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Many people are promoted or recruited into a leadership position without understanding the fundamental philosophy of leadership;
It’s all about people!
As a result, we have many companies severely over-manage and grossly under-led. In one my previous articles, I mention a conversation I had with a Human Resources manager who indicated that his company developed and implemented a leadership development programme for all their engineers because they had severe problems leading their teams.
For example, the engineers had problems with communication, building trust, motivation, and inspiring their people. He said although the engineers were fully qualified and competent in the technical aspect of their job, they had loads of problems with their leadership skills, and there were several complaints from their team as it relates to their people skills.
As I mentioned before with over two million people being promoted into their first leadership roles each year—and over 50% struggling or failing—the care and feeding of first-time managers need to be front and center on every leadership development curriculum.
Learning and development professionals must help new managers understand their role and responsibility when it comes to managing and leading people. However, it’s also super important that the company knows the specific leadership qualities they expect from someone when recruiting for a leadership position.
Culture
Leaders live their purpose by serving others and continually inspiring their team to lift the organization to higher levels of performance. Leaders, especially people who are new to formal leadership must understand that the role of leaders is to create a culture that allows their people to become the very best version of themselves which will automatically result in added value to their organization.
Inspiration
Without inspiration, you cannot lead, you will be able to manage, but you cannot call yourself a leader. Leadership and inspiration are inseparable; you cannot expect great performances from your team if they are not inspired. You cannot expect great products or excellent service from your staff if they are not motivated by a leader who lives and breathes the purpose, values, and vision of the organization every day.
Lead By Example
Leaders are most potent when they lead by example, but some people have no people skills, they cannot get along with people, they cannot speak to people, and they cannot build relationships to save their lives. However, for some strange reason, these are the people who are elevated into a leadership position with no type of mentoring, training, or coaching.
The talents that make a person successful in a previous, non-management role are rarely the same ones that will make them excel as a manager or as a leader. According to retired four-star general Colin Powell leadership is all about people, not plans or strategies, but people; motivating and inspiring people to believe in something beyond their self-limitations to achieve a result that benefits and adds value to themselves, their company and the people they serve.
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About Gifford Thomas
I am the founder of Leadership First and the author of The Inspirational Leader, Inspire Your Team To Believe In The Impossible. At Leadership First, we are committed to publishing the very best inspirational leadership quotes and articles to inspire our 124,000+ community of leaders to believe in the impossible, while creating an environment free from toxic, fearful and intimidating leadership. We believe everyone can and should enjoy their work, but it must start with the leadership leading by example. Follow our community of leaders HERE, and let's change the leadership status quo to help inspire and motivate our leaders to make a difference and create an organization their people will love.
You can download a copy of my book The Inspirational Leader and Inspire Your Team To Believe In The Impossible by clicking on the word inspirational below: