How to Become a Great Leader
First of all, this is a personal desire to occupy a high post, which not everyone has, and, accordingly, a willingness to take on the responsibilities, responsibilities and risks associated with this. It is believed that a successful leader has an almost magical ability to be at the right time in the right place. Such a property does not fall from heaven, although in a certain sense it, like talent, is a gift of God. But talent without labor is nothing, so the leader must constantly and stubbornly strive forward, in spite of any obstacles, persistently moving towards his own goal.
Finally, a high-level aspirant for leadership should by the age of 35 accumulate considerable experience in performing various functions and “mature” as a major leader. The duration of such ripening is determined by Western experts at 5-7 years, i.e. rapid career take-off should begin at 27 – 28 years.
Life is not easy for leaders. On their way, they encounter many difficulties, the main of which, by all accounts, is the management of subordinates. In second place is planning the activities of the company and in third is the dismissal of employees. Among others who did not fall on the “podium”, one can note the problem of managing one’s time, delegation of authority, financial “wilds”, decision making and settlement of conflicts.
There are two psychological types of leaders: “players” and “open”. The former look spectacular, reliable, flexible. They know how to “splurge”, and therefore quickly change their position, following only their interests. In fact, they do not know how to work with full dedication and cope poorly with problems.
“Open” leaders are not so noticeable, but they are consistent; they take on any of the most difficult things, strive in good faith to understand everything, thereby gaining lasting trust and respect for a long time. They are also flexible and act in accordance with the circumstances, but do not live in the present day, but are directed towards the future. They are the true leaders who have undeniable authority among their subordinates.
The subordinate is impressed by the leader, taking responsibility, boldly making decisions, honestly admitting mistakes. The growth of authority is also facilitated by tolerance for people’s weaknesses that do not interfere with work.
The authority is gained for a long time, and is lost quickly. And the main reasons for this are inaction and reinsurance. Errors practically do not affect authority – no one is safe from them, but corrected. they are not difficult if desired.
Usually an authoritative leader is a leader by nature. But what to do if it is not? It’s possible, even for a while, to put at the head of the matter just a smart, well-trained specialist. And in order to accurately select this (leaders appear on their own!), You need to know the qualities that must be inherent in him. There are three groups of such qualities: personal, professional, organizational, and business.
Personal qualities primarily include honesty and decency, which always imply observance of the norms of universal morality, modesty and justice in relation to others. The leader should try to understand his subordinates, see in them personalities worthy of respect, be able to understand their behavior, be humane and take care of people, strive for cooperation, taking into account the interests of all.
The manager must be principled in all matters, be able to withstand pressure both “from above” and “from below”, consistently and firmly stand his ground, not hide his views, defend to the end those values that they profess and help acquire these values through others personal example, and not moralizing, firmly keep this word.
The manager’s work is extremely difficult, and therefore one of his most important personal qualities should be good health, which helps to be energetic and resilient, courageously endure the blows of fate, successfully cope with stresses; To maintain good physical health we need constant training, balanced workloads that require changing activities – because rest is not idleness, but in switching to another job.
Therefore, it is necessary to rationally distribute strength and energy between all your affairs in order to succeed in everyone, but you cannot accustom yourself to constant stable loads and from time to time destroy the usual patterns of action, because when you need a breakthrough, the disrupted leader will no longer be able to do it.
However, physical health alone is not enough for a manager. He must also be an emotionally healthy person, otherwise he simply cannot withstand all the overloads falling on his head.
Therefore, you need to form positive emotions in yourselves: empathy, which makes a person humane; excitement, stimulating activity, interest and curiosity, helping to move forward, the development of new areas of activity; confidence adding solidity.
Making managerial decisions requires managers not only qualifications, but also emotional maturity, which is expressed in the ability and willingness to meet acute situations, successfully cope with them, and not make an inevitable tragedy of defeats that are inevitable in the life path of any manager.
A modern manager must actively struggle with his own shortcomings, form a positive attitude towards life and work, create a “healthy” environment by promoting and training people, revealing their abilities and talents; you don’t need to be afraid of losing credibility – in most cases, employees pay for such an attitude towards them, on the contrary, by recognition and gratitude.
Another group of qualities required by any manager is professional. This is competence, i.e. system of special knowledge and practical skills. It is special and managerial. This culture is general, technical, economic, legal, informational, psychological and pedagogical. A number of other points are also important.
First of all, a modern leader is distinguished by a good knowledge of reality, both internal and external, an understanding of the goals of the company and its unit, the ability to see problems, highlight the most significant aspects in them, and be receptive to novelty and changes. It is impossible without possessing mental abilities above the average level, the ability to analyze the situation, create and critically evaluate various plans and programs, make decisions, take responsibility for their implementation, work hard and hard for this, be energetic and decisive.
