What are Your Sources of Power?

What does it Take?

Achieving effective Leadership is a true challenge.  It takes commitment, courage, and objectivity about yourself and the skills you need to improve.  You also need Vision, Delegation skills, be able to take Risks, and good Communication abilities.  These are the foundation of being able to deal with people, problems and the always-changing business climate.

An effective Leader’s power comes from three areas:

          -Personality Power:  This is charisma, positive thinking, and people skills.

          -Role Power:  This is your title and authority, credibility, responsibilities, decision making, and facilitating skills.

          -Knowledge Power:  This is your technical skills and academic achievements.

Looking at research, we learn how the most effective Leaders distribute these power sources. 

Surprised?  Most people guess that knowledge will have the higher percentage.  Remember, 75% of your time is spent on “people” issues.  Your personality counts the most when it comes to being an effective Leader.  Have you done a personality check lately?

ROLE MODELING

Effective Leaders know that their fellow workers, both on and off the job, are observing them.  Leaders know they must model the kind of behavior they expect from others.  Are you role modeling effectively?  Ask yourself these questions:

          -What have I done in the last two weeks to show that I am a positive role model at work?  At home?
          -What have I done lately to improve those areas where I am not satisfied with the negative behavior I might be showing?
          -Who are my personal role models and why?  What positive personality traits do they have that I need to copy?

Refer back to the sources of power, personality, knowledge, and role.  What are your percentages?  Where do you need to improve.  Leaders know they need to constantly work at self-improvement and be aware of their weaknesses.

In their book, “Primal Leadership,” authors Daniel Goldman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee point out how important role modeling is:

          “Everyone watches the boss.  People take their emotional cues from the top.  Even when the boss isn’t highly visible – for example, the CEO who works behind closed doors on an upper floor – his attitude affects the moods of his direct reports, and domino effect ripples throughout the company’s emotional climate.”

If a company is truly Lean, no “boss” is hidden behind closed doors.  In an atmosphere of Lean, true Leaders are easily accessible and approachable.

“Primal Leadership” authors also point out:

          “…even when leaders were not talking, they were watched more carefully than anyone else in the group.  When people raised a question for the group as a whole, they would keep their eyes on the leader to see his or her response.  Indeed, the group members generally see the leader’s emotional reaction as the most valid response and so model their own on it – particularly in an ambiguous situation, where various members react differently.  In a sense, the leader sets the emotional standard.”

VISION

An effective Leader has a clear Vision of where the organization is going and why this knowledge is so valuable.  The Leader can explain the Vision to others and Focus on what really matters to achieve this Vision.  Effective Leaders set out their Vision and get others involved.

What is your company’s Vision statement?  Does it need updating?  Do all the employees know it and understand it?  Is your company multi-cultural?  The Vision statement should be translated into the languages of the employees.  What is your company’s Mission Statement?  What about your company’s policies?

DELEGATION

Delegation is defined as the successful transfer of authority to someone else.  Effective Leaders know that the art of delegating has very positive results if done correctly.  The following are some rules of delegating:

          -Establish measurable and concrete objectives.  Make sure everyone understands completely what you need done.  This is the map.
          -Develop reporting systems.  Effective Leaders need to be updated so they can track the project.  This is the feedback.
          -Have a realistic deadline.  Everyone knows when the project is due and why.  This is the completion.
          -Pick the right person.  Depending on the project, it is important not to set up someone for failure.  This is knowing your people.
          -Stress results, not details.  You are delegating a project to free up yourself for other work; you don’t need to be burdened with the details of the job you delegated to another.  On the other hand, don’t micro-manage the project.  Trust the person you delegated the project to.  This will keep you sane.
          -Don’t try to solve all the problems.  The person or team you picked should have the authority to take care of the details while working on the project.  This instills empowerment.
          -Always reward a job well done.  Workers are busier than ever these days so it is important to take time to acknowledge the project’s end with a celebration appropriate to the size of the job.  It could be a thank note to a pizza party.  This will motivate others to take on future projects that you need to delegate.

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