Leaders - Here are Seven Rules to Help You Improve Your Leadership Skills

Where it all began

Today’s workplace is full of processes, procedures, systems, structures, rules, frameworks, strategies and plans. The very idea that any one person could possibly be an expert in all of these things is ludicrous. Yet that’s what so many leaders seem to believe is their mission – expertise. The fact that so many organizations still promote people into supervisory positions on the basis of their operational or technical expertise just reinforces this outdated and dangerous mind set.

Technical skills, while an essential part of any leader’s tool kit of competencies, will not in themselves make better leaders. And it is both naive and dangerous to believe that paying lip service to the softer skills of leadership – people skills – will be enough to fool most of the workers most of the time.

Today's Demanding Workplace

Today’s workplace is more demanding than ever of it’s leaders – from the first line supervisors who toil daily side by side with their team mates, to the exalted CEO’s of multinational companies. Leaders need to be not only business savvy, but also very, very people savvy. It is the latter arena that is screaming out for attention in most workplaces today. Twenty years ago most supervisory or management training programs consisted largely of the 5 basic management competencies – plan, organize, control, direct and monitor. Today, the key to effective leadership lies in the emergent soft skill area of interpersonal competence.

The term “soft skill” itself is an insult to any intelligent leader. It implies that interpersonal competencies are soft, or easy, or heaven forbid “touchy feely”. In today’s hard-nosed, dog-eat-dog corporate environment no leader worth his/her salt wants to be seen as a soft touch. And as for “caring” – that’s a term relegated to the shadowy realms of the HR team who are, after all, far better equipped to deal with those pesky people problems.

It's now all about choice

Well, here’s a newsflash. If you know any leaders who still believe this anachronistic drivel, do them a favour and pass on this message – leadership is 90% people pesky people problems and your value as a leader will be judged by how you manage those problems. Today’s workforce has choices. Far more choices than in the history of the modern organization. This means that they – the workers – can choose to stay or leave their current place of employment. So what are the factors that convince workers to stay? The number one factor (gleaned from a variety of studies, surveys and personal experience) is the leadership style practiced in their organizations.

You see, it’s the interpersonal competencies (the people skills) which not only make the difference between good and poor leaders, they also make the difference between successful and unsuccessful organizations. “Well, daaah!” I hear you smirk with delight. “Tell us something we don’t know!”

Knowing and doing are not the same thing

Clearly, knowing something and effectively applying that knowledge are completely different things. Most leaders I have talked to know how important interpersonal competencies are – in fact when questioned carefully, they can sprout the correct theories and techniques with barely a stutter. Most truly believe that they apply this knowledge every working day. Why then do we treat each other so very differently in the workplace than we do in our homes? Most of us would never dream of speaking to a loved family member or friend the way we speak to a subordinate. What is it about our workplace that gives us permission to be so disrespectful of basic human rights? To ignore the fact that the people we spend 40, 50 or 60 hours a week with are as human as we ourselves are?

Technique is not the answer

I believe it’s because good technique is not the answer. I can teach you how to improve your communication skills, how to be less aggressive and more assertive, how to listen better and establish rapport with your team. But the secret to effective leadership isn’t the application of technique – it is the intent behind your actions that makes all the difference. Behaviours are, after all, realized intentions. In other words, your attitude always shows through, no matter what. If your intent is to be seen as “a good guy” whose door is always open, then your people skills will always fall just that little bit short of sincere.

People are not fools, no matter how often we treat them as such, and they can smell a con job even if you can’t. On the other hand, if your intent is to build effective workplace relationships and “serve” your followers (yes, I did say “serve” – a concept we will cover in a later article) then your technique is secondary, because your intent will drive your behaviour far more effectively than any technique you could ever master.

So, is that all you need to do? Just get your intent right and the rest will follow? Yes and no. Yes, intent is vital. But the correct knowledge and technique will ensure that you make fewer errors as you master the art of effective leadership. So to help you on your way to mastery, I’ve developed this list of seven rules for today’s leader.

The seven rules for today's leaders

1. Improve your EQ (Emotional Intelligence)

2. Live your values

3. Work on the culture every day

4. Communicate, communicate, communicate

5. Stay in your circle of control

6. Inspire others

7. Be passionate

Where did these rules come from? They are a combination of my personal research, observation and experience, as well as reading, academic theory and expert commentators active in the leadership field today. They are not new concepts, nor are they rocket science. The most important validation of their fit for today’s workplace is the results they generate when applied consistently and skillfully (with the right intent).

They are not only rules for leading, they are rules for living. Isn’t that what our work is – an integral, vital, inspiring and passionate part of our lives? If it’s not, then perhaps it’s time we found ways to make it so. After all, when your company advertises for workers isn’t it just human beings who turn up?

If you’d like to learn more about the Seven Rules for Today’s Leaders and how they can help you go from being a good leader to being an inspiration to those who follow you, then stay tuned to this space. I will be submitting seven more articles (one per rule) to this site in the near future.