One of the biggest challenges for developing professionals is building leadership qualities. Most young leaders never make it out of this phase, believing that wanting to be a leader is a fair substitute for behaving like a leader. These same people assume leadership is given instead of earned.
Leadership is a cultivated skill, not a package that arrives in the mail, these qualities come from focused, intentional behaviors. You don’t become a good spouse by getting married, getting married is the result of having the qualities to make a good spouse. Relatedly, the best way to become a leader is to become the kind of person that would make a good leader. You can develop these skills at any time and they’ll be useful in any role. The simplest place to start is with three core traits: credibility, contribution, and relationships.
Build credibility
Strong leaders have credibility in their areas of expertise. Some of this credibility comes with the title and position you hold within a company. Being called “CEO” will give your words gravity they wouldn’t have otherwise. Credibility can also come from notable achievements; being on the New York Times bestsellers list will give you credibility as a writer. Credibility is the quality that makes other people say “I should listen to them, they know what they’re talking about”. If you wanted to learn to play chess, you’d listen to a chess master. If you wanted to understand brain surgery, you’d talk to a neurosurgeon. People with credibility have influence, an essential component of leadership.
Where do you have credibility? Everyone has something they’re good at and, in that area because of your skills, you have credibility. Whatever your area of expertise is at work – a technology, process, or domain – that’s an area where your input is uniquely valuable. You can teach someone else, offer insights, or contribute to efforts to improve any of these areas, and by building these areas of credibility you’ll also build influence. Over time, you’ll be seen as a leader in this space.
Be useful
The number one thing I critique young leaders for is taking a passive approach to their own development. They want to be noticed by upper management but aren’t doing the things that get people noticed. You should have a proactive mindset versus a reactive mindset – making things happen instead of letting things happen. How can you make good things happen within your company?
If you want the consideration and attention of the people that give accolades and promotions, find ways to be supportive and useful to those people. How can you use your areas of credibility to help with a key initiative or project to make others look good? Is there a big company initiative that your skills could help with? Does an upper manager need someone to take on a particularly difficult or onerous task? If you can think of a way to be proactively helpful and seek a way to contribute, you’ll be surprised at how many people gladly let you.
Instead of avoiding the spotlight you’ll be attracting the spotlight. This is always a double-edged sword, as attention also brings scrutiny and critique. Will your warts and imperfections be more visible? Of course. But your enthusiasm and desire to contribute will outshine your blemishes. Become the kind of person that has other people saying “sure they’re rough around the edges, but they go out of their way to help and I think they’ve got real potential”.
Invest in relationships
Lastly, after building your credibility and finding ways to help others, focus on your relationships. Charismatic people make good leaders because they build strong interpersonal connections. It’s hard to be a leader if you’re seen as a jerk. Having good relationships with the people you work makes your day-to-day people work easier.
You build good relationships the same way you build good neighbors or friendships: invest time and energy in the people around you. Make time for office social gatherings, learn people’s personal lives and preferences, and go out of your way to be polite and easy to be around. Allow time at the beginning of meetings for social conversation and don’t be afraid to get off track on personal topics. Be the kind of person that people feel like they can be relaxed and comfortable around. If you’re transitioning into a new job, one of the best ways you can spend your first thirty days is by meeting with and building rapport with your key stakeholders to establish trust and build social capital. These positive relationships will make it easier for other people to a) recognize your areas of credibility and b) for you to find ways you might be useful/helpful to others.
How you build relationships is entirely up to you and should be catered to your personality. There’s no wrong way to do it, as long as you’re setting your mind to it and making it a priority.
Each of these qualities enhance your ability to contribute to the organization. People choose to be led, and they tend to choose those that make their lives better or easier. Too often, up and coming leaders think of themselves as the center of the story instead of putting their coworkers, bosses, and employees first. How can you make their lives better? How can you help them achieve something? You don’t need someone else’s permission to build these leadership skills, all you need is the desire to put others first.
Good luck out there.
Patrick