Helmsmanship - Discover the Essence of Leadership

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Discover The Essence Of Leadership © Helmsmanship Go Lead 2010

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How did that happen? It’s your turn to lead!

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Is it because you’re a member of a team and they turn to you - because of your expertise, experience or knowledge – to take charge – to lead - putting you in the role of ‘leader’, for the first time?

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Or have you been promoted as a manager for the first time and now have others working for you? Or were you elected to chair a club committee or charity?

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It doesn’t matter how you got to lead

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Where do you turn for advice on leadership? How do you learn to be an effective leader – and fast?

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What’s the immediate problem you face?

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Have you seen others faced with the sudden challenge of leadership? How well did they do? Are you worried about making a fool of yourself? Did you feel panic or even fear when asked to lead? Who will help you or are you expected just to be able to lead – just like that!

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Did some of these thoughts cross your mind?

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You’ve only witnessed poor or bad leadership - and you don’t want to use those leadership styles as examples You were a school monitor and the other kids really played you up – will the people you’ve been asked to lead now do so again? People have told you that you need charisma to lead – but you do not know how to ‘do charisma’

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Could academic theories of leadership help? Yet, these theories continue to survive – some even after being disproved. Over 1 million pages on ‘leadership theories’ (I don’t think so...)

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Theories don’t provide easy answers Leadership has been studied extensively by academics who have developed many theories to describe what leadership is or to help leaders practise leadership. Many survive long after being disproved. It’s said there are over 300 definitions of leadership!

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Many theories are just too complex to be of practical use For example, try learning 81 different leadership styles from a grid – such as offered by Blake and Mouton and others. Or how about ‘The Continuum of Tannenbaum and Schmidt’ - similar to the Leadership Grid but with an infinite variety of leadership styles.

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Many books are written on ‘great leaders’ which lead you to hope you can extract the qualities and traits that made Churchill or Margaret Thatcher or Bill Clinton a leader. It is seemingly easy to express what is observed in leaders. But research shows conclusively that a person possessing and practising any or all of these qualities and traits will not necessarily be followed or recognised as a leader. You cannot mimic past leaders and their leadership styles as a way to lead. Can you learn from ‘Great Men and Women’?

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Here’s a leadership style you might recognise ... Have you worked for someone who bullied everyone? Did they really get the best out of the team? Does bullying ever work? Would you want to be a bullying type of leader? What about examples in your workplace?

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There are people like this – have you met one? For instance, the manager who kept changing their mind because they didn’t want to upset anyone? Did it work or did you find that because they tried to please everyone they actually pleased no-one? Sounds appealing ... The leader who is everyone’s friend?

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The boss who sits at a desk just a few feet away but prefers to send every instruction by email. Ever worked for one of those? It is so unrewarding – and yet why did they do it? People who hide behind emails? There’s more and more of these ... Are they just shy or never had any social skills?

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Maybe you just need ‘charisma’ - and people will follow you? ‘Charisma’ is a trap that many novices make when learning leadership. Charisma is an accolade awarded to a leader by his or her followers, but only after you have demonstrated you are an excellent and well-respected leader. You cannot learn to be a charismatic leader. If you try to behave with charisma, all you do is look foolish and pompous – and people will probably try to trip you up.

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So how can you learn to lead – and fast?

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First, you need to know the essence of effective leadership Put simply... it’s about you selecting the most appropriate leadership style to use for each: Team Task & Situation

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You bring your team together to achieve a task together. You create an understanding of the role each individual plays as a part of the team which is also understood by the other team members. You also need an understanding of the needs of each individual in your team. As the team leader you need to give purpose and meaning to the task

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Is it a new situation or familiar to your team? Is it a new team or are there individuals with little or no experience in your team? Your leadership style selection will depend on your analysis of the situation. The situation is key in leadership

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Your implied status Your manner How you listen & engage Your voice Your stance Your eye & body movement And what do we mean by leadership style? It’s about...

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What else is essential to leadership Match your communications to your team, giving the reasoning behind decisions and clear instructions. Know the rules and procedures of your business or organisation. Leadership is learnt experientially, so set aside time after each leadership experience to learn and improve.

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Over time, with confidence, you will learn how to get more from your team... ...by applying motivational styles

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The route to success is learn from experience progressively Research has found that leaders failed in strategic positions if they had not been through basic leadership learning. To succeed as a leader, therefore, you need to learn basic leadership before progressing to higher levels of leadership.

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A learning framework can help From childhood to adult, the Helmsmanship Framework makes it easy to learn leadership progressively

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The Helmsmanship Framework contains only the essentials of leadership learning Sufficient leadership styles for any situation, team and task. Key knowledge a leader needs to achieve a task with a team in a situation. Behavioural tips for leaders. Techniques for communication with teams and other stakeholders. Suitable for adults, apprentices and children.

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29 This presentation on leadership is by Roddy Mullin and Tess Harris Please post this freely on your blog or email it to anyone you believe might benefit from reading it. Visit our website to find our more about leadership and the Helmsmanship Framework for Leadership Learning www.helmsmanship.co.uk © 2010 Go Lead Ltd