Leadership Keys for SuccessIt's usual for leaders not to realize that Leadership is like a performance with few opportunities

for mistakes. You are under the spotlight 24/7, and your credibility is built or lost in moments,

whether your emotional intelligence is engaged or not.

A leader's team is often comprised of critics who are demanding and have high expectations for

you. They give you the benefit of the doubt initially and expect that:

You spent time thinking about the situation at hand.

You know exactly what you want.

There is a clear purpose in all of your communications and actions.

You know what can be done or not done to add value.

You have all the answers.

What you say, your behavior, and your non-verbals all contribute to whether your team are

satisfied with you as a leader. Of course we know that many of these assumptions are false, but if

these expectations are not met, then judgments are quickly made looking for validation and

revalidation.

Specifically:

You don't know what you are doing.

You don't have the answers.

You don't think anyone has any value.

You are not clear about where you, the team, or the organization is going.

You are not a leader who is credible and respected.

Your daily leadership walks a tightrope daily. A fall can cost you dearly, so wouldn't you benefit

from practicing and learning the moves better? Sure you would.

Leadership is a Dance:

The leadership dance has special steps, yet often organizations, business schools or graduate

school doesn’t teach the steps. Just like the other processes in your organization, the sales

process, manufacturing process, quality assurance process, there is a process of leadership.

To understand and define the most critical components of effective leadership, The Blanchard

Companies launched a study in 2006. More than 1,400 leaders, managers, and executives shared

their views on critical skills and common mistakes connected to leadership. Three top things

stood out that leaders admitted they failed to do:

1. 82% agreed they fail to provide appropriate feedback (praise, redirection)

2. 81% said they fail to listen to or involve others in the process

3. 76% admitted failure to use a leadership style appropriate to the person's task, and situation

(over-supervising or under-supervising)

Leaders tend to mimic what one of their bosses has done with them, sometimes successfully and

sometimes not. Sometimes, they simply wing it. The leadership process has its own beat and

rhythm. The quality of leadership suffers as does the team if you don’t follow the

process, and ultimately, the organization suffers, too. Check more about for Leadership Training

Program and Management Development Program.

In learning any new skill, like golf, tennis or dance, you first learn the right steps and then

practice them over and over. Delegation, giving feedback, coaching, managing up and across,

decision making and getting buy-in all have specific steps that leaders can learn.

One of the first questions I ask in my work as an Executive Coach and Corporate trainer is how

often they delegate in a day. Most say about 5 to 7 times a day. Next I ask l how often they

provide feedback to their employees. The answer is usually 4 to 5 times a day. These are two

critical skills that leaders and managers do daily, yet most don’t have any established

system or process. So what are the dance steps on the floor to follow?

I developed a step-by-step, proven process for these daily critical skills. My free Leadership

Keys iPhone App contains videos and an associated PDF that answers the following questions:

How do you decide when to step in and out with direction for your employees?

How do you hold accountabilities?

What is the best way to give feedback?

How can you be very clear in your delegation?

How do you coach, empower, and when do you give advice?

What is best practice for making decisions and getting buy-in?

How can you manage up and across?

There is a process and clear steps to answer the above questions. When you, as a leader, practice,

practice, practice, these steps become second nature, fluid and focused.