Leading From Your Heart
Posted on July 01, 2013 by Scott Masciarelli, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
By leading from your heart you can connect easily and effortlessly with your team and achieve satisfying results.
I am always amazed at how many companies will promote a person into a new “leadership role” without training or support. Having the title of supervisor, manager or director is very nice and the idea that the person is a “leader” even better, however, the sad reality is that the majority of organizations do very little to train their employees to become effective leaders. If they do receive training it is likely not focused on leading and the people skills needed but on the technical side of their work.
How can I say this? Because I have been there. I was one of those people who held several leadership roles in a corporation and I never received any specific training focused on how to lead my team. I received lots of technical training but not even one day of actual leadership training. My goal was to figure out the most effective ways to motivate employees, build a strong team and create an environment that was based on knowledge and idea sharing and respect.
I did what came naturally to me which was to treat others as I wanted to be treated. I never considered myself as “the manager” and separate from the team. I shared in the challenges and successes with them and we discussed situations openly as they arose. By reading self-improvement and leadership books I found new techniques and tips which I openly shared with my team. There was one day each week, which I looked forward to, where I would work side by side with the team and interesting conversations would naturally develop. As a result we grew even closer.
Instinctively I knew that it was most important for my team to trust me and feel that I was there to coach, guide and support them. It was a collective effort. They were the experts in their work and it was my job to be sure that they had the correct tools and supportive environment to carry out their tasks to the best of their ability. A large part of creating the right environment meant that I needed to be constantly sharing information and keeping the lines of communication open. This allowed the trust to develop naturally.
I led from the heart without knowing what I was doing and it was not until I began training to be a professional coach when I realized that I had been managing with a coaching approach. It was very successful and I urge anyone in a leadership role to consider getting out of themselves and focus on their team. Put your people first and you shall see amazing results and feel great.
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