Positive auspicious images. accustomed themselves to the ability that gives them the opportunity to see all events in the version in which they are in reality. The common man has such a bad habit of constantly humiliating his own virtues and greatly exaggerating his modest shortcomings. He considers the whole wide perspective in a dark light and almost does not see that it can be embodied. But such a person considers all sorts of problems very seriously. He draws in his mind all the events in dark colors, experiences, and at the same time believes that this is how it will happen.
Simply put, he lives in his imaginary problems. Leaders, on the other hand, see their problems as they really are, and see the prospects exaggerated. In fact, if the problems are considered as ordinary small situations, they are very quickly and simply solved. The difference is only in perception: if you perceive the problem that has arisen negatively, start a stubborn struggle to get rid of it, then other problems will come running to you, as if help from the first problem. These other additional problems complicate everything, and much more.
In general, leaders do not use such a word as "problem". Word "problem" creates a negative image in the mind, because of which other negative events and situations are attracted. Leaders removed the word from their vocabulary "problem". Instead of this vile word, leaders use a word like "situation" or "a task". For example, a sentence: "I have a difficult problem" leaders are replaced by: “There is a rather interesting situation that I need to solve right now”. Notice how gross the first sentence sounds and how good the second sentence sounds.
Leaders very carefully monitor the use of words that create negative images in the mind. As I said, the mind thinks only in images, and words are just a tool for transmitting this image to other people. Words cannot accurately convey the image that arose in the mind. So it turns out that in order to convey an image to another person, it must first be encoded with words, that is, it must be said, and other people should perceive these words and decode the image. Words are mediators. And in order to convey any image, you can use a lot of word options. Leaders know how to convey words in a positive way. The same image can demoralize another person or, on the contrary, motivate him. It depends on what words you use to convey it. Imagine this picture: the leader of his team says: "We got in trouble". And no matter what he says next, the whole picture will be in dark colors. It's like starting to paint a picture not on a white canvas, but on a pale gray one. It's quite another thing to say: “We found that the previous idea didn’t work out the way we wanted, however, there is an opportunity to do it differently.”
| we're having problems | we have an interesting situation |
| it won't work | we have to make every effort to make it work for us |
| the situation is too complex | the situation is simple to solve, you just need to think and come up with the best way to solve it |
| the market is already 80% full | The market is busy, but not completely. Another 20% free |
| I am very young/old | my age is my advantage |
| they have all the advantages over us | Of course, they have advantages, but none can have absolute superiority. |
| I was wrong | I got invaluable experience |
| i lost again | I lost another battle, but the war is not over |
How Leaders Think
1. Leaders use only positive imagery, because they know well that consciousness perceives only images, and they strive to create a picture that is favorable for work. In a dark or anxious state, it is simply impossible to achieve effective work.
2. Leaders get to the bottom of the problem and try to present it as if the problem is very easy to solve. If a tiger is reduced to the size of a kitten, it will no longer be scary. Often, people overestimate the complexity of the problem, which leads to real complication.
3. Leaders often smile. Try smiling and thinking about something negative at the same time. You won't succeed. Or the smile will disappear from the face, or thoughts will change in a positive direction. No other is given.
4. Leaders sometimes seem serious, but deep down they are far from being serious. No need to be serious. Seriousness reinforces the importance and magnifies the size of the problems. A smile does the opposite, defuses the situation, weakens the importance, as a result of which the situation is solved much easier. Importance blocks access to rational thought. The more important the task is for you, the stronger your experience. In moments of experience, it is very difficult to adequately perceive and respond to the problems that have arisen, and even more so to solve them correctly. Leaders are well aware of this and therefore they try to reduce the severity of the problem for subordinates.
5. Leaders use global images. They form huge and build large-scale instead of small and insignificant. Global images can motivate people much more than useless ones.
6. Instead of thinking about how far and how long to go, leaders think about how far they have already gone.. This also applies to. If you think about how much more work you need to do in order to realize your goals, you will never achieve them. When you think about what you don't have yet, you waste your energy and sink into negativity. When you think the opposite, that is, when you think how much you have already done, then the energy is added, as you rejoice at the amount of work done. Leaders know this well and show their people how much they have done.
7. Leaders look to the future to see what things can become, not what they are.. Every entrepreneur who once started his own business sees it from the beginning of its inception until full dawn, and for this he is ready and ready to overcome any obstacles. What we have now is only a transitional stage towards the goal. All your real life happens in your mind, and reality is only a reflection of the situations and events of the mind.
