So, all your hard work has finally paid off. Congratulations! Making an entrance into a leadership position can be exciting and daunting at the same time. You were likely selected for this new level of responsibility for several reasons; your leadership skills, adaptability, effective collaboration and your trustworthiness just to name a few.
Your expertise and record of achieving and consistently exceeding goals showcasing your ability to achieve success, are qualities that define you. You have value and the talent and skill to significantly contribute in new and transformative ways.
Sometimes early stages of doubt can creep in and you find yourself in a whirlwind of emotions that can throw you into a tailspin flooding you with uncertainty, and anxiety. Those voices of self-doubt and insecurity can dash your confidence and create moments of mental paralysis. Here are some tips to help you silence the mental chatter.
Take a moment and acknowledge your capabilities and the value you bring to your role. Challenge your inner critic and celebrate your accomplishments. Reflect and remind yourself that they do not define you. Your fortitude, perseverance and ambitious efforts are paying off.
This article is intended to provide you with some tips to help you navigate the challenges that you may encounter as you lead your new team.
Begin with a well-laid-out plan for your transition. Clearly understand the expectations and requirements of your role while remaining positive. Connect with trusted and experienced leaders who can offer guidance and can draw on their own experiences. Meet with your leader and develop agreements on how you will work together to support the strategic objectives of the organisation and develop goals to accomplish them. Identify the strengths, challenges, and opportunities early in your transition. Learning about your leader’s, priorities, strengths, challenges and opportunities early on will go a long way in positioning you for a successful transition.
This will help you provide a foundation for developing a well-thought-out plan for you and your team and will go a long way in positioning you for a successful transition.
“If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” is attributed to Lewis Carroll, the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Define what success looks like in clear and measurable terms.
I recall travelling on a road trip with friends. We were driving to a destination which we had been looking forward to. The excitement and anticipation of the fun experience created an added thrill. Assured that we had the route information we needed to get to the destination, we figured we would arrive sooner than expected. The signs directed us to and coincided with the information we had in our possession. After driving for an hour longer than anticipated we decided to make a call to the friends we were meeting. Needless to say, we were far from our intended destination. We missed a most important part of what we intended to experience.
The consequences of starting our journey without a clear goal with specific directions were a period of delay and missed opportunities for the event. It also taught me that setting clear goals can provide direction and reduce uncertainty.
Consider how you and your manager will communicate your entrance to join the team. Be warm and positive in your engagement with them, as well as your executive peers. Be sure to seek help, ask questions and listen before speedily jumping in headfirst. Be curious.
Reassessing your self-awareness and relationship management skills is a quality that can contribute to effective leadership. Developing an authentic, open, transparent and collaborative approach to build engagement with your team sets you up for building trust with your team.
Be intentional about what you say and how you speak. Your tone, words, pace, posture, behaviour, and overall style set you up for creating impressions that can create a positive environment or one that may destroy your intentions for a warm and engaging environment.
You want your team to feel comfortable working with you. Use the word “we” instead of ‘I” as much as you can. Listen with your eyes too. Observing, connecting and getting to know your team at a deeper level can be a winning ticket to celebrating an A-team. Clear and consistent open communication forms the basis of all that you do.
Effective leaders will tell you that building healthy relationships and maintaining them is an important aspect of their success. Using these relationships helps build influence and support in achieving goals and building a shared vision.
Building relationships within your team serves as a strong foundation for personal and professional success. It fosters team building and meaningful change. This requires leaders to model behaviours of integrity, passion, and empathy. This inspires team loyalty and unity.
When a team truly grasps their roles and those of their colleagues, magic happens. Collaboration flourishes, innovation thrives, and knowledge flows freely. Imagine adding artificial intelligence to this mix – it’s like supercharging your teamwork. Being visible and using resources and communication tools contribute to interactions being dynamic, real-time, and incredibly clear, keeping everyone on the same page.
But here’s the real secret sauce: valuing each team member’s unique perspective and the diversity they bring. This not only fosters a supportive environment but also boosts efficiency, leading to outstanding and sustainable results. Together, we’re not just working – we’re achieving greatness.
Continuous learning cannot be ignored and working with a mentor, trusted coach or expert can be a game changer. Imagine navigating a dense board-span forest without a map or guide. That’s what attempting significant change can feel like. Engaging with credible mentors or an executive coach acts as that guiding force providing support to bring clarity, direction and understanding of a path forward. They bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and insight. They bring their own experience because they have likely been in your shoes. They serve as a rich reservoir of information, resources, and tools to help leaders discover untapped potential and transformative breakthroughs in their professional and personal growth. They bring an outside perspective that can light a simmering fire that you struggled to rekindle.
What’s more, accountability is a crucial element in any transformative journey. Having someone to hold you accountable for your actions and ensuring you stay true to your commitments is a tried and true safe space for honesty, and champion support in helping leaders push through, boost their capabilities and experience their full potential. This leads to a deeper self-awareness and deeper meaningful growth.
Any good leader who wants to achieve success in achieving their goal knows that it is not just about hanging off responsibilities. They delegate to those better than they are in expertise or skill required. It is understanding the skills and strengths of the talent of the team. It is important to assess your team, identify their talents and assign tasks and projects to the right people. Balancing delegation and micromanaging is a key element to finetune ensuring they are benign set up for success.
Collaborate and agree on the “rules for the road” and allow them to run with it. Regular checkpoints and hurdles can serve as a healthy plan for working together and building successful teams. This builds trust and plays into their team member’s beliefs in the leadership being provided.
Craig Groeschel believes that “When you delegate tasks, you create followers. When you delegate authority, you create leaders”. It is a good reminder for aspiring leaders to model.
John Maxwell’s wisdom reflects that real true leaders are the ones who know how to delegate, emphasising that effective leadership involves skillful delegation. To enhance your leadership abilities, embrace the power of delegation to build collaboration, empower your team, stimulate innovation and achieve collective success. Take proactive steps to identify assignments suitable for delegation and cultivate a culture of trust and accountability within your team. By doing so, you pave the way for sustainable growth and efficiency in your leadership journey.
In essence, the best leaders delegate by empowering their team, building trust and maintaining free-flowing lines of communication. They see delegation as an opportunity to develop their team, stimulate creativity, engender trust, inspire accountability and achieve successful outcomes. So the next time you are about to delegate, think of yourself as a coach guiding your team to victory. With the right playbook activated, everyone wins, and you just might find the journey together is as rewarding as the destination.
Leading effectively requires benign intentional, setting a clear vision and communicating it with transparency and clarity. Prioritising the existing dynamics and cultivating an inclusive environment can inspire confidence and drive positive outcomes.
About the author
Karen Carey is a seasoned curator of leadership development experiences helping teams and individuals create clarity in their purpose, and transformation in their leadership journey.
She has extensive executive corporate leadership experience and serves as a Human Resources Consultant and Executive Coach. She helps growth-focused leaders to artfully co-create a transformative leadership journey, empowering them to lead with confidence and credibility.
Contact: info@globaladvisoryassociatesltd.com
