TIGblogs TIG | TIGblogs GROUP TIGBLOGS LOGIN SIGNUP
Stacey Huish - My Blog
Stacey Huish - My Blog
Emerging Leaders: Is leadership what you thought it was going to be?
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Emerging Leaders: Is leadership what you thought it was going to be?
Let me share a story with you!

Woohoo!, I finally have a leadership role in this company. All those years of hard work, being the best in my field of expertise, superb technical knowledge, I know everything there is to know about this job, I could even do it blind folded and they finally gave the leadership role. I can now lead this company to great success and great heights. BUT, one thing bothers me…. How do I get the rest of the team to do the job as well as I did? I tell them what they have to do and they just don’t listen! …. In fact most of them just ignore me completely and do whatever they want. I find it really difficult to get the other departments to co-operate with me and my team. It’s like they don’t respect me,. I am even finding that conflicts are arising and darned if I know what to do to solve them. There is always one person who is unhappy with the decision I make. I just can’t seem to please them all. I even find myself resorting to punishments and rewards to get the work done. Staff don’t turn upon time, they leave early. It’s like they are unhappy to be here, they don’t love the job the way I do.
I feel frustrated, and even helpless, because I do not know how to handle the situation.

I wanted to be the best leader in my organisation so I went and did some leadership training. They told me to create an atmosphere of respect, honesty, caring, collaboration, cooperation and trust, this will in turn maximize the teams contributions to the organization.
BUT, How do I do that? It’s fine for all those at the top to tell me to create these things, but, I need to know how to do it. What do I say? What do I do? to get my team working together and with the other departments?
You know what I really want to do here? … I want to lead an organisation that has an environment that allows all team members to be fully functioning, highly involved, highly participative members of a group. Team members who are fully engaged and feel free to offer their ideas, opinions, suggestions, comments and problems, who are willing to share important information or data, and know that their ideas, information and expertise are valued and taken seriously.

I remember what is was like to be an employee, and I remember what it was like to have the leader listen to my ideas and suggestions. I even remember him telling me that the single most important element in the organisation’s atmosphere is the leader’s willingness and ability to listen with understanding to the contributions of all team members. The leader’s goal is not to influence or direct the group’s discussion to go a certain way, the leaders goal is to listen openly and truly hear the points of view of team members, even when team members ideas and opinions may differ remarkably from the leader’s own.

You know what I need? … I need training that will get my team members to express their opinions, ideas and feelings whether positive or negative in a non-blameful, respectful way. I want them to listen with understanding and acceptance without being judgmental. And, have them resolve conflicts with others so both sides get their needs met. I found it! … I found the training. Thank goodness it is offered to all businesses large and small. I went and learnt how to do all these things and so much more.

I came back and implemented what I had learnt straight away. When they observed me (the leader) listening to them with understanding, they began to listen to each other better. They actually become less defensive, more open, more clear, more articulate, and, something equally important happened. When conflicts arose, the team members were much more open to the other’s views and less intent on defending their own in a knee-jerk way.

What I have learnt is this ….. When team members experience an atmosphere in which their full involvement and participation is valued and they have the communication and conflict resolution skills they need, the business will be alive with more energy, more motivation, more commitment, more confidence and more coherence. The organization will prosper in both goodwill and higher productivity. This can be astounding.

The story that I have just shared with you is a common story among workers across all industries. Wouldn’t you agree? And, I’m sure you’ve experienced it to some degree!
If you are experiencing a similar situation in your own organisation and you need more information about this training, you can call or email





October 20, 2008 | 8:32 PM Comments  0 comments

You must be logged in to add tags.


Stacie Hewish's Profile

Stacie Hewish's Friends


Latest Posts
Film Producer seeks...
The Art of Loving
Local Author Selected...
I am now a Published...
Emerging Leaders: Is...

Monthly Archive
October 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009
May 2009

Change Language


Tags Archive
belief business communicaitonskills communicationskills empowerment globalmovement harmony leadership love peace relationships respect training wealth

Filter By Type
Travel
Topics

Friends
A. Blackmore
Aaron
Abdallah Diwan
Brian Smith
Damian Profeta
Dave Matthews
Diogo Andre
Emma
ilyes
Keyvan Sayar
Michael Furdyk
Michel Mutambayi
Panther
PH8
rainbowscorpion
Robert Lin
Simon Moss
Vidhya Whabi
Waleed


20035 views
Important Disclaimer