8. Leaders perceive everything that happens positively. Leaders view all situations in a positive light, even if they don't. Each problem, tobish situation, carries the seed of the next victory. Our life is made up of decisions made and choices made. We cannot choose the situations that will happen to us, but we can choose the reactions to these situations. If you react negatively, you will attract more of the same negative situations to you. By reacting positively, you turn negative situations into positive ones. And if a leader is not able to maintain a positive atmosphere in difficult times, then what kind of leader is he then?
leader, leadership, how to become a leader, thinking of a leader
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Key competencies of a leader: thinking of a leader or leadership in thinking.
The critical reader may quite rightly remark: "But isn't it the same thing?" And he will be absolutely right in his doubts - our language is so arranged that a simple rearrangement of words can cause a serious distortion of meaning. So let's understand this situation with this example.
The reason for the appearance of this article was the review of a friend. I sent him an article from the July issue of Competences for review. An article about the theoretical substantiation of leadership as a phenomenon. The essence of his criticism, in general, boiled down to whether the leader should be able to seem the best among his people, or in fact it is necessary to be the best. Then there is the question of true leadership or its image. That is, by translating this question into managerial language, we get: (including the idea of our own high competence in any area) is this skill alone enough, or is it really necessary to have high competence in all areas of the group.
The key competencies of a leader - to be or to seem?
Let's return to the conceptual apparatus used in the already mentioned article:
Leadership is the position of an individual in a group determined by the recognition of high performance by other members of the group.
Leadership is an internal management process based on the initiative of group members.
So, it is obvious that the 1st definition is “... to seem ...”, 2 - “... to be ...”. Because - 1 is the sale of the idea of one's own superiority, and 2 is the management of the state of initiative (orientation and quality) of the members of the group - this is what we used to consider true leadership.
Oddly enough, but with this approach, the initial contradiction merges into a single key competence of the leader under the conditional name "persuasiveness" and means the ability to sell an idea. It doesn’t matter what, about their own godlikeness, as the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt did, or the need to sacrifice oneself in the struggle for other people’s ideals, as modern leaders do, calling on protesters to the barricades.
Leadership competencies - thinking or perception?
Let's return to our particular case with which we started, and deal with it. Let's assign definitions:
1. Leader's thinking - thinking in which all decisions have a positive (constructive) direction - thinking in which the analysis of the situation leads to a conclusion with possibilities.
2. Leadership in thinking - superiority in thinking.
The first definition is widespread and has not been critically perceived for a long time, although for a person familiar with cognitive processes there is a clear conceptual confusion. Let's figure it out - there are 5 cognitive processes: attention, perception, thinking, imagination, memory - everything is no more, no less. Subtract or add means to go against modern science. So definition No. 1 is the definition of perception as a cognitive process, not thinking - a bad inaccurate definition, but precisely perception. As a result, all trainings in the paradigm of this definition teach leadership perception, not thinking. This also opens up its great prospects, it is also very useful - and this is undeniable. From a practical point of view, for us (HR and [email protected] managers) this does not allow to develop leadership as a competency as a whole - because besides this there is something else besides this component. A useful result of this construction is that the leader must have a special leadership perception of reality, that is, perceive the current situation as a field for future activity - an operational space, and see the world around him as a set of opportunities for achieving goals (his leader).
As for definition No. 2, everything is quite simple here - the leader must at least periodically demonstrate to the environment his superiority in thinking. For this, for a very long time, mankind has developed and is developing intellectual tools that allow, without affecting the brain in order to enhance its performance, to obtain excellent (relatively average) results when solving problems for thinking. Trainings on this topic on the market, although rare, are also found in us (HR and [email protected] managers) to solve the problem of developing the thinking apparatus of managers at all levels at the moment is not difficult.
In the leadership competency model, this area is usually called “Creativity” (I don’t understand why, but for some reason it is), “Manager’s Thinking” and the like. Conclusion: a leader needs to have superiority in thinking, but only in order to demonstrate his process superiority in solving group problems (look for the rationale in the article on leadership in the July issue of "Competencies").
General summary of all our constructions:
Key competencies of a leader:
1. Be able to sell ideas.
2. See the world around you as a set of opportunities to achieve goals.
3. Have superiority in thinking.
And that is not all…..
