Do you Lead or just Manage?

I often hear Corporate Support departments have high turnover rates even if benefits and salaries are above the market rate. Hospitality is a very high turnover rate industry (long hours and not the best compensation) but some hotels and restaurants manage to have amazing reviews, great teams who continue to work and deliver their best year after year. Perhaps it has something to do with the management style, correction their leader.

Leadership influences behavior! Effective leadership crates positive change by inspiring and motivating. It creates an environment where colleagues love their work and strive to perform at their highest capability. Developing leadership skills will help engage and inspire your team to achieve their very best.
Although some people have a seemingly natural ability to inspire others, everyone can develop leadership skills over time. Most of us can become very effective leaders!
In case leadership is not your natural ability learning below traits will help you become one:

1. Visionary
An inspiring vision gives us direction and purpose. It becomes the reason to roll up our sleeves and do the challenging work of creating change (all improvement is driven by change). It makes our work more rewarding and more exciting. Great leaders create and communicate inspirational visions.

2. Passionate.
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. They create positive energy and fuels and drives others to achieve new heights. Great leaders take advantage of every interaction to demonstrate passion and enthusiasm for their work.

3. Confident.
People are naturally attracted to confidence (no cockiness). We want to share in it and we want to be part of it. We perceive that confident people know what they are doing and where they are going. This is especially important in times of uncertainty –when confidence is particularly scarce. Great leaders project an aura of confidence.

4. Consistent.
Consistency builds trust and respect, and we all prefer to follow people we trust and respect. Use your vision as a touchstone to drive consistency in your actions. Great leaders are reliable and consistent.

5. Motivational.
When you motivate others you directly influence them and accelerate the rate at which vision is transformed into reality. People are motivated when they feel challenged and supported while completing worthwhile work. Recognize that the most effective motivation is individualized and your style should be tuned to the individual. Great leaders motivate individuals to do their very best work.
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6. Results-Oriented.
People thrive on progress. It's exciting. One of the best ways to build momentum is to demonstrate results, and one of the best ways to consistently demonstrate results is to work in short cycles with frequent “deliveries”. Focus on the next steps that will help you achieve your vision. Great leaders get things done.
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7. Humble.
Humility is a very appealing characteristic. It helps make leaders approachable and likable, and gives them space to make the occasional mistake. Great leaders share credit (leaving the smallest share for themselves) and take on more than their share of responsibility for mistakes.
 
Compare the three columns and select the one that describes you most accurately. The further to the right – the more developed your leadership skills
 
Create an improvement mission with the team (a vision). Reinforce that mission with passion and energy on an on-going basis. Get people excited about the “journey”. Motivate the team and ask for feedback that helps you to continuously improve your leadership skills.
 
Please remember, management style needs to be adjusted and changed overtime. Below are situations on when and how to tune the style:

1. Directing - The employee is new to their role, new to the task, or has performance issues. Demonstrate how the task should be completed. Keep responsibility for the quality of their work. Aim to build competence.
2. Coaching - The employee is becoming competent at the task, but could be more efficient or effective. Discuss and set objectives and provide regular feedback. Keep some responsibility for the quality of their work. Increase motivation.
3. Supporting - The employee consistently completes the task effectively and is engaged in their work. Provide some guidance but leave more choices to the employee. Help them understand how their choices affect the business.
4. Delegating - The employee is highly skilled and highly engaged (they consistently achieve outstanding results with limited guidance). Provide considerable freedom to the employee. Delegate tasks that are stimulating and will help them make a real difference to the business.

 
Over time, build a team where you can delegate most work. Achieve this through training (increasing competence) and motivation (increasing commitment).
 
​Be Your Best Self!
 There are many aspects to being an effective leader and it is easy to get lost in the detail. A simple countermeasure is to ask: “Am I being my best self?” The strongest position from which to influence others is to be your best self. So, ask a follow-up question: “What one thing could I do better?” Write it down, and focus on it until it is no longer the answer to that question.
 
How effective is your leadership style? Answer ten simple questions to see how close you are to being a model leader:
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1.Are your interactions with others positive and motivational?  
2.Do you choose influencing others over directing and controlling?  
3.Are you the best and most enthusiastic version of yourself?  
4.Do the people you influence consistently perform their best work?  
5.Do you control (own) the majority of your time?  
6.Do you delegate a majority of work to others and then let go?  
7.Do you spend significant time each day developing others?  
8.Have you created a shared vision with your team?  
9.Do you reinforce that vision on a daily and on-going basis?  
10.Do you consistently practice all eight traits for effective leadership?  
 
Reference: http://www.perfectproduction.com/leadership.htm
 

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