Sobre personas y organizaciones

Etiqueta: Emotional intelligence

Pequeños comportamientos para un gran liderazgo

El liderazgo puede ser percibido por todos los sentidos. Además de todo lo que indiquen los manuales, modelos y los programas corporativos, el liderazgo, tanto el bueno, como el de menos calidad, es observable. Es más, el liderazgo adquiere sentido cuando es percibido.

El liderazgo, esa habilidad para hacer que otros crean en si mismos y hagan de los intereses individuales un propósito compartido, no requiere para ser percibido ni de un microscopio, ni de un telescopio, de otra forma sería demasiado pequeño, inapreciable por lo tanto o estaría demasiado lejos y sería inalcanzable.

El liderazgo de a pie, se observa a simple vista, sobre todo por todos aquellos que están cerca de él o forman parte del perímetro más cercano de quien ostenta ese rol.

Y resulta que a veces nos perdemos en la grandilocuencia, en la dimensión más macro, y en lo intangible, un error demasiado común cuando nos referimos de por sí a un concepto que es más líquido que sólido.

Precisamente, ahora que lo líquido está tan en boga, conviene hacer un esfuerzo por dotar de solidez y hacer palpable y visible el liderazgo de proximidad, el que consigue en última instancia que las personas se movilicen, el que hace que las personas crean en sí mismas y el que hace que estas se unan para lograr cosas increíbles… mientras, crecen, se divierten y refuerzan su compromiso. Algo nada baladí.

Pero si hay algo que permite determinar el tamaño y la calidad del liderazgo es la manera en la que este se comporta ante los pequeños detalles. Las cotidianidades del día a día a las que todo su entorno se ve sometido constantemente. Comportamientos que no suelen alcanzarse a través de ningún programa corporativo, hábitos que resulta difícil enseñar e inculcar, formas de ser y estar que sin duda alguna son observables a simple vista.

Alterar la agenda cuando alguna persona del equipo atraviesa un mal momento, tiene un mal día y se precisa poner el foco y la sensibilidad en la persona. O la capacidad de poner el foco en lo importante, las personas, y no en lo urgente.

La capacidad de preocuparse de forma genuina por los intereses, anhelos, miedos y expectativas de la gente que se tiene cerca. Sin poses, sin aditivos, simplemente porque interesa de verdad. Conversaciones donde las preguntas bien intencionadas pesan más que las preguntas inquisitoriales. O la capacidad de conversar de forma regular, con todos los miembros del equipo, de lo divino, pero sobre todo de lo humano.

Demostrar a golpe de imparcialidad que todos los que están cerca importan por igual, más allá de las afinidades y de los favoritismos propios de cualquier ser humano. Dicho de otra forma, la objetividad como forma de ser y estar en todos los comportamientos hacia las personas del equipo.

Ayudar sin esperar nada a cambio, tanto en lo profesional, ofreciendo perspectiva o dando espacio y recursos para crecer a diario, como en lo personal, también concediendo tiempo y espacio si es necesario en función de las circunstancias de cada uno. En otras palabras, estar al quite, en lo personal y en lo profesional.

Mostrar coherencia entre lo que se piensa, lo que se dice y lo que se hace. Calibrando en todo momento el impacto que tiene la coherencia y también la incoherencia. O lo que es lo mismo, ser sólido y no mostrar fisuras entre lo que se hace y lo que se piensa o dice.

Tener las conversaciones adecuadas para reconocer los logros y atribuir los méritos de forma objetiva, especialmente en los momentos donde ese reconocimiento ha de ser público. Es decir, actuar conforme al César lo que es del César.

Reconocer los errores de manera natural. El liderazgo no es infalible y por naturaleza es humanamente imperfecto. Asumir los errores y hacerlos públicos es un detalle esencial para ejercer el liderazgo. En otras palabras, practicar la humildad radical.

Comportamientos del día a día. Apreciables a simple vista.

Preocuparse de forma genuina y natural. Poner la prioridad en las personas. Entender las circunstancias de cada miembro del equipo. Ser coherente por encima de todo. Practicar la humildad radical. Reconocer los logros, independientemente del tamaño de estos. Hacer de la objetividad una forma de ser y estar. Rasgos que no solo definen la calidad del liderazgo, sino sobre todo la calidad humana.

Pequeños detalles que permiten alcanzar grandes logros.

Comportamientos de un liderazgo de proximidad para hacer que otros lleguen lejos.

Pequeños comportamientos imprescindibles para un gran liderazgo.

Gestionar en pequeño, para liderar a lo grande

10 Powerful Questions for Leading People

Kid_superhero_muscleAs each day passes more and more companies uphold the belief that people are the real key to achieving results. A belief which corroborates the decisive role that leadership plays in the achievement of business success.

