If You Think You're Leading and No One is Following…

If you think you’re leading and no one is following, don’t fool yourself. You’re just out for a walk.

A while ago, when I was speaking at the Mayo Clinic, one of the Directors shared a great leadership story. He said his third-grade son, Taylor, was upset because he had not been chosen as the line leader for his class. He told me he tried to console his son by reminding him that he had been chosen dozens of times before ... to be the line leader at lunch, for the bus, etc.

But Taylor protested, "You don't understand. This was for a field trip. I had the chance to lead my classmates to a place where they've never been before."

My reaction was "Wow! That's one of the best definitions of leadership I've ever heard." Taylor knew that leadership was all about action; it wasn't about title. It was all about leading others to a new and better place.

So let’s dig a little deeper into the actions of effective leadership. After all, you have the potential to become a much more effective leader … at work with your colleagues and at home with your family members. You can build more positive, productive, and profitable relationships with just about anyone, if you know how.

Start with these tips.

? 1. Polish and re-polish your communication skills.

Almost always, effective leaders are good communicators. In fact, even if you didn't know who was who in a group, you could probably spot the leaders by just watching and listening to the group for a few minutes.

Typically, effective leaders are articulate. They express themselves clearly, persuasively, and authoritatively. And most often, they are the ones that everyone else really listens to.

If you don't fall into that category of being articulate and persuasive, don't worry. Many great leaders were shy, introverted and poor communicators in their early years. Lincoln, Gandhi, and Washington fall into that category as do more contemporary business leaders such as Bill Marriott, Jr. of the huge Marriott Corporation.

But they LEARNED to be good communicators. Whether through trial and error ... specific training ... or a series of difficult events where they had to either sink or swim ... effective leaders LEARN how to communicate with others.

And so can you. You can learn how to take others to a place they've never been before. Just like Cheryl Stevens from Covidien learned to do at my Journey-to-the-Extraordinary experience.

As Cheryl relates:

“Dr. Zimmerman, I have to say that your JOURNEY has been the most positive and influential aspect in my life these last five years. For example, the VP at Covidien Tyco Healthcare approached me and inquired whether or not I would be interested in becoming the regional sales manager for Southern California. He started listing skill sets, character traits, and leadership qualities he had witnessed in me after taking the JOURNEY.

"As I started to think really hard about becoming a manager, I immediately got out all my notes from the JOURNEY experience. I knew I understood how to become a good manager. It took me two days to come up with a mission statement, which became the foundation for all my interviews. I was confident and sure throughout the interview process. I got the job.

“Then I sent my mission statement to my reps and followed up with action items to reinforce the mission statement. I couldn't have been happier with their responses. Now I'm using your material to inspire and lead my 6 new reps.”

Thank you, Cheryl, for sharing your story. She learned to polish her communication skills, which, in turn, made her a more effective leader.

I know you can get similar results when you attend my last Journey-to-the-Extraordinary experience, offered virtually October 3-4, 2024, from 9 am to 6 pm Eastern Time (8 am CT, 7 am MT, 6 am PT).

Register now while the early registration savings are still in place.

Click below for more information and register.

? 2. Communicate a vision of a “better way”

Of course, you may be thinking that you know several good communicators in your organization but they're not necessarily effective leaders. That may be true.

Some of your coworkers may be quite articulate as they complain about the management or direction of your company, but you wouldn’t put them into the category of being an inspiring, effective, motivating, or team-building kind of leader.

So let me be more specific when I say leaders are good communicators. Good leaders focus their communication on their vision of the future, or “a better way of doing things,” or “a better place to be.” They help define that vision and they enlist the help of others to attain that vision.

In doing so, leaders often focus on emotional issues that connect them with others. Business leaders talk about the high quality of their products, their dedication to customer service, or their commitment to the dignity of all employees. Non-profit leaders focus on values that appeal to people, like alleviating hunger or preventing addiction, all in an effort to enlist them in a noble cause to make things better.

?3. Communicate your apologies.

As I tell my leadership coaching clients, “You must consistently exhibit the behaviors they want others to emulate." And of the most important things you can communicate is your apology when you screw things up.

Take a lesson from Arnie Kleiner. When he took over as general manager of WMAR-TV in Baltimore, it was referred to as "the number four station in a three-station market." So he wanted all the employees to discuss the station’s problems frankly and to plan improvements.

People were hesitant to level with him -- until the lost wallet incident. After returning to his office from shooting a routine editorial, Kleiner discovered that his wallet was missing. He assumed someone had stolen it.

He issued an angry memo to all station staff announcing the theft, but declaring amnesty if the perpetrator would just return the credit cards, driver's license, and other identification. Most of the staff was incensed that the general manager was accusing them of stealing, but no one said anything. The air was thick with hurt feelings and hostility toward him -- a familiar climate at WMAR.

Three days later, Kleiner donned his studio jacket to do another editorial -- and discovered the wallet in an inner pocket. He could have simply announced the wallet was found, omitting details. But he seized the opportunity to communicate and exhibit leadership.

He sent another memo letting everyone know that he had blown it and that for the rest of the day everyone could "feel free to call me a you-know-what to my face instead of behind my back like you usually do."

For the entire day, everyone from the janitor to the weatherman made it a point to take him up on his offer. "From that moment forward," Thompson reports, "there was a noticeable change in the morale of WMAR-TV; making a mistake was no longer the end of the world."

Kleiner communicated his apology and led by example. In the future, when he was wrong, he admitted it. And when he was wrong, he did not repeat the dysfunctional behavior of blaming everybody else. He started to model the openness and accountability that he wanted his staff to exhibit. And as you guessed, it worked.

I know you, like everyone else, can improve your communication and leadership skills by applying the three tips we just discussed. So why not get started today by taking on this assignment?

Write down your five greatest strengths when it comes to communication. Perhaps you're a good listener or you can make your point clearly and persuasively. Be aware of those strengths, and then think of ways you can more actively use those strengths in your work.

Now list five weaknesses you have in communication. Perhaps you say one thing and do another. Or maybe you're too quiet at staff meetings. Write out a plan as to what you will do to eliminate those weaknesses.

For a copy of Dr. Zimmerman’s latest book, The Champion Edge: Skill Sets That Fire Up Your Business and Life, go to https://www.businessexpertpress.com/books/the-champion-edge-skill-sets-that-fire-up-your-business-and-life/

To subscribe to Dr. Zimmerman’s free weekly Internet newsletter, the Tuesday Tip, or to give someone else a free subscription, go to https://www.drzimmerman.com/subscribe. You’ll also receive Dr. Z’s whitepaper on 93 Truths for Unlimited Happiness and Success.

To receive more information on Dr. Z’s speaking, training, and leadership coaching, go to https://www.drzimmerman.com/.