Making The Leadership Leap – Focusing On What Matters

You’ve established yourself as a subject-matter expert or an experienced practitioner and you’ve started looking at leadership roles.

Or maybe your manager or mentor has suggested you consider applying for or ‘acting up’ a leadership gig. Depending on your point of view leadership may look like a tough slog or a walk in the park. What are the key differences between being one of the team and being a leader?  

I’ve been in both of these roles a lot over my career. As a consultant I now work with teams where things are going well and others where there’s plenty of bumps in the road. Quite often, I coach and develop leaders who haven’t made a smooth transition from follower to leader. Once they can see how their focus needs to shift, it gets better. If you’re looking to become a leader or be a better leader, here’s my top 3 tips on making the leadership leap.  

Leadership is not about you: if you want to be a leader to boost your ego, you may be sorely disappointed. Being a leader is not about looking good or having a fancy title. It’s about inspiring and influencing others to collaborate for positive outcomes. Whether you work for a private business, a non-profit, or a government agency, there are stakeholders with a vested interest in what you are doing. Your job as a leader is to understand the needs of your stakeholders and your team and deliver results that meet those needs. If boosting your ego floats your boat, leadership is likely to be a disappointing experience. If making a positive difference is driving your leadership aspirations, you’re on the right path.  

Leadership is relational, not transactional

Transactional leadership focusses on order, structure, and goals. There’s nothing creative or innovative about it – it’s all about maintaining the status quo. Relational leadership is about helping people be the best version of themselves. This builds trusted relationships that contribute to getting great results. You might have met or been managed by leaders who get things done by bullying and bulldozing. This approach only gets people so far. In the modern world people are much more informed and understand concepts like psychological safety. Bullying and bulldozing are illegal and unethical. If you want to be an excellent leader you need to build and maintain trusting relationships. Getting to know each person in the team, valueing their strengths and capabilities, and creating opportunities for them to thrive is a foundation of great leadership.  

Leadership is strategic 

A key difference between being part of the crew and being a leader is seeing the bigger picture. As a team member you may not have been aware of all of the organisation’s strategic goals, the budget, and high-level accountabilities to internal and external stakeholders. For example, you may not have known about certain legal or financial compliance responsibilities. As a leader you’re likely to be responsible for your team meeting budget, compliance, and results targets. This can be a lot of information to get your head around initially. It can feel overwhelming. You’re not alone, most new leaders feel this way. The key is to educate yourself, ask a lot of questions, and admit early when you don’t know or understand something. By seeing the bigger picture, you can appreciate where your team’s contribution fits into the overall operation of your organisation. Your role as leader is to help your team see this so they can appreciate their contribution as well.  

If you’re already a leader or feeling like it’s something you’d like to try out, you might also like my article on ‘Discovering your leadership style‘.

I do a lot of individual coaching and develop with aspiring, new, and experienced leaders. Check out my coaching and development programs here.