Newsletter - January 2009
Leaders are Always Originals
January 8, 2009 - Jean Erickson Walker
Leaders are where you find them. Hierarchical, title bound leadership roles mean little in a marketplace where mid-level managers have been relegated to the history books and people are expected to take control of their areas of responsibility, where the contingency labor market brings together experts and neophytes on an ever revolving basis, and the five generations sharing the workplace come from vastly different perspectives. Cascading leadership with assigned power and authority has been replaced with roving leaders who have people following them, regardless of title, knowledge or experience.
The new leadership challenge is to make sense of the context. Deal with the hands you’re dealt. Recognize leadership is more often instinctive than predictive. The key is to identify the people in your organization that others seem to naturally follow and bring them into the fold. Are they leading where you want them to go? Do they understand your goals, the reality of the marketplace you are facing? Are they on your team or creating an alternate world you may neither recognize nor approve? Are they, indeed, sabotaging your success? If you can’t beat them, be sure they join your team.
Management can be learned, with strategies and techniques to create an organized, productive and efficient workplace. Dependability, consistency, predictability are critical attributes of an effective manager. Match that with clear, engaging communication and a solid sense of values and you have a recipe for success. Bottom line is people have to trust, to have faith they are safe, to be convinced that the manager has their best interests at heart.
The current management challenge is a world in turmoil, where very little is predictable and nothing is sure. In this environment, the manager’s own personal/professional credibility and stability is more important than ever. A manager does not have the luxury of being unsure or questioning their own career security. They have to be the light everyone else follows regardless of how dark the path becomes.
Leaders fail because they lose sight of what’s important. Their chief responsibility is to create the vision and provide the inspiration that compels people to follow. Managers fail when they lose their own confidence and start focusing internally rather than externally on the people and the task. Leaders must continually focus on the future. They must be calculated risk takers who keep one eye on the global marketplace and one eye on the future. They can be of the world but they must also see beyond it. Managers need to focus on results, invest in development of their people and deal with the here and now. They must be persistent, analytical, tough minded, resolute, determined.
Is it possible to be both leader and manager? Of course, but your natural instincts, personal characteristics, comfort zone and preference will be predominantly one or the other. As you look back over your career, and analyze the roles you have filled and determine what percentage of your energies were spent in each as a leader or manager.
- Where were you most successful, happiest, and most energized?
- Where is your natural talent?
- What are the elements of your personal style that are challenges to being a successful leader? Effective manager?
Jean Erickson Walker, Ed.D., CMF, is the author of 'The Age Advantage: Making the Most of Your Midlife Career Transition (Putnam/Penguin, Sept. 2000)' and a managing partner with OI Partners - Pathways Inc. (Portland). In addition, she currently serves as chairwoman for the Board of Governors of the Institute of Career Certification International, the only international board certification for career management professionals. She can be reached at jwalker@oipartners.net or 503-221-8747.