Chaos to calm: How to know if leadership is for you S3 E10

In the final episode of series three, Jenni talks about how to know if leadership is for you. She looks at how we behave and the traits we need to be aware of in ourselves if we want to embark on a leadership journey. Jenni shares the different definitions of leadership and management, the varying styles of leadership, some of the broader insights about behaviours, and how they all link together. She also talks about trust and credibility too.

Things that will help you go from chaos to calm:

Unleashed: The unapologetic leader’s guide to empowering everyone around you by Frances Frei and Anne Morriss

Podcast: Chaos to Calm: Why we need unity in our leadership teams S3 E3

Blog: It’s not disengagement, it’s distrust

The 13 behaviours of a high-trust leader

You can continue the conversation with Jenni on Twitter and LinkedIn

Transcript for this podcast

Welcome to this episode of Redefining Comms with me, Jenni Field. Today, I’m going to be talking about how to know if leadership is for you. And I want to talk about this because sometimes it’s something people feel that they should strive for. Sometimes, it’s discussed as something everyone should be doing or everyone can do. And sometimes that makes it hard to say, “Do you know what, I’m actually not interested in doing a leadership job. I’m really happy just doing what I’m doing here and doing it really, really well.” So, I want to share some of the things I’ve been reading and learning about when it comes to leadership.

And there are several definitions that I want us to explore. So, I’m going to share with you different definitions for leaders, different definitions for managers. And I’m going to talk about the 10 things to look out for to know whether or not leadership is for you. 

And if you decide it is, what are the things you need to think about to gain the trust that’s needed in leadership? 

Is leadership for you? How can you tell?

Now, the book Unleashed by Francis Frey and Anne Morriss is what really inspired this episode. It was listening to this book that made me think we really need to talk about this a bit more and about the fact that leadership isn’t for everyone. It’s a book that I listened to. And then it’s a book that I bought and highlighted in and scribbled in. So, I’ll pop the link in the show notes to that as well, because I think it’s a really great starting point if you’re looking at your role as a leader and what that really means.

So, let’s start with some definitions. And I’ll pop these in the show notes for you as well, so you can just see who they’re linked to as you’re going through. 

• Leadership is about empowering other people as a result of your presence and making sure the impact continues in your absence. 
• Leadership requires you to be present to the needs, abilities and potential of other people. 
• The only definition of leadership is someone who has followers. 
• Leadership is the process of motivating other people to act in particular ways in order to achieve specific goals. 
• Leadership is the process of influencing others to understand and agree about what needs to be done and how to do it, and the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.
• Leaders decide what should be done. Managers make sure it is done.

Now, there are some nice distinctions that I just want to run through between leadership and management as well. 

Warren Bennis said that leadership is where leaders are people who do the right thing. Managers are people who do things right. 

John Cotter said leadership is about coping with change. Management is about coping with complexity. 

Abraham Zalaznik said leaders are concerned with what things mean to people. Managers are concerned about how things get done. 

John Mariotti said leaders are the architects. Managers are the builders.

Now, I think these are really nice distinctions about leadership and management. And I think discussing definitions around leadership help us think about whether or not leadership is right for me or actually is being a manager more where I will thrive.

And it’s completely okay to feel either way about these things. But I think this is a conversation that needs to be had, especially when people can often be promoted into roles of leadership and not given the skills or the development time to really learn what it is to lead. 

In the book Unleashed, they talk about the fact that when it’s all about you, you can’t lead. And there are 10 signs that you should look out for to check whether leadership is for you. 

So, when it comes to leadership, and if you’ve listened to this list and think, yep, leadership is exactly where I want to go. This is exactly what I want to do. Those 10 things don’t relate to me. I’m almost the opposite of those. Then, I want you to think about seven things. And these are seven things that I want you to consider, because they are a combination of things that have come up in the work that I do coaching business owners and boards, and the research I’ve been doing into trust and credibility.

1. You have to understand people.

You have to be curious enough to ask questions, but you have to know the basics about what makes us human beings, what makes us feel threatened, what makes us feel safe. The more you can understand that, the more you understand how important communication and trust is, then the more you’re going to build better relationships with people. You know, we are complex. Organisations are complex. People are complex. And I always say that organisations are people. So, we have to have those foundations of understanding them. And if you don’t have that, then leading people is going to be really difficult.

2. Remember that when you’re leading, you’re often operating in a team.

Now, there’s an episode in this season where I talk about leading as a team, and I’ll pop the link in the show notes for you because it’s important to remember that no one person is an island. And I have said that phrase again and again to people in leadership teams whose egos are letting them run away with them. You are not working on your own. You are not an island. 

3. The problems in organisations today are just too complex for one person to solve.

You need diverse teams to help solve complex problems, and you need to empower people and make sure that they feel like they belong and that they are listened to. Now, this sounds very easy, but it’s a topic that is on the agenda of most boards and organisations at the moment. Organisations are complex. We don’t have to have all of the answers, but you have to be open and willing to listen to everyone else around you to make sure that you’re able to solve some of those problems together. 

4. You have to have a growth mindset.

And that’s where you’re open to learning. You know, your role as a leader will evolve as the group or the organisation changes. It won’t always stay the same. So, being able to adapt as a leader, depending on where the organisation is or where the group is, is really important in terms of your own skill set.

5. Credibility. 

And credibility comes down to your own integrity, comes down to your intent, your capabilities and your results. All four of these, so that’s integrity, intent, capabilities and results. All four of those need to be considered when you lead. So you need to spend some time making sure that you have clarity on them and making sure that you’re clear about all four of those and that you’re showing up in the way that you want to, especially when it comes to your intent. 

6. Trust and know yourself.

You know, the saying that it’s your oxygen mask first really does exist for a reason. And as a leader, you have to know yourself, know how to take care of yourself and trust yourself before you can do that for others. If you’re looking to lead, having a real knowledge of yourself and high emotional intelligence is really important. 

7. The 13 behaviours that demonstrate trust. 

Now, I’ve popped a blog post link in the show notes so you can read more about these. But there are three that I think are particularly relevant if you’re thinking about leadership. And my favourite three of the 13 behaviours are to talk straight, to clarify expectations and to keep commitments. And they are fundamental, I think, when it comes to leading people, building relationships and having trust. 

Thank you so much for listening!

Now, this brings us to the end of season three. So, thank you so much for listening.

I’m going to be reviewing everything to decide if we will be back with season four in 2023. And the reason for that is that I have some projects coming up that I’m working on during the last quarter of this year that will see me focus a bit more on reading and writing. So I’m just keen to make sure that I have the time to do the things that will add the most value to you and my wider community.

But please let me know what you thought of this episode or the season. And as always, I’d love to continue this conversation on Twitter or LinkedIn. So, you can also join my community by subscribing to my mailing list. And you can always connect, ask questions and share your thinking with me. And there are details in the show notes.