What is Leadership
By
David W. Favor
Director 360 Catalyst High Performance Training
Contact dwfavor@catalystgroupinc.com for more information

Leadership is a skill used to realize your vision through the cooperation and contribution of others. The job of a leader is to motivate or influence people; focus is on the vision and the goal is to move people. Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. The keys to good leadership are:

• Knowing who you are - your values
• Knowing what you want - your vision
• Knowledgeable of the path to take - your mission

The same rules that apply to individuals apply to a business. If you want your business to be an industry leader you must define the values that will guide the business, define the vision for the business and document your mission so all the employees know what their task is.

As in any other skill, there are degrees of proficiency that can be noticed. You can proclaim yourself to be a leader or be elected into a leadership position without any leadership skills at all. For example, have you ever noticed in any of the jobs you had that someone that was technically very good was promoted into a position of leadership (lets say management) and had little or no leadership skills.

OK, I am a leader, now what

At the entry level of leadership people follow because they have to. By virtue of your title you are a leader, or at least you are expected to be a leader. Another way of saying this is; people follow you because you are the boss or team 'leader'.

For this leader, security is based on title not skill. If you do not have any leadership qualities, other than position, people will not follow beyond your stated authority. You will have a very difficult time working with young people, and professionals. Younger workers are not impressed with authority and professionals are used to participating in decision making and resent positional titles.

There is a great deal of overlap between managers and leaders; the entry level of leadership also represents the top level of management, so a management title is not always a true leadership position. Managers are focused on the efficient use of resources to meet the requirements of a mission or specific task. Leaders have to accomplish this as well and are frequently measured on how well they do the management job as well as to how good a leader they are. People are often promoted into leadership positions based on how well they have done the job of manager. That is referred to as coming up through the ranks. So you can become an entry-level leader because of promotion (recognition of skills) or by position in society (college degree, publish a book, etc). People that find themselves in leadership positions based on position only, frequently have trouble because they lack basic skills. That is why professionals (lawyers, doctors, etc.) have difficulty when they find themselves in a leadership position.

Now let's find out if you are a positional leader:

• Is your leadership role based on a title? If your title were removed how much would people listen to you?
• Do you use the clout of your title to get others to follow?
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If yes is the answer to either of these questions, you are a positional leader.

Regardless of where you are in the spectrum of leadership skills, you must get each level perfected before you can move up. The following qualities are needed to be successful at the entry level.

1. Know your job and your mission. What are you attempting to accomplish in this position?
2. Be a team player. Find out what the vision for the business you are working for is. Remember your task is to motivate people, in this case your team members. If you do not understand the vision and the mission for your team, you will never be able to translate expectations for your team.
3. Accept responsibility, do your work with excellence, and do more than expected. Take ownership of your work and your team. This means your attitude should not be "this is something I have to do," but rather "this is something I can do and do well." Take some pride in your work and celebrate your contributions. You should also expect the same from every member of your team. Set the standard and stick to it. Expect excellence and you will frequently get it. Expect mediocre work and that is what you will get. Team members will follow by example first and meet expectations second.
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Notice that at the positional level of leadership the focus is on understanding what is expected and doing it with excellence. Once you have proven your skills and move up to the next levels of leadership this focus will change. So at this level of leadership:

• Demonstrate that you know your job and what is expected
• Acknowledge that you have a team and you are the team leader
• Be responsible for your actions and set the example
• Look for ways to improve and involve your team

I kind of like this leadership stuff

OK, let's see what the next level of leadership is all about. The second level requires all the skills of the first level plus relationship skills. People that are at the second level lead by interrelationships. If you are at this level you will spend time and energy on individuals needs and desires. People with poor relationship skills will find it difficult.

Having lasting and trusting relationships with people in your team is a vital part of this level. You will find that as you advance into higher levels of leadership that the number of workers that you are personally involved decreases. This almost sounds like a contradiction. What you need to think about at this level is that there is a difference between a personal business relationship and a personal relationship. There are boundaries that must be set. We are talking about business relationships at a personal level that are contained within the business environment. This boundary is important to remember. You can have a business relationship with a person without dating, going to parties, or engaging in other non-business activity. The key is caring about peoples needs within the context of the business.

