Learn to be a Leader In Your Day Job

If you’ve got a day job, you might as well make the most of it by learning to lead from whatever position you are in. Here are a few things I’ve learned about this…

Being a successful leader is the result of good past decisions. However understanding that one can learn from someone else’s mistakes or experience can prevent your own mistakes and propel you to more success. It is usually better to learn from the mistakes of others, than to make the mistake yourself. The same can be said of copycatting the successful moves of others. Why re-invent the wheel. Modeling yourself after a successful individual is a good way to take years off of your learning curve and also avoid pitfalls.

One thing you will learn is that good leaders are also good advisors. People who wish to succeed in business must also learn the art and skill of being able to give good advice when called on. If you are not currently the leader, then work on becoming an good adviser to your current superiors.

How to be a good adviser:

As an adviser, you’re not the pulling all the strings, which leaves you a bit freer to make observations that facilitate thinking clearly about whatever your advisee is trying to accomplish. Whatever decision they make you hope will be an informed one. Sometimes this is a simply a matter of saying what is needed to motivate them to move past fear of the unknown or past a flashy presentation so that they can look at the situation at hand in an objective manner. This system works to advantage particularly in high-pressure situations where the most important function you serve is as the cool voice of reason and ultimately acts to facilitate powers that be to act in the best interests of the business when they might otherwise find it difficult to.

Be weary of offering a half thought through opinion. It will waste time, which can cost money. So you need to be afraid of offering an idea that wastes time. It sounds simple, but it happens way too often. Business organizations everywhere are full of people who vomit useless opinions and bad ideas on others. Even if you have good intentions, be cautious and don’t let yourself get lumped in with them by offering your own not very well thought out ideas. Sometimes your ideas are your introduction and first impression to others within/without the company. Your future paths could change or be blocked because you put forward a lousy idea. Your success could literally hang on your idea, so treat every idea as if it did and you should do well.
Make your self stand out:
Don’t be afraid of offering a well thought out idea. A good leader will be adept at finding and surrounding himself with good people who are capable of offering sound opinions. Adhering to this concept is an integral part of good leadership and successful business practices. You can gain access to the leader’s inner circle by being a source of good advice.
Many people want to offer their opinions. But they must be prepared for criticism and critique. Sound advice will welcome questions, but bad advice withers under fire. Be prepared to have your advice scrutinized objectively and intensely. Guard against giving advice that might be given with bias. Be objective keeping the good of all in mind.

How to spot bad advice:
Often, you can spot bad advise being defended by someone with a lot at stake in it. Misguided advice can often come from those with something to lose. Someone vigorously defending bad advice will in many cases be easy to spot.
Blind pride that excludes logic
someone being unreasonable
“power-plays”,
vindictiveness,
general nastiness
“A fool sees an enemy. A wise man sees a lesson to be learned”
All of this exposes areas for personal growth and maturity by the one who is defending.

Think like a marketer:
Opinions or ideas that are defended with logic and reason in a tactful manner will be considered, and gain the respect and trust of a leader. Notice I said tactful manner. Many great ideas or products have failed due to bad marketing. Don’t let yours!

Speaking of tact and marketing, advancement in rank is usually not just the reward for hard work. Remember what I said about waiting for your opportunity? Opportunities present themselves all the time, but you have to be prepared for them. Even more and greater opportunities come to those who are ready.
A good adviser knows his/her place. Your place is to provide my advisee with the information and understanding they need to make informed decisions- not to make their decisions for them. This concept goes hand in hand with the leadership concept of picking the right person for the job, explaining the desired outcome and then leaving them alone to complete the task with only minimal supervision.
How to lead from below:
When following a leader it is important to trust their decision-making ability. If you don’t believe in your leaders decision-making abilities try to offer solutions and insight based on reason and work constructively towards logical goals. Don’t become a complainer and a whiner or try to get people on your side. Attempting to foment negativity will often backfire on you. The truth should be apparent to all. If you are unable to work under these conditions, then you need to find a new leader, find your own team to lead or try to move into the position itself when it becomes available. Basically, when you are an integrated part of a business unit, you should know your position well and execute that position to the best of your abilities. Bide your time and wait for your opportunities to advance or make moves that move the organization or program towards success. Of coarse, this is assuming that you are a decent person not acting in a self-serving manner!
Everyone usually knows who the cutthroats and self-serving backstabbers are. Everyone eventually finds out through the rumor-mill who the people are who got up by climbing over the bodies of others. Nobody really likes or respects them. Fear is not the same as respect. Those who advance or maintain power on unhealthy fear alone do not have the respect of the people they lead, and usually someone is waiting to help topple them at the soonest convenience! On the other hand- a good leader by their action cultivates a healthy fear. Their people respect him/her and are loyal even if they disagree with some of their decisions. They fear displeasing their leader, but not in the way you might think. They fear displeasing him/her by making a mistake because that leader cultivates qualitative self-pride within them. They cultivate self-achievement, advancement and successful careers. They cultivate teamwork and unity. He or she cultivates that loyalty by showing themselves to be a just and good leader. This person draws people. Good advisors naturally gravitate towards them.
“Have you observed a man who is skillful in his work? Before kings is where he will place himself.” - Proverbs 22.29

When to speak and when not to
Good advisors are patient when they need to be. They know that knowing when to speak is as important as knowing when to listen. If you don’t have anything of value to add, hold your tongue. Better to remain the usually silent one that drops a really good bombshell periodically, rather than a chatterbox of ideas that don’t always pan out. It’s like crying wolf after a while with those types. They may have good intentions, but the good ideas they do have from time to time get buried among the bad ones. So when you have a thought, hold off on just blurting it out. Researching a little before presenting it could save your behind.
One final note on ideas and opinions- if you are successful or unliked, a bad idea (or one too many) can give envious or hateful colleagues the leverage they need to get you fired. Yes, it’s sad but they are out there. So when that light bulb turns on in your head, be sure to think twice and do some research before presenting your idea. A successful history of good ideas will keep your career flying high and the haters helpless.

source: focusedexistence