I have seen this many times.
A leader can do everything right, but the wrong mindset alone can overshadow—and even jeopardize—every good leadership principle we know.
One repetitive action. One characteristic. One habit. One feature of thinking.
Alas, often the point is not even that a person is not a good leader. Just one wrong attitude knocks him off the right track. Therefore, I believe that leaders must constantly work on the unsatisfactory mindset that prevents them from achieving the success that they could achieve.
Here are seven of the most dangerous leadership mindsets I have ever observed.
To be perfectly frank, I noticed some of them in myself - sometimes for a while, until someone helped me understand that an unsatisfactory leadership type of thinking appeared in me myself.
Can't see the forest for the trees.
There will always be little things to deal with, but the smaller the leader's thoughts, the less he or she will be able to focus on seeing the future. I can get caught up in details that waste my energy and drain my strength. Sometimes it's a systemic problem that takes too much time, and sometimes it's just the inability to delegate authority. And interestingly, I have noticed for myself that when there is no responsibility for a lot of details, I am more likely to notice things that are less noticeable, but to a large extent require my attention.
A negative leader can almost never be successful in the long run, simply because no one wants to follow him. For some, this attitude persists all the time (and I personally believe that leadership is not their path), but sometimes this mood can only last for a while - especially when there are numerous failures either in personal life or in the area where we are we are leaders. The same can happen in times of rapid change, when the number of complainers outnumbers the flatterers. If we are not careful, it may happen that we allow a negative way of thinking to penetrate into all other areas of our lives and begin to see our world in this light. It is very difficult to follow a leader with a negative mindset.
Don't enjoy the journey.
Don't spend time celebrating. High achievers often fall into this trap. I myself sometimes get there, and I have to either remind myself of this, or wait for reminders from others. I always try to look ahead and not miss the next big chance, striving for continuous improvement. I may overlook current success while constantly looking for future potential. The problem is that continually pushing forward is not sustainable in the long run. It burns people out, makes them feel unappreciated, and leads to very low team spirit. People need rest; they need to stop, rest, take a breath and celebrate the victories already achieved.
Expect more from others than you are willing to give yourself.
Once I had the opportunity to work with a leader who expected a lot from everyone, not only in terms of the quality of work, but also in terms of the number of working hours. The problem was that, as it turned out, he did not make the same high demands on himself. He would show up at work solely to growl a few orders and then disappear. And, since he was basically an "absent" leader, even if he worked outside the office (and I personally knew that he often worked out of the office), no one believed it. He created a feeling of laziness. Everyone who tried to follow him was disappointed. People felt like they were being used. Those who follow a leader with this type of mindset work mostly for a paycheck.
Especially if the leader's mindset suggests that he or she deserves it. The success of a team does not happen without the efforts of other people. When the leader takes all the honors and rewards on his account, the team becomes employees of the boss, and not followers of the leader. Creative activity becomes a hired job, not a career. This can be expressed simply in the language of the leader. If "I" did everything myself, if it was all thanks to "me" - then "they" in the near future may - even if only in motivation - allow "me" to do everything myself. Overall success is paramount to a leader's long-term success.
Never stop working.
You cannot do this. You can not. You may think that you can always be active - do everything - be everywhere - but you can't. Superman couldn't. And Jesus. Do not try. (Some of my current readers still think they can—okay—I warned you!) And I have to be honest, it was one of the hardest moments for me. This usually happens when I don't have the willpower to say no, when I'm too worried about what people think of me who expect me to just be everywhere, or when I haven't done something I shouldn't have done. should have done. Fortunately, I have reached the level of maturity where it became possible for me to consciously limit the period of active activity. (For me, that usually means going out of town. There's always something to do there.)
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Isolate yourself from others.
One of the most dangerous features of the leader mindset that I have observed is the belief in not letting others get too close to you. Leadership can be a job that requires privacy. But this should not be the work of a loner. We need people. The leader must be accountable. We need a community and those who are able to reach out to hidden places in our hearts and lives. And so often I have seen this in the failure of leaders—even for many pastors. When we become islands in our soul, we thereby invite the attacks of the enemy.
Here are some of the dangerous ways in which leaders think that I have observed. Would you like to add something to the list?
If you want to become a true leader, you have a difficult task ahead of you: you will be able to learn everything you need to know about your work and about yourself only when you start act as a leader, not just think about leadership.
