Экономические
науки/6. Маркетинг и менеджмент
Okhrimenko I.Y., Doletskaya G.M.
Donetsk national university of economic and trade
named after Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky, Ukraine
5 steps on the way from a manager to a leader
“To say that you have the real power
still like to say
that you are a lady. If it is spoken out loud, this is not true.” M.Thatcher
Are you a leader just because you run a business? No. But you need to
be. Without business leadership, your
business ship will circle aimlessly and eventually run out of power.
Effective business leadership demands a captain of the ship, not just someone
who's standing by the helm. Leadership is active, not passive. Only when you
understand your role as guide and steward based on your own most deeply held
truths you can move from manager to leader.
But you can't be a leader just by saying you are. Business leadership,
like leadership of any kind, needs to be worked at.
Nowadays the classic command and
control management model - which, contrary to popular belief still applies even
in our most progressive 21st century companies - is no longer in play. Sure,
controls are in place. Sure, you're solving problems that arise. But it's not
just you alone. You have the people you've put your trust in - and who have
happily and safely reciprocated - to help you create organizational success.
The objective of the report is to create 5 steps to become a successful
business leader. Whether the group you oversee is called employees, associates,
co-workers, teammates or anything else, what they are looking for is someone
whom they can place their trust. Someone they know is working for the greater
good - for them and for the organization. They're looking for someone not only
that they can - but that they want to follow. Because it is only when
you have followers -people who have placed their trust in you - that you know
you have moved into that leadership role. A leader is a person who has a
vision, a drive and a commitment to achieve that vision, and the skills to make
it happen. Let's look at each of these in detail.
Begin by discovering exactly what your convictions are. Clarify and
codify for yourself what you believe in. A leader has a vision. Vision is essential to good leadership.
Vision provides direction and without direction, there’s not much point to all
that planning; your business will still flail about. Sharing your leadership
vision helps your vision grow and your business leadership develop. As you tell
your leadership vision to others, you will strengthen your own belief in your
vision and strengthen your determination to make your leadership vision become
reality. And other people will start to see you as a person who's "going
places". Your business leadership skills will grow as you and other people
recognize you as a person with leadership potential.
Leadership involves identifying potential problems and solving them
before they reach crisis proportions – and the ability to identify and reap
potential windfalls. So good leaders analyze and plan and adapt their plans to
new circumstances and opportunities. A leader always has a plan to achieve the
goal. He/she doesn't get too bogged down in the details, that's what managers
are for, but rather uses a high level plan to keep everyone moving together
toward the goal.
But it is not enough just to have a vision. Lots of people see things
that should be done, things that should be fixed, great step forward that could
be taken. What makes leaders different is that they act. They take the steps to
achieve their vision. Leaders move their vision forward despite all the
obstacles, despite all the people saying it can't be done, it's too costly, we
tried that before, or a dozen other excuses. The true leader perseveres and
moves forward. You should put together your planning and your leadership vision
and take action. You, as the leader, are the one who makes the decisions and
sees that the appropriate actions are carried out. You need to act and to be
seen as taking effective action for the good of your business.
As
you identify your convictions and begin aligning your behaviors with those
convictions, you are going to need to take steps to build a collaborative
culture based on where you're going. To do that, seek input from your employees
about what they need and what their dreams are for their jobs and the
organization. Talk to internal and external customers and suppliers about their
needs. Effective communication is more than just being able to speak and write.
A leader's communication must move people to work toward the goal the leader
has chosen. Find out what more and what
else you can be and do to create success. Enroll and engage in conversation and
communication. Listen. Find out where the possibilities are - the connects and
disconnects that you can effect.
Motivation
is an essential part of effective leadership. A leader has to be able to
motivate everyone to contribute. Each of us has different "buttons".
A leader knows how to push the right buttons on everyone to make them really
want do their best to achieve the leader's goal. A leader is a people person.
He understands the differences that make people unique and is able to use those
individual skills to achieve the goal. A leader encourages and rewards people
and makes you want do it and do it right. A leader is not a negative person and
doesn't waste time and effort telling everyone what they're doing wrong.
Finally, to be an effective business leader and run your organization to
success you must follow these steps:
1) have a vision;
2) plan;
3) act;
4) communicate;
5) motivate.
Be more. Be all those things you always
believed about yourself . Leaders aren't made or born. Leadership is a choice -
a belief in and commitment to everything that is good and noble within you. Be
a leader.
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