Let’s face it. People are either leaders or followers. Whichever they are, they each have their important roles to play in the different spheres of life. Leaders, however, play a special role in bringing people and organizations together. They guide, inspire and motivate others to carry on whether it be in the classroom, boardroom, courtroom or battlefields. So how do they do it? What skills do leaders possess that sets them apart from others and most importantly, how can you become one?
The answers to those questions will be discussed in this summary. Leaders come at all levels and their skills depend on the experience they have. The one thing a leader needs to be sure of though is the fact that their personal growth is integral to the growth of their organisation. Personal growth is a commitment that every leader must make. So, are you ready to commit to being a leader?
In this summary, readers will discover:
- The hierarchy of leadership
- Prioritizing is a key leadership skill
- Why leaders need integrity
- Creating positive change
- Self-discipline
- Leaders have great vision
Key lesson one: The hierarchy of leadership
What is leadership besides influence? Just think about it, leadership is the capacity to get others to follow you. If we put aside morals for a second, technically anyone who can gather a group of followers is a capable leader.
To further differentiate, however, there exists a hierarchy of leadership. This is broken down into five different levels. These are position, permission, production, people development and personhood.
Position is the lowest level of leadership. Leaders on this level are leaders because of their title alone.
Permission is about relationships. If you are a leader on this level, it is because you listen to others and value their opinions. People follow you because they know you know what they need. At this level, if you ignore the needs of others, you will lose your followers.
Production is the level where the relationships in the permission level of leadership start producing results. If you are a leader on this level, it is because of the success of you and your team. Your results are admired by others who will gladly follow you because of them.
People development refers to the level where people are content to be your follower because they admire you as a mentor. Leaders on this level are mindful to grow the skills of others. It is because of this that you have their loyalty and gratitude.
Personhood is the top level of leadership. This is the level of leadership attained when leaders spend their entire careers leading others. People are inspired to follow you as a show of respect for all the work you have done as a leader.
These five levels of leadership are often referred to as the ladder. No matter where you fit in on this hierarchy, developing your skills as a leader will allow you to climb the ladder.
Key lesson two: Prioritizing is a key leadership skill
The first thing you need to do as a leader is prioritizing. Whether it is people or work, you have to be able to determine what is most important and what deserves your focus. To understand this completely, you have to consider first, the way in which priorities are differentiated by leaders.
Firstly, projects and tasks have to be separated into those that are urgent, those that are important and those that are both urgent and important. Those that are classified as both urgent and important are the ones that need to be completed first.
To put this into an example so that it can be clearly understood, consider writing a report on sales figures at your office. It may be important but it is not urgent. So this task could be a part of everyday work, but there is no need for it to be rushed. Checking your email, in contrast, is not important but it is urgent. This is why it should be done quickly so you can move on to other urgent matters which require your attention. Finally, there can be work that is neither important nor urgent. This could be something like filing documents. This can be scheduled for a task that is once a week so that it will not take up too much of time. This may seem like simple steps, but prioritizing is key for leaders to move in the right direction.
Secondly, aside from projects and tasks, as a leader, you need to also prioritize resources. These are time, money, energy and staff required for projects and tasks. The easiest way to do this is to apply the 20/80 principle. This principle simply works by spending 80 per cent of your resources on the top 20 per cent of your organizational priorities. This also goes for you dedicating 80 per cent of your time to the top 20 per cent of your most productive staff members. These staff members account for 80 per cent of your organization’s success and should also be the ones in charge of training new staff members. The remaining 80 per cent of your organizational priorities would be delegated and outsourced. This whole process involves prioritizing the best projects, tasks and people.
Key lesson three: Why leaders need integrity
Leaders have to have integrity in order for people to trust and follow you. Having integrity means that you stick to a set of values no matter what. These values guide your actions and make you who you are. Therefore leaders with integrity consistently do what they say.
This is highly beneficial especially since research has shown that 89 per cent of learning is visual. So if your staff hear you say that you will do something, and then actually see you doing it, they will eventually learn to do the same. Doing this consistently will reinforce your credibility as a leader as people will know what to expect from you. You will earn their trust which is important for your team to work successfully.
Integrity is an important component of your long-lasting reputation as a leader. It means that you are the person everyone knows you to be. They will not be disappointed when they interact with you because you will actually be the person they have heard about.
Key lesson four: Creating positive change
A leader must be able to adapt. If they are inflexible and resistant to change, this can impact the entire organization negatively. An excellent indicator of a good leader then is the positive change they bring about in an organization.
A classic example of a leader resisting change comes from Henry Ford. When he created the Model T, he believed it to be perfection and refused to make any changes to it. Ford even fired his top production official who suggested a new design! But despite his belief, the Model T was old-fashioned and competitors were coming up with more modern vehicles. Ford finally caved and updated the Model T in order to compete with these modern vehicles.
The thing you have to realise is that the competition will never stop. To keep your competitive edge, you have to keep evolving. Major shifts will occur whether you are willing to change or not. But if you can’t change, your organization will not be able to either. Change will require staff to step out of their comforts zones. If you are not able to drive this change positively, it will undoubtedly lead to stress and insecurity. You have to be open with staff and let them know why the change is happening and what it will achieve. Doing this will get them ready for the change and reinforce their trust in you as a leader fearless of change.
Key lesson five: Self Discipline
All leaders need self-discipline. Why? Because if you can’t follow your own lead, how do you expect others to? Achieving your own goals without support and praise from others is an important trait of a leader. Your growth is crucial to the organization’s growth, so you can’t afford to slack off. You cannot be your own worse enemy.
You have to be committed to achieving personal growth. Start out small if you have to work on it. Write down five areas you would like to be more disciplined. Then find someone who is disciplined in those areas and ask them to help you. They can check on your progress and give your pointers. Then get a daily routine. Start with 15 minutes every morning to focus on an area of improvement. Also, introduce two 5 minute reflections – once at noon and once in the evening. Repeating this routine for 60 days will guarantee that you build up self-discipline in the area you focused on. You can thereafter move on to your next area of improvement that you have identified.
Key lesson six: Leaders have great vision
Leaders are visionaries. They have a vision of where they are heading and how to get others following them. A leader’s vision is what gets everyone working every day to achieve the organization’s goals.
If you don’t know what you want to accomplish, you cannot possibly expect others to be behind you all the way. You need a team that is cohesive and driven towards a common goal. Lack of experience as a leader often leads to a lack of vision. If this is the case, you need to take the time to visualize what you want to accomplish, what will it look like when you ‘arrive’ at your destination. Remember, people, learn visually. You have to get them to see the vision as well to gather your followers.
The key takeaway from Developing the Leader Within You is:
Leaders exist at all levels. They play an important role in organizations and are integral to success. In order to be an effective leader, you need to develop certain skills. Prioritizing, self-discipline, an ability to adapt and building integrity and trust are crucial to being a great leader. Once you develop these skills, your team will readily follow their fearless, trusted and accomplished leader towards their vision.
How can I implement the lessons learned in Developing the Leader Within You:
Start a daily routine to help improve your self-discipline and prioritizing skills. Firstly, you have to be able to motivate yourself in order to motivate others. If you lack self-discipline, people will not be inspired to follow someone who can’t even do their own work. Prioritize your projects and tasks by separating them into areas that are important, urgent or important and urgent. This will enable you to see what needs your immediate attention and resources. Set up a daily routine to work on this and it will become a habit.
