Impactful Leadership

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others”– Jack Welch, Former CEO, GE

As a leader, I am passionate about the power of teamwork and truly believe that no one can be successful or sustain success without the unflinching support from his/her team. For the team to perform well and flourish, a few insights can be drawn from coaching skills.

Create a safe and supportive work environment:

Given the time each employee spends at work, leaders need to create a conducive environment so that as long as the team member is with you, they enjoy the work and look forward to the next day. This way, they stay engaged and contribute better to the workplace. Lack of motivation has a domino effect and may soon lead to a morale dip in the team at a macro level. Therefore, it is important to take care of each associate in your team and truly understand their aspirations through active listening so that you can help them in whatever way possible by taking genuine steps to make them successful. Leadership is not about power, it is about responsibility. Empower and delegate wherever possible. Leaders must continuously build and promote a culture of meritocracy to attract, retain talent, and eliminate a favoritism culture. This approach would automatically help in challenging the status quo and will lead to innovation & continuous improvement on an ongoing basis thereby helping the individuals, team, and organization to thrive.

Leverage the diverse skills, acknowledge unique talents instead of comparison-based feedback:

We know that not every employee is the same, as everyone brings a different perspective and value to the table. As a leader, it is important not to compare the weaknesses but to leverage the strengths of each team member and give them feedback as well as opportunities based on their capabilities and interest. Wherever required, put them into coaching programs and mentor them. This way you can bring the best out of them, provided they are equally interested to learn and growing.

Give credit where it is due:

A true leader always shields his/her team from any negative impacts and owns accountability.This is important, as each team member may not have the same ability to absorb an impact.Hence, a leader should have the emotional intelligence to carefully cascade it through the team layers. At the same time, a leader should always share the credit. Never miss an opportunity to appreciate when someone in your team performs well and goes beyond the call of duty. Ensure you always recognize their efforts. A culture of appreciation and recognition will enable the team to perform the best, every single time. Create an atmosphere where everyone is confident, respected, and valued.

Lead by example:

As a leader, it is important to walk the talk and lead by example. For instance, if you want your team to be organized, you need to get organized yourself and they would automatically learn and adapt. A leader must enable his/her team by giving them opportunities and visibility, not just within the organization but also at the industry level. Such visibility is key for the continued success of the team, function, and organization. You do not get respect for the power you hold but for the right actions, you take. That is how you inspire your team. A leader should train his/her team with the intention of creating future leaders who shall then replicate the learnings and create a much larger impact.

Embrace Diversity:

A good leader would always value diversity of all forms (gender, cultural, ethnic, racial, sexual, etc). Doing so ensures a diverse flow of ideas through a variety of experiences shared by the team members. It also trains the team to work alongside conflicting views as well as appreciate the plethora of similarities, despite the diversity in identity.

Offer Flexibility:

A leader should ensure that the required level of flexibility is provided to the team within the defined organizational limits. It is always best to make the team, work-bound rather than time-bound, which further ensures that they organically develop the ability to manage their time, deliver the desired level of service and be comfortable at the same time.

Team initiatives:

A leader should always bring about fresh and constructive initiatives to drive collaboration within the team.

I believe as a leader you will not be able to achieve a lot, through control and compliance mechanisms but a great deal can be achieved through the right balance of control, coaching, empathy, providing space, encouragement, and engagement.  In the end, skill is important but the core competency of the company is the culture and attitude. Each employee shall be seen as an ambassador of the team/function/BU/company and therefore should be mentored and supported in the same way.

Author Name : PR Rajesh Kumar

Title of the Blog Name: Impactful Leadership

About the Author: PR Rajesh is a senior executive in the IT Services space.

Program attended with CTT: ACC

Reason for taking this program : Continuous Learning

What worked for you: Coaching Skills, Network, Lifelong friends!

What benefits you got: A clear understanding of coaching and how it helps to touch people’s lives.