In the last few months much has been written about IT Professionals expanding their business expertise in order to participate as full business partners in their respective organizations. Acquiring a basic understanding of other business disciplines such as finance, operations, marketing & sales, logistics and strategic planning have all been mentioned as advantageous credentials.
Unfortunately simply acquiring knowledge is a good step forward but relatively inadequate if one cannot use that knowledge skillfully. This is where Leadership, the ability to gain wholehearted followers for a given course of action, is essential.
Let's dispel some of the myths surrounding leadership. First, it is not the exclusive province of the CEO, COO or President. In fact, today's most successful enterprises encourage the skill of leadership at all levels.
Second, leadership is not function of the intelligence. Most successful leaders have a higher Emotional Quotient (EQ) than IQ.
Third, people are born leaders.
Regional Leadership Forum
A squad of soldiers learn communication and decisi...
Marine Institute Ireland, Strategic_Planning_Symbo...Nonsense! We all have the innate potential to lead. If you look back at your life, we believe you will see many occasions where you led. The people who seem to be "born leaders" simply do it more often as a conscious competence. Your challenge is to tap into potential you already have.
So how do leaders gain and keep wholehearted followers for a given course of action? They do the following exceptionally well:
Establish a common goal for every leadership conversation. They clearly articulate the goal and it's benefit to their potential followers. They invite others to look at, listen to and add/change/adjust their strategy for getting to the goal. Finally they acknowledge that the decision to buy-in to the goal and strategy rests with the potential followers.
Read others in the head and the heart. Leaders understand that all important decisions are based on facts and feelings.