A people leader is somebody who achieves results through others. The critical component of that definition is OTHERS.
Most often when an individual contributor becomes a people leader it is because of their strong technical skills-their ability to perform their role at a high level. The challenge is the skills it takes to be a successful people leader are different than the skills it takes to be a successful individual contributor. Organizations often don’t recognize this, and do not take the time to invest in a new leader’s development of leadership skills as they move into a new role. The company needs the individual to ramp up quickly and learn these key leadership skills and behaviors on the job. Without the proper focus, modeling, etc. this is challenging.
While senior leaders may create culture, leaders throughout the organization are responsible for cascading that culture, modeling the key behaviors that drive the culture and ensuring that all employees are aligned to it. Leaders make sure that the vision/mission and strategic goals are executed and that their teams understand what they do everyday contributes to the strategic direction of the organization.
We call this creating line of sight.
How do they do this? It starts with setting clear performance and behavior expectations in collaboration with each employee to set them up for success, and then giving regular feedback to ensure they stay on course in executing on those expectations, all the while working to inspire people to perform so they feel engaged and motivated.
When organizations are not intentional in their development of leaders, leaders may feel unsupported, left to figure things out themselves. This, in turn, can contribute to employees not feeling supported and not getting the coaching they need to be successful. When this happens, employees may not be inspired to perform which can lead to poor engagement, and, ultimately, lower productivity and turnover.
What can you do if you find yourself in a situation where you, or somebody who works for you, is being promoted to a people leadership role? Start with a plan and a list of questions to guide you. What do you want the first 30/60/90 days to look like? What will make you feel successful at each stage and what are the steps you want to take to get there? What development do you need and/or want to provide to the individual taking the leadership role? Who are possible mentors? These are just a few things to consider. Once a plan is in place, keep all parties accountable to that plan.
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