Leadership

How To Effectively Lead Through Five Powerful And Proven Practices

With nearly 20 years in leadership roles, there are only five practices beginning leaders should adopt if they want people to follow them. It’s easier than it sounds.

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Congratulations on your new position as a leader. Our condolences on your forthcoming stress and worry. Now that you are in a leadership position, you are more responsible for things than before, and you are responsible for getting people to perform. What were you thinking?

Some perks come with taking on more responsibility in your organization. There is more money, a greater chance to grow, and a chance to show what you are capable of. There are also some downsides to stepping into a new role. They are the pitfalls of leadership.

The first thing you should do is ask, what kind of boss do I want to be? We have all had a boss or two that made us go home and have nightmares about work. Once, as a young officer, I worked under a Nazi-loving authoritarian-style leader. Why he was in that position was beyond me, particularly since he loved Adolf Hitler and the Nazis.

Once you decide what kind of leader you want to be, it is time to ask, how will I get people to follow? Remember, if they do not look good, you will not look good either. Whether a shift supervisor, team leader, division head, or upper executive, if your people do not look good, you are not doing what you need to do to succeed. That is to lead.

#1. Leading by Example

Somebody below you will think you don’t have the qualifications for the job. It is up to you to prove they are wrong. Some will question your authority and leadership. It is up to you to get them to follow.

One way is to lead by example. For people who don’t know you, your experience, and your capabilities, it’s good to get out there with your team and demonstrate you aren’t giving them jobs you wouldn’t or haven’t done. By taking the lead on difficult or unpopular tasks, people will want to get in there and do the work.

After a reasonable amount of time, you can stand down more and enjoy being a supervisor or manager. It takes just a little time in the trenches with your team for them to have faith in you and follow you into the chaos.

#2. Being Accountable

As a leader, everything below you is your responsibility. Remember that.

When an old friend or someone you get along with becomes a problem, you must address the issue. If your team starts to stray and productivity is down, it is your responsibility.

You’re accountable for your team and area’s failures as much as their successes. Being accountable goes both ways. That means you’re responsible for what goes on for your superiors, and you have to take responsibility if you allow things to go negatively for your time.

#3. Counsel in Private and Celebrate in Public

Workplaces have rules to follow and expectations to achieve. Some things are expected of you, and you’ll expect things of your people.

Johnny comes to work and has a bad day, causing things to deteriorate in your area. What do you do?

Example #1. Pull Johnny into the office and ask why his work is suffering. Explain to him that there’s still a minimum threshold he has to achieve but that you understand that it is hard to work when something is distracting you. Encourage Johnny to leave the problems at home, but let him know he can come to talk to you when he’s done working if he needs someone to listen.

Example #2. You go to Johnny and tell him his work is suddenly not up to standards. You can try to get Johnny to explain himself and offer constructive feedback.

Example #1 is the way to go because you should only handle disciplinary issues in private. Everybody has a bad day, and Johnny may be going through something important. That can affect workplace performance. Sometimes, people need redirecting to get them back to work.

In the second example, you risk embarrassing Johnny, not giving them a safe place to talk about why today they’re not meeting standards at work, and putting a show on for those around Johnny. Ultimately, it is a distraction that is not needed.

#4. Honesty

Working in some professions, such as Law Enforcement or Corrections, you might get asked sensitive questions. The higher up in the organization you are, the more information you’ll have access to, and you will learn what you can and can not share.

Many workplaces will suffer from the gossip column effect. Things get out, no matter how protected they might be.

I once had a boss tell me something they shouldn’t. We were in a law enforcement setting. Later, a city police officer asked me what I knew about the same subject. While we were all on the same team, some things must be compartmentalized. So, when I admitted to knowing what he was talking about, it caused an issue.

When I asked about it, one of my guys lied and told our Captain he did not hear me say anything. Loyalty is a great virtue. In law enforcement or corrections, honesty and integrity are more important. I told the Captain the truth and then had to answer for my guy being less honest about the situation. He was in more professional peril than I was because he lied.

#5. Own Your Mistakes

When mistakes happen, it’s important to own them. As a boss, you also have to own the mistakes of others. Upper-level management won’t be looking for excuses. They’ll want answers and fixes.

One mistake in corrections is when someone who shouldn’t be gets released, especially a felon with a list of serious offenses.

When it happened to my team, I was asked about it, and it was up to me to solve two burning questions. How it happened, and what we could do differently. It was a serious enough issue that a couple of my staff were defensive, and I was getting it from both sides.

After looking into the issue, the fault lay with not one, not two, but three different shifts. And it started with a standard practice that set things in motion.

I went to the Sheriff and used our computer tracking to show where the problem started, how long that way of doing things had been a standard, and how it could have caused anyone to have let the prisoner in question leave without the appropriate release circumstances. I took responsibility for what happened and presented a suggestion to fix the problem so it never happened again. It protected my staff from repercussions and fixed a hole in the system.

Takeaways

Anyone can be a boss. Being a boss isn’t the same as being a leader. Leading means you can get people to follow you. What is a leader if nobody is behind them?

That last statement illustrates how important it is to remember that once you’ve started to step into an office role, or you’re hired for an office role as a new person in the organization, you’re the head of a team. They say teamwork makes the dream work.

As a shift supervisor, working in one of the hardest environments to work, there were often tasks that were stressful, distasteful, and potentially going to create situations where inmates would get upset. We had a job to do, and I had to get people to be more proactive.

By taking the lead on the task assigned to others, I got my guys to follow along, and in time, they began taking the initiative to get it done before I had to get involved. I had gotten them to follow me.

When it came to questions, I was honest with them and admitted I knew things but wasn’t allowed to share the information yet. I could tell them they didn’t have anything to worry about when it came to criminal cases, and they knew I’d go to bat for them on internal issues.

Appreciate your team when you step into the role of a leader. You are still a part of the team but have elevated yourself from player to coach. Without your team, you’re one guy trying to do everything your boss wants accomplished.

Thanks for reading!

I served as a sergeant with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department for 15 years, and before that was in charge of a security detail for three. During that time, I took numerous seminars, attended classes on leadership, and learned from different bosses what to do and what not to do. The one thing that stood out the most was what you can do to get people to follow you does not come from textbooks but from your actions.