Many founders have not been leaders before starting their own business, and the sudden change in role can be a bit overwhelming. Noted author Peter Diamond recently shared six things that real leaders do.
Many entrepreneurs have the concern that "now that I'm a leader, I'm worried that a lot of people will think I'm a fraud" as they move from being a "doer" with expertise to being a "leader in charge of strategy". leaders". The ease of this transition varies from company to company.
Perhaps early in your career you can create your own self-worth by actually delivering results. But as you transition into a leadership role, the value you may create is not as obvious. Your job will often no longer provide the same tangible results as before, which may cause tension and unease among internal members, as well as some panic among yourself, and seriously cause you to leave the job asking yourself "what did I really do?" .
As a leader, you need to spread your attention across a variety of different businesses, and this is perhaps the biggest difference between a doer and a capable leader. Therefore, at the beginning of your role change, you need to reposition yourself and understand what you have to do.
Here are six strategies on how to move from being an executive to a true leader.
1. Define a model of success that matches your team's expectations and then disseminate it widely internally
Try writing down your definition of success on a card. You need to make sure it is tangible, focused and memorable for you and your team.
2. Know exactly what is expected of each person in your team and know where they stand
This is an important component for a leader, but it is often overlooked. You need to have a clear understanding of what they expect to aspire to, especially new employees who have just joined the company.
3. Make peace with the fact that "you can't know everything"
The most unacknowledged thing about being a leader is that you don't know everything. This is actually a way of reducing stress. The most comfortable state of affairs is when you can rely on others in your team to strengthen their areas of expertise, so that your team becomes more and more effective.
4. Support your colleagues in the team and help them to solve problems
Running an efficient business will enable your team to solve everyday problems effectively and confidently. You can give them small gifts as rewards and let them know you care about them, which will maintain a consistently running team.
5. Asking insightful questions can provoke team insight and action
This is a common way of instinctively telling your team members what to do - after all, you don't want to just fork out money out the door. Don't underestimate the value of asking valuable questions to help your team improve existing practical activities and create new solutions through open-ended questions.
6. Eliminate a chaotic company scene by removing obstacles
While this is not a glamorous act, it is certainly a key component in your team. You can remove obstacles and create an open path through it, eliminating a chaotic scene in your company. Your job as a leader requires the ability to anticipate potential problems and develop contingency plans accordingly, so that your team is ready to deal with setbacks at any time.
If you struggle to shed your inner doer role, you will struggle to achieve effective leadership deployments. If you become clearer about your leadership principles and deployment, you can add more value to your team and your organisation, you will become more satisfied with your work and you will slowly stop feeling like a fraud.