How Do Others Perceive You Regarding Leadership?
Today I had a conversation with an engineer in my company with who is working on self improvement. He wants to build his leadership skills, although he is currently an individual contributor at our company. He enrolled in an online course full of videos and journaling exercises. Seems like it's entirely self-led which paradoxically both proves you can lead yourself, and also falls short insomuch as it misses the human relationship part of leadership. Where is the sympathy, coaching, mentorship, and emotional intelligence? How can he learn to lead if that portion isn't modeled for him? Key elements of leadership include but are not limited to:
- Making other people's problem your problem
- Doing jobs everyone else avoids
- Reading subtle body language queues
- Bringing out the best in others
- Building trust
- Being confident
- Being competent at your reports' jobs
Seems this course needs to be complemented with real coaching.
One of the journaling exercises he was given is to write about how others perceive him regarding leadership capability. To do this he has to interview several people who know him well and can weigh in on the issue. He asked my help because I'm regarded as a leader in my company and field of expertise. Moreover, he used to report to me and I have given him evaluations that took leadership qualities into account. So he asked me, "how do you perceive me as a leader; and how do others see me as a leader?" These are good questions to ask, also for established leaders (not just aspiring leaders).
It makes me contemplate - how do others perceive me regarding leadership? What about you? I've heard marketing people say things like "perception is reality" which might be an overstatement but is underpinned by a truth. If others perceive you as a leader, they are more likely to follow you when you "take the lead" on something. There's a lot to dig into there, which I'll skip because I'm not knowledgeable on the subject. But as a leader, the product you're selling is leadership. You're essentially saying "I can build a team. I can inspire and motivate them to work together and accomplish a mission." And if that's your product, your marketing is whatever message you broadcast to the world about your leadership ability. Here are the top qualities that people look for in a leader, as found by Kouzes and Posner, the authors of The Leadership Challenge when surveying people.
- Honest
- Forward-looking
- Competent
- Inspiring
So, what about you? Do people think you are honest, forward-looking, competent and inspiring?
FWIW I gave my colleague two pieces of advice for advancing his leadership ability. The first is DWYSYWD. Start internally and keep your word to yourself. Track how many times you slip up and reduce it. Be somebody that you trust, and others will too. My second advice to him is be a believer. A leader has to believe in the mission, the value, and the team's ability. Like hope, the leader needs to know that the future can be better than the present. Like hope, they need to know they have agency. Whether they feel like it or not, they have what it takes to do what needs doing. They have to know they can assemble the team to accomplish that. As with hope, they need to have multiple pathways to accomplish the mission. They need to be empowered to carry out the plan. This person struggles, as many of us do, with confidence and decisiveness. I think these two pieces of advice will help him the most.
Are you an aspiring leader, like my friend? How do others see you? Is your "marketing" on point? Do you believe you can lead? Do you DWYSYWD?