How to do this is described in the book of the world-famous professor, INSEAD teacher, former teacher of the Harvard Business School Erminia Ibarra - “Act like a leader, think like a leader”, which was published by the Eksmo publishing house.
Why the Traditional Approach Won't Benefit You Much
Most leadership training is about changing the way you think. You are being asked to think about who you are now and who you would like to become.
An entire line of leadership education is based on this: there are thousands of books and courses that should define your leadership style and teach you how to use your strengths.
If you've tried these methods, then you know how limited they are. They can help you identify your strengths and your leadership style. But it is your ideas about yourself and your work that prevent you from becoming a leader. You have to change your attitude, and for this you need only one thing: to act differently.
Aristotle said that people become virtuous by doing good deeds: in other words, by doing the right thing, you yourself become better. His idea finds confirmation in a large number of socio-psychological studies proving that a person's consciousness changes when he begins to behave in a new way. Simply put, external changes affect the internal state, and not vice versa.
Richard Pascal, the management guru, puts it this way: “Adults are more likely to translate a new way of doing things into a new way of thinking than a new way of thinking into a new way of doing things.”
The same is true with leadership. Observations of how adults learn demonstrate that the logical sequence "think, then act" in practice works in a completely opposite way in the processes of personal change, in particular, those associated with the transformation of a person into a real leader.
Paradoxically, our self-knowledge grows only when when changes happen. We try something new, then we observe the results - how we feel, how others react - and only then do we think about what the experience teaches, and perhaps learn a lesson. In other words, we act like a leader and then we start thinking like a leader(hence the title of this book).
How Leaders Actually Become Leaders
Along with the growth of leadership potential, the likelihood that an employee will receive support from the organization also increases. For example, he will be assigned more responsible tasks. This process is cyclical.
When a person first acts as a leader, and then begins to think like a leader, in other words, when the internal changes under the influence of the external, what I call outside perception.
The principle of perception from the outside
Deeply ingrained traditional thinking does not allow us to change our behavior in accordance with the requirements of leadership. The way we think - that is, what we notice, appreciate, consider right and important - directly affects our actions. In fact, inside-out thinking can hinder change.
Our mindset is difficult to change, because it requires experience in what we are least likely to do. We put ourselves in a box. The paradox of change is that the only way to change our way of thinking is to do exactly what our habitual thinking does not allow us to do.
According to principle of perception from the outside, the only way to learn to think like a leader is to start acting like a leader: getting involved in new projects and activities, interacting with a wide variety of people, and experimenting with unfamiliar ways of getting things done.
As a result, habitual actions and thoughts that limit you now are transformed.
During transitions and times of uncertainty, reflection and introspection should to followper actions and experiments, and not vice versa. The new experience not only changes the way you think, your opinion about what is important and what to do, but also you. It will help you move away from the old sources of self-esteem, old goals and habits.
If you use the reverse approach to change, that is, "from the inside out", you will not achieve anything. Contrary to popular belief, excessive introspection keeps us stuck in the past, weakens our receptivity, prevents us from reaching our leadership potential and preparing for fundamental changes in our environment.
It's a bit like looking for a lost watch under a streetlight, while new challenges require a broader view: fresh, external points of view that we are exposed to as we perform various activities.
Lost in transition
To better understand the principle of perception from the outside, I will introduce you to Jacob, a production manager at a food company. After the company was acquired by a private investor, Jacob's first priority was to overhaul the manufacturing process. But because he constantly had to deal with everyday problems, he had little time to think about important strategic issues.
When the owner of the company changed, Jacob's position remained the same, but management's expectations about him changed. But Jacob still didn't do anything to become a leader.
This is a common situation these days. In the past, a promotion or appointment to a new position meant it was time for you to readjust or even rethink your leadership role. Today, important career changes aren't just about getting a solid-sounding job or moving into a new office. Seemingly subtle (as well as larger) changes in your business environment create new, though not always explicit, management expectations about what and how you will do.
Such changes in responsibilities are very complex and require a corresponding change in the approach to managerial work. However, according to my personal research, only 47% of those who reported new expectations for their performance had received a promotion in the two years prior to the survey. For the rest, they were expected to assume a greater leadership role while remaining in their current position. This is exactly what happened to Jacob.
Where to start change?
