Value #3
LEADING SUCCESSFULLY AT ONE LEVEL IS A QUALIFIER FOR LEADING AT THE NEXT LEVEL
Growing organizations are always looking for good people to step up to the next level and lead. How do they find out if a person is qualified to make that jump? By looking at that person’s track record in his or her current position. The key to moving up as an emerging leader is to focus on leading well where you are, not on moving up the ladder. If you are a good 360-Degree Leader where you are, I believe you will be given an opportunity to lead at a higher level.
As you strive to become the best 360-Degree Leader you can be, keep the following things in mind:
1. LEADERSHIP IS A JOURNEY THAT STARTS WHERE YOU ARE, NOT WHERE YOU WANT TO BE
Recently while I was driving in my car, a vehicle to the left of me attempted to turn right from the middle lane and caused an accident. Fortunately, I was able to slow down quickly and lessen the impact; but still, my air bags deployed, and both cars were greatly damaged.
The first thing I noticed after I stopped and took stock of the situation was that the little computer screen in my car was showing my exact location according to the GPS system. I stared at it a moment, wondering why the car was telling me my exact latitude and longitude. And then I thought, Of course! If you’re in real trouble and you call for help, the first thing emergency workers will want to know is your location. You can’t get anywhere until you first know where you are.
Leadership is similar. To know how to get where you want to go, you need to know where you are. To get where you want to go, you need to focus on what you’re doing now. Award-winning sportswriter Ken Rosenthals said, “Each time you decide to grow again, you realize you are starting at the bottom of another ladder.” You need to have your eyes fixed on your current responsibilities, not the ones you wish to have someday. I’ve never known a person focused on yesterday to have a better tomorrow.
I’ve never known a person focused on yesterday to have a better tomorrow.
2. LEADERSHIP SKILLS ARE THE SAME, BUT THE “LEAGUE OF PLAY” CHANGES
If you get promoted, don’t think that because your new office is just a few feet down the hall from your old place that the difference is just a few steps. When you get “called up” to another level of leadership, the quality of your game must rise quickly.
No matter what level you’re working on, leadership skills are needed at that level. Each new level requires a higher degree of skill. The easiest place to see this is in sports. Some players can make the jump from recreational league to high school. Fewer can make it from high school to college. And only a handful can make it to the professional level.
Your best chance of making it into the next “league of play” is to grow on the current level so that you will be able to go to the next level.
3. GREAT RESPONSIBILITIES COME ONLY AFTER HANDLING SMALL ONES WELL
When I teach at a conference or go to a book signing, people sometimes confide in me that they desire to write books too. “How do I get started?” they ask.
“The only conquests which are permanent and leave no regrets are our conquests over ourselves.”
—NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
“How much writing do you do now?” I ask in return.
Some tell me about articles and other pieces they are writing, and I simply encourage them; but most of the time they sheepishly respond, “Well, I haven’t really written anything yet.”
“Then you need to start writing,” I explain. “You’ve got to start small and work up to it.”
Leadership is the same. You’ve got to start small and work up to it. A person who has never led before needs to try to influence one other person. Someone who has some influence should try to build a team. Just start with what’s necessary.
St. Francis of Assisi said, “Start doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” All good leadership begins where you are. It was Napoleon who said, “The only conquests which are permanent and leave no regrets are our conquests over ourselves.” The small responsibilities you have before you now comprise the first great leadership conquest you must make. Don’t try to conquer the world until you’ve taken care of things in your own backyard.
4. LEADING AT YOUR CURRENT LEVEL CREATES YOUR RESUMÉ FOR GOING TO THE NEXT LEVEL
When you go to see a doctor for the first time, you are usually asked a lot of questions about your family history. In fact, there are usually more questions about that than there are about your lifestyle. Why? Because family history, more than anything else, seems to be what determines your health.
When it comes to leadership success, history is also similarly disproportionate. Your track record where you work now is what leaders will look at when trying to decide if you can do a job. I know that when I interview someone for a job, I put 90 percent of the emphasis on the track record.
If you want to get the chance to lead on another level, then your best chance for success is to lead well where you are now. Every day that you lead and succeed, you are building a resumé for your next job.
5. WHEN YOU CAN LEAD VOLUNTEERS WELL, YOU CAN LEAD ALMOST ANYONE
At a recent President’s Day conference where we were discussing leadership development, a CEO asked me, “How can I pick the best leader out of a small group of leaders? What do I look for?”
There are many things that indicate someone has leadership potential—the ability to make things happen, strong people skills, vision, desire, problem-solving skills, self-discipline, a strong work ethic. But there is one really great test of leadership that is almost foolproof, and that is what I suggested: “Ask them to lead a volunteer group.”
If you want to test your own leadership, then try leading volunteers. Why is that so difficult? Because with volunteers, you have no leverage. It takes every bit of leadership skill you have to get people who don’t have to do anything to do what you ask. If you’re not challenging enough, they lose interest. If you push too hard, they drop out. If your people skills are weak, they won’t spend any time with you. If you cannot communicate the vision, they won’t know where to go or why.
If you lead others and your organization has any kind of community service focus, encourage the people on your team to volunteer. Then watch to see how they do. If they thrive in that environment, then you know that they possess many of the qualifications to go to another level in your organization.
Donald McGannon, former CEO of Westinghouse Broadcasting Corporation, stated, “Leadership is action, not position.” Taking action—and helping others to do the same in a coordinated effort—is the essence of leadership. Do those things where you are, and you won’t remain long there.
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