Here are some activities you need to consider;

• Get to know the names and faces of all the people you lead.
• Provide a way for your staff or team members to communicate directly with you.
• Know the personal background of your team members in enough detail that you understand their needs.
• Talk with your team members often and about more than just work. Find out how they are feeling.

Those are just some ideas on how to get started with forming a relationship with your team members. Here are the skills that are needed for this level of leadership and some ideas on how to practice these skills.

• Make those on your team successful. Put your team members in positions to win. Make a list of your team member's strengths and fill positions accordingly. Identify any training needs or mentoring requirements and put a plan in place to provide it. If your team is successful, you will be successful. Also if you like to do staff work, you are removing an opportunity for a team member to learn and grow.
• Make each team member a part of the team. Ask the members of your team for feedback and act on any suggestions for improvement. Make them part of the solution. Celebrate their successes and discuss their failures. 
• Love people more than procedures. How did you react the last time a team member was late for work because of a family crisis or car trouble? How did your response affect your relationship with that person? Are you still holding on to that negative emotion? Believe in the person more than the policy but be fair. Team members look for consistency so don't change the rules. A good leader will weigh all the factors, make s decision and be accountable for the resulting action.
• Make your team successful. Do you spend more time on work that benefits the team or work that benefits yourself? You should always approach a team project as a win-win. If it is only good for you don't do it. If it is only good for one person on the team, don't do it. Focus on the vision and the mission for the team.

Do you begin to see what leadership is all about? Leadership is getting people to do things when they are not obligated. You can accomplish this by using force however you will get more accomplished by using compassion.

Now we are getting to the core of leadership, results. By now you should have a good idea why you need to be a leader. The greater the impact you want to make, the greater your influence needs to be. The true measure of leadership is influence.

One more reminder, leadership ability and management skills are different. Leadership certainly is part of what it takes to be an exceptional manager. Leadership also describes a general capacity to influence others and persuade them to behave in certain ways. Leadership is what you need to produce work from a team, have a jury believe in your case or even have a patient follow your program.

Leading and influencing others is fun and you become results oriented. Once you have achieved this level of leadership you will notice how much you enjoy work. If you are able to map your personal vision to that of your work you will soar. It is difficult to describe the feeling of pure energy that results.

The trick is to build the foundation, believe in your vision, know your mission, and map all that to your work. Once that happens everything clicks. You must work on skills that build confidence in your self (networking, positive assertiveness, communications, and self expression). Practice your influencing skills.

• Don't walk by a stranger without acknowledging them. A good leader is very outgoing and always looking for opportunities
• Speak to your team members to find out how their day is going.
• If you are frustrated about something, speak up and make your needs known.
• Dress to impress.
• Do something extra.

This is the point where you really start selling yourself and making your mark. Develop characteristics that make you unique. Once you get the basics down it is your style that stands out.

To realize the full potential of any business we must create a culture based on our values. A business culture comes from the common attitudes, beliefs, and behavior of the people who are involved within it. You now have an awesome responsibility and opportunity. The internal culture of the business can be one of the keys to success. If you are not careful, however, it can also turn into a stumbling block. You have to put in the time and effort that is required to encourage the shared behavior that you expect to see. If you do not set an example that relates to the values and vision of the business you can do great harm to the business.

High Performance Leadership Training

Catalyst HPT is a holistic approach to leadership training. Good leadership is more than being assertive and having good communications skills. Leadership requires knowledge of the business culture, the values that drive it and the vision it is striving for. When we teach leadership skills we first set up meetings with your leadership team to determine what your work culture is. We look at your values, your vision, the use of technology, and the skill levels you have.

Also, there are several layers and levels of leadership within a business, from partners and owners down to staff interacting with clients. Each layer requires a slightly different set of skills.

Why would I want leadership training for me or my practice or business?

Professional practices and small to medium size business are starting to learn what the big boys (Nortel, IBM, Cisco) already know. Leaders are not born, they are made! Leadership training which creates a change in thought philosophy makes you and your business successful. An investment in your most valuable resource - your people just makes good sense. We all ask "what's in it for me?" The truth of the matter is, as all good leaders know, that what happens when leadership is on track the bottom line profit improves. Thus "for profit" practices or businesses must make a commitment to the right training and accountability for the leaders.