic leader. This is a bad idea for a couple of reasons. First, as I\u2019ve already said, there\u2019s plenty of room in today\u2019s world for a different kind of leader. And second, trying to make yourself into something you\u2019re not almost never works. So, if you\u2019re more of an introvert, embrace that fact. (You might want to check out Quiet Influence: The Introvert\u2019s Guide to Making a Difference <\/em><\/a>by Jennifer Kahnweiler.) Leverage the strengths you have, like active listening, thoughtfulness, and cultivating relationships. Be yourself\u2026or rather, be your best self!<\/p>\n

Build Relationships Right Away.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t wait until you need people\u2019s help to seek others out. Get involved now. Ask people how you can help them succeed. You\u2019ll make a lot of friends that way, and these friends will be there when you need them for support. And if you have some relationships that could use a little repair work, find a way to make that happen, and do it now. I\u2019ve learned never to underestimate the power of an apology!<\/p>\n

Ask Questions and Listen to the Answers. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Many people ask questions without really being interested in the answer. For these folks, the question is just an opening gambit, a way to set themselves up to take charge of the discussion. I don\u2019t know about you, but I find this kind of thing more than a little annoying. The fact is that asking a good question and then really listening to the answer <\/em>is a great way to expand your own knowledge and build a truly collaborative relationship with your colleagues. Most importantly, it\u2019s a great way to uncover the best possible solution to important problems\u2026and doing that is what makes you an effective leader.<\/p>\n

Add People to Your Team Who Will Challenge You.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Effective leaders are wary of being trapped in a bubble of their own making. It\u2019s much easier and much more comfortable to surround yourself with people who see things your way. That may even make it easier to come to quick decisions\u2026but it won\u2019t necessarily lead to the best decisions. To get outside of the bubble and get the variety of perspectives necessary to effective decision making, you need a few people on your team who are willing and able to challenge you and push you. If you really want to increase your team\u2019s creativity, you need to add some people who can play devil\u2019s advocate.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have those people on your team now, go find some\u2026and in the meantime, reach out to some people outside of your team and ask them for feedback and suggestions about your ideas.<\/p>\n

Take the Initiative.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said in previous blogs, if you\u2019re a leader at any level, you need to remember that you\u2019re the CEO of your own organization, no matter how large or how small. What you do can make a difference not only to your own organization but to others. But that assumes that you take action, that you speak up, that you do what you can, when you can.<\/p>\n

In that regard, I love this quote from Polly Labarre, founding member of Fast Company: <\/em>\u201cWe have got to get past the bias in business that says big change only comes from big leaders. The most world changing innovation often starts very small.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

So\u2026is this the year you step up and lead from where you are?<\/p>\n

As you get ready to take that step, here are a few questions you might want to ask yourself:<\/p>\n

How comfortable are you with your strengths and weaknesses? What should you work on?<\/em><\/p>\n

What relationships do you need to build or rebuild? What steps might you take to get started?<\/em><\/p>\n

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These days, many of our traditional ideas about leadership are changing. For example, if you think that the only people who really make a difference to an organization’s success are those at the top of the org chart, you might want to reconsider. In today’s world, change…often technology driven…is constant and often (to use a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":184,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions\/184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greensummit.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}