However, the leader should be not only well trained and highly educated, but also a creative person. He is required not only to believe in his creative abilities, but also to value such abilities in others, to be able to mobilize and use them, overcoming all the obstacles encountered on the way. To do this, you must be persistent, feel the need for change, be able to break with traditions, perceive new ideas and innovative solutions, and use them systematically. The creative leader usually works with groups using the brain attack method, encourages the free expression of emotions and ideas, and constantly learns, including from his own mistakes.
Creativity is inconceivable without the ability to find information and share it with subordinates, listen to others no matter who they are, to keep themselves open with colleagues, seek feedback, not to fence themselves off from what threatens established worldviews, while putting everything in doubt , to understand the position of others, everywhere to find people of at least some interest to the company.
But the most important thing for a manager is to grasp everything on the fly, to link newly acquired knowledge with old ones, to have the ability and ability to learn both at work and outside it, increasing competence, but avoiding one-sided specialization. Education usually starts from the moment you take office and never stops.
Another group of managerial qualities that define him as a manager, in fact, are organizational as well as business.
They reflect the level of managerial culture of the manager, his knowledge of the technology of managerial work: the selection, placement and use of personnel, the development of norms, standards and regulations, personal plans and activity plans of departments, services, operational plans and time schedules for events, bringing tasks to the performers, briefing, management, control.
Organizational qualities must be attributed primarily to determination. The nature of modern life requires the manager to have clear and well-founded goals. Without them, he may lack firmness and determination, miss good opportunities, waste time on trifles. Since everything is changing in the world to stay afloat, the manager must adjust these goals. But purposefulness lies not only in setting goals, but stubbornly striving for them. This distinguishes the manager from other employees.
Another organizational quality that should be inherent in a manager is efficiency. It consists in the ability to clearly and timely set tasks, make informed decisions, monitor their implementation, and be efficient and managerial in actions and deeds.
An important organizational quality of a manager is energy, that is, the ability to infect people with confidence, the desire to act by logical suggestion, personal example, personal optimism.
The manager must have inherent discipline and control over himself. Without this, he can neither call others to order, nor control their activities. Therefore, the manager must control their emotions and moods, study the emotions of others in order to find an approach to their behavior, and also control the discipline of subordinates.
A distinguishing feature of a manager should be increased working capacity, the ability to work hard, without sacrificing oneself and not becoming a “workman” (in leading companies it is considered bad form for senior executives to stay in the office after the end of the working day or take work home).
You need to save strength for the main thing, not waste it in an empty way, be able to relax, including during business trips. The manager must be sociable, contact, i.e. sociable, aimed at the outside world, showing interest in others. He must be able to win over people, listen and understand them, and convince himself that he is right.
In terms of contact, several types of leaders can be distinguished.
- Firstly, those who spend most of their time, about 2/3, spend on their subordinates and only 1/3 on external relations.
- Secondly, those who devote both to approximately equal time.
- Thirdly, those who carry out only vertical contacts with superiors and subordinates, but do not want to know with colleagues of their level.
- Fourth, those who shun all contacts at all. The first and second types of managers are good for operational management, the fourth for strategic, the third type of manager does not generally meet the requirements for modern managers. / 3, 58 /
An important feature of the manager is realism. He must be able to correctly assess his abilities and the abilities of his subordinates, their actions, not to be in the clouds, then it will not be so painful to fall upon failure.
A good manager is characterized by healthy optimism and confidence.
Managing people without self-confidence is impossible. Confident people know what they want. They never resort to workarounds. Their views on problems are always clear and precise, and they strive to ensure that everyone knows about these views, and therefore express their views freely, trying to be heard and understood, but at the same time respect other people and their opinions.
A good leader should be able to ensure the involvement of employees in the work. To do this, it is necessary to properly encourage people, turn any, even the most boring work, into an exciting game, looking for unconventional approaches and unknown facets in solving the problem, and to flush their actions with a certain share of adventure for greater attractiveness. He must reckon with the desire of subordinates to achieve a certain position in this world, to know their ideals and contribute to their implementation.
But most importantly, the manager must have the ability to manage, organize and support the work of the team, be prepared for action, risk.
He must be able to determine the scope of his official powers, the ability to act independently of leadership, encourage people to obey, get rid of the ballast, and help those who remain to become themselves, and not crush them. For this, the manager must be tolerant of the weaknesses of people who do not interfere with work, and intolerance of everything that hinders the successful solution of the tasks facing him and the team.
It must be borne in mind that there does not exist and will not exist a manager with universal abilities and acting equally effectively in any situation.