If we get down to the truth of the matter, people have always been the focus of leadership…but that leadership has been one impervious to new approaches, a leadership designed to protect the modus operandi and the established status quo, where the centralisation of information has reigned, sustained by strict procedures that ultimately constrict decision making… and still…results were obtained ‘from people’

But now, getting results from people is not enough. The changes that we have experienced in the business world in the last few years clearly demonstrate that we are living in times of growing complexity, with a high component of uncertainty which demands management skills capable of dealing with many more variables than ever before.  In short, now is the moment to consider a leadership model where results are not obtained ‘from’ people but ‘through’ people – the use of the different preposition is significant.

As we face market conditions that demand more and better involvement, collaboration, agility, creativity, self-leadership, flexibility and adaptability, it is imperative that we reflect on what exactly a leader can do to improve business results not from, but through people.

And so, perhaps the time has come for us to abandon our predilection for offering ‘correct’ answers, and to instead, strengthen our capacity to formulate appropriate questions within the context of conducting conversations of real value.

Asking vs Answering…  Listen vs Monopolising the conversation.  A major challenge for the large majority of directors, managers and professionals in general… who have it in their power to adjust their leadership style by developing the art of conversation and, of course, the art of asking questions…

1.- What can I do for you?

To lead is to put oneself at the service of another. Apart from some exceptions, this has  never been an habitual practice for many leaders, but right now, one of the key principles for leading, is to ask what our team requires of us and how we can help them, as opposed to only imagining what our team requires of us,

2.- What objectives do you want to achieve?

In contrast to the traditional model in which the leader decides what should be achieved, asking what objectives and challenges the other wishes to set him/herself is a valuable practice if we want to encourage total involvement. Real commitment is born when we ourselves decide what we want to achieve, rather than being forced to achieve something that has been decided by another.

3.- Why are you doing that?

In other words, invite the other to reflect on the purpose of the work they are about to do… Obtaining results through people requires that these people are aware of the rationale behind what they are about to do, that they search for the sense and logic of their actions, tasks and responsibilities

4.- What resources do you have and what do you need to achieve your objective?

Asking about where we are now and what is lacking  allows us to identify those resources that are readily available to us and those that we require to be able to achieve our objectives. How many times have we been unable to complete something simply because we have been unaware of what is needed for its completion?

5.- How would you do it differently? incognita

In short, allowing our colleagues to outline and reflect on alternative ways of completing a task demonstrates an intelligent approach; telling them how they should do it, to some extent merely satisfies our ego.

6.- What can you gain and what can you lose?

Asking about the benefits and costs associated with any decision or action allows us to see the related risks of doing or not doing it… Identifying pros and cons is an essential exercise if we wish to develop our muscles of autonomy and the ability to make decisons. Self leadership develops as we become accostomed to thinking in terms of costs and benefits.

7.- Who do you know in your network that can help us?

As connected professionals we provide value to our network via the knowledge that we contribute to that network. Leading is not about encouraging one to aspire to impossible missions, it is about exploring our network and the possibilities therein contained for the attainment of results.

8.- In which areas do you complement others and how do they complement you?

Asking about how we impact our environment helps us to develop our self knowledge… asking about how others complement others sets downs the foundations of a model based on collaboration… a crucial element for achieving results through people in complex, uncertain and volatile settings.

9.- What do you need to do to get there?

Knowing what we want to achieve, for what reason, which resources we currently have at our disposal, and the support that we need, allows us to get at the information that is necessary to devise a plan of action… let’s not forget, leading is above all, about having conversations which strengthen the propensity to act.

10.- How do you feel?

People are emotions and emotions are the fuel that gets us moving. To lead therefore is to manage emotions and to allow those emotions to transform themselves into action, given that the only possible means of attaining results is through people… and logically through their emotions.

 ______________________________________________________________________

Purpose, benefits, support, costs, emotions, self-leadership, alternatives, innovation, resources… and of course action are only some of the ingredients that allow us to attain and improve results through people (and not from them) in a context that urgently requires that each and everyone in the organisation discovers and deploys to the máximum  their capabilities and potential for action.

On the other hand, we should not forget that in many instances leading also involves giving answers and offering advice, as people do at times need guidance and orientation in order to improve their performance.

Our current environment is asking us to readdress the prevailing leadership model; it is an environment that necessitates the development of professionals with honed decision making and evaluation skills, who can operate with greater autonomy and flexibility, who are oriented towards collaboration and who successfully manage their commitments… behavioural characteristics that appear and flourish, obviously when we lead by building conversations that are of value and naturally, when we work on and practice the art of asking powerful, appropriate questions…

Photo Credit: Google

Funciona con WordPress & Tema de Anders Norén