Best of all, changing how you do your job, what kind of business contacts you make, and how you approach certain tasks. No amount of introspection can bring about change without significant changes in what you do and the people you interact with.
1. Rethink your work
Jacob's intuition told him that the transition to a more serious leadership role meant, above all, a change in how he spent his time. However, two hours in a quiet environment in the office is not the right option. In fact, most of the required changes in Jacob's actions were to encourage him to be in other places.
To be successful, Jacob must first redefine his job, shifting his focus from improving current factory operations to understanding the new environment in which the firm operates and creating a shared strategic vision among his peers that will enable his production management to be properly prioritized. organization as a whole.
Jacob could take into account a number of factors in his actions, such as how the industry in which his firm operates is changing, how it is creating something of value for people, and how all this may change in the future. And, of course, he should influence the people who play the most important role in the process of creating this value, regardless of whether they are in his group or firm.
Jacob wanted to focus on the capital investment his firm would need over the next two years, but he didn't have time to think about it. He complained about the need to constantly monitor the actions of his subordinates or production processes. At the same time, he knew that his boss expected him to create a strategy that would take into account the development of the entire company as a whole, and not just one or two factories, and actively attract appropriate resources.
Until now, Jacob has been successful, moreover, the performance of such duties is typical for many managers at the same stage of career development. In the early stages, we always act in our area of expertise. We also typically manage the work of others within the functional or technical areas in which we are experts. However, the picture completely changes when we begin to play a more serious leadership role.
2. network of business contacts
It is difficult to develop strategic foresight while on the factory floor. To become a leader, Jacob needed to get a complete picture of the situation, that is, to look at it from the side, without being in the thick of things. In order to spend more time outside of his company, Jacob needed to change his business circle.
Through business contacts, Jacob exchanged work-related information, solved problems related to his area of responsibility, and matched the right people for certain groups of employees. But these connections failed to prepare Jacob for the future because they don't go beyond his current way of thinking.
Faced with the need to think outside the box and deal with strategic issues, many managers do not immediately realize that such issues are not just analytical tasks, but something that requires a broader business relationship.
There is another reason why business connections are important to our leadership development. When we have to learn something new, the help and support of more experienced people will not be superfluous at all. They will be able to suggest in which direction to move, and evaluate our efforts, contributing to our professional growth.
3. Get creative
Now Jacob needs to move from his usual leadership style to a style in which he delegates more day-to-day work to his team and begins to collaborate more widely with other parts of the organization.
People who aspire to play a greater leadership role must not only redefine their work and create a new professional network. To a much greater extent, they should rethink their own personality.
They need to transform their values at work, the personal goals that drive their actions, their self-image, and how they are perceived by others.
While personal transformation usually involves changes in leadership style, it is much more than that. When managers like Jacob are asked to consider what prevents them from expanding their stylistic repertoire, many almost always refer to the need to achieve the desired results at any cost. This approach not only helped them succeed, but also underpins their professional identity. Managers want to change, but change doesn't fit their true selves.
When you start trying new, unfamiliar management styles for you, you will have to stop viewing this as “working on yourself” and take a creative approach. You will try different methods and see how they fit with your self-image. It is necessary to focus primarily on self-learning, and not on achieving results. If the chosen method does not work for you, you will need to try something else.
Integration of different cultures, nationalities,
The ages and styles in companies around the world have a huge impact on business. Leaders today need new skills to succeed.
Thanks to social media and technology, global interaction is becoming a daily business reality. Access to almost any data and knowledge can now be obtained through devices that fit in the palm of your hand. Jim Coases, a well-known management specialist, recently described this shift as follows: “The essence of management remains unchanged on
over the past 20 years, there is no context.”
Leaders who strive for success must now develop three new competencies:
- Global Business Acumen: New financial, industrial, functional and technical skills needed to navigate a market characterized by rapidly changing business models and products, mergers and acquisitions.
- Global Thinking: the ability to participate in the ongoing process of generating new things by recognizing opportunities in a multi-layered and complex environment.
- Global Citizenship: Receptiveness and resourcefulness in geography, politics, economics, law, culture, technology, which helps to create and implement corporate strategy.
Global Thinking VS Global Citizenship
Global thinking includes the ability to see beyond the company, national culture, functional responsibilities, comprehend the results of activities as a contribution to society and sustainable development.
- Leadership, Management, Company management
