So I’m sitting at my computer on a rainy Sunday morning, with a cup of coffee, pondering what to write. I’ve been thinking about how challenging it is in these uncertain economic times to be a leader. What does it take to keep yourself and your people energized and motivated, while at the same time, keeping them realistically informed about the state of your business?
We spent some time brainstorming about this topic at work last Friday. Our managers, like most managers today, are faced with some tough challenges. This is not the time to be pushing anything their way that’s not directly relevant to improving sales, lowering expenses, or improving client service. At the same time, while focusing on the bottom line, they need to keep their teams productive and sane.
How can we support our managers? What tools or advice can we give them? How can we help them support their employees?
After a second cup of coffee, I came across a column in our local business section by Mimi Bacilek, a local executive coach and president of SuccessBuilders LLC . I’ve known Mimi for a while, and have always had a lot of respect for her and the work she does.
She wrote an article called Bringing your firm through chaos a real measure of leader's success.
Here’s the introduction:
Change is assaulting leaders from all angles, driven externally and internally. The environment is uncertain. Budgets are being slashed, orders put on hold, positions placed in jeopardy. While your competitors are circling the wagons and slashing their way to greatness, you can ready your organization for the predictable turnaround.
Now is the time to invest in your business by deeply engaging your people to create the future. The cost to the leader is time and energy; the benefit is tapping into the amazing talents people bring to the workplace.
Mimi talks about six things a leader should do in tough times:
1. Focus on the future
2. Set the vision
3. Rally the troops
4. Empower teams
5. Monitor progress
6. Rewards success
1. Focus on the future
2. Set the vision
3. Rally the troops
4. Empower teams
5. Monitor progress
6. Rewards success
I like the approach – it’s not overly complicated and seems like it would be effective in many cases.
However, simple doesn’t always mean easy, especially when it comes to great leadership. A leader needs to have the drive and passion to want to succeed under any conditions, and have a genuine desire to want their employees and company to succeed. Taking the time and effort to plan and implement these six steps, and other leadership best practices, is what sets a great leader apart from an average manager.
After pondering Mimi’s advice for a bit, I then opened up my email and read the following question from a reader (presumably from the other side of the world, because who other than deranged bloggers are at their computers at 5:30 in the morning?):
While I was reading yours and other Leadership blogs, another question appeared.
Quite a few friends of mine decided to take additional degree in psychology after graduating, claiming it would help being a manager. However, after reading articles online and also some other books on leadership, I came to conclusion, that experience and personality are more important for leader and manager than psychology degree, though some psychology knowledge helps, but it can be acquired outside of formal education.
I would like to hear your opinion on this matter.
I love the question! Sometimes, as a leader, it often feels like a degree in psychology is what it takes to be effective. After all, a large part of what it takes to be an effective leader is an understanding of people – what makes them tick and how to motivate them.
Managers are also overwhelmed with all kinds of leadership advice that to me just comes across as overly complicated, touchy- feely, psycho-babble, and probably written by pseudo-experts with little actually leadership experience.
Yes, being a great leader requires a good amount of emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, collaboration skills, and knowing how to inspire and motivate.
But is getting an advanced degree in psychology the best way to obtain these skills and knowledge? I don’t think so.
In fact, I’d be afraid that a manager armed with a toolkit full of Freudian and Jungian theory would end up just annoying people.
Certainly obtaining a college degree is a good way to start any career, and there’s merit to continuing on for an MBA or some other advanced degree. It’s even better if students can pick up some real work and leadership experience along the way, through internships, co-ops and plain old summer jobs.
The reader is right, in that, most of what’s written in this blog, as well as other research on what has made great leaders successful, is all about learning and development through experience.
When I talk to executive coaches, the ones that impress me the most are the ones who have had executive experience, much more so than the ones with professional coaching certification or psychology degrees. Often times, the ones who come at with too much of a psychosocial approach scare me a little.
So I’d say yes, go ahead and go for that advanced degree, but if your desired career path is management, I’d recommend a few years of work and then an MBA over staying in school to pursue an advanced degree in psychology.
And for you experienced managers, no, it’s not as complicated as we make it seem sometimes. Try following Mimi’s advice – invest your time and energy in leading your teams and we’ll all come out of this in a better place.
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