Leadership has been on my mind a lot recently. As I have worked with companies nationwide the more I am thoroughly convinced that everything rises and falls with leadership. Whether you’re a leader right now, or hope to be, I hope this post gets you thinking about your impact as a leader!

Four team leaders walk into a conference room (that sounds like the beginning of a corny joke doesn’t it?) and they’re tasked by their boss to solve a problem…

The first leader orders her team together and says, “This is the problem we have to solve. Here is what you need to do, how you need to do it, and when you need to do it by.” After telling everyone what to do the leader asks, “Any questions?” as she walks out of the room before anyone can ask anything. 

The second leader sends an email out to his team saying, “I know you’re busy, and I hate bothering you, but can you let me know when you’re free today to meet? We have a project and I need your help. I’m so sorry for the trouble.” The meeting never happens because everyone is too busy. 

The third leader spends a few hours compiling and analyzing information and data before calling a team meeting. He gives an extremely detailed briefing covering every aspect of the problem, using an extensive series of flowcharts and diagrams to emphasize his point. He then emails them multi-page spreadsheets (with more data and information on them) and asks everyone to use them to document their progress. Some of his team members look to be in shock from information overload. 

The fourth leader has a cool vision on how to solve the problem and huddles her team together. During their conversation they end up talking about a lot of things, much of which had nothing to do with the problem that needed to be solved. When someone on the team points this out, the leader says, “I think we’ll be okay to start. We’ll figure it out along the way and if we have to change things up then we will.” As the leader walks out one of the team members turns to another and asks, “So, what are we doing??”

Does this sound familiar? 

If you want to be an effective leader you have to be aware of your impact on the people you lead!

• Are your people energized or drained by your style?
• Are they clear on what they’re supposed to do or dazed and confused?
• Are they honest and transparent or scared to to give you the whole truth?
• Are they constantly waiting for you to make a tough and/or decisive decision??
• Do they get lost in unending numbers and spreadsheets?
• Do they feel bulldozed by you?
• When you make a decision do they buy into it, or are they waiting for you to change your mind...again!

Once you know the positive and negative impact you have on the people you lead you’ll have a clearer picture of what you need to do to be a more effective leader. Then get to work reducing your negative impact. 

This might mean you develop your time management or people skills, or work on your organizational and administrative capabilities. Wherever you need to improve, own the reality of where you are, and then close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. If you'd like suggestions on resources please reach out to me!

While you work on the negative areas, don’t forget to build on your positive areas. In other words keep doing what you do well, minimize what you don’t do well and watch your leadership capabilities soar!