This post is inspired by people I’ve worked with over the years. They all realised an important truth: you need to learn how to lead, and it’s doable.
And it reflects my own journey too. So here are some truths about what you can get when you treat leadership like a learnable skill.
Back in the day when I first became a Demand Planner, I got training on the software we use, the daily, weekly, and monthly processes I needed to follow, and I got taught how to do them.
I had a buddy with who I could ask questions. And someone kept an eye on what I was doing, and basically checked my work.
I even received the perfect gift of what to do if shit hit the fan: a name of an expert who could help me out.
It was perfect, and I got up to speed really quickly.
Then I became a team leader and this is what I got.
That’s right, nothing. I floundered and made many mistakes. I thought maybe being a team leader wasn’t for me.
Skip ahead many years and my clients say to me:
“I like this new leadership role, but I don’t know if I want all this people management stuff that goes with it”.
And it’s followed by a “maybe I’m not cut out for leadership” and a “maybe I’ll look for a different job”.
Good leadership isn’t something we are born with. It’s a set of learnable skills wrapped up in your personal leadership style. ALL of this can be learned and developed.
🔊Companies: make leadership coaching and training standards for all your promotions and hires. Don’t make them struggle through and pick up bad practices, then leave. Don’t make them beg and negotiate. Give them what they need to succeed.
🔊People: if they haven’t given it to you, ask for it. Leadership 101: ask for help.
Or go out and get it for yourself.
About 70% of the people I work with are paying for their leadership coaching program themselves.
Why? Because they were working long hours, the people management side was taking up so much time and energy, and some were thinking about giving up a job they loved because of this.
What did they get?
✅Created overall strategy to build connection and trust
✅Key actions to implement straight away
✅Felt confident about tackling this challenge in a way that felt authentic, and reflected their leadership style
And most importantly:
✅ They realised that they are actually good at leadership now that they’ve found their way, and enjoying developing and empowering their people to be a collaborative team that gets things done and are happy at work.
This post is part of my special Coaching Tips Series. This series was inspired by my clients and the core themes in their challenges. When we can apply these tips, we bring a lot of ease into our lives and step into our leadership. Want to talk it through with me? Call me and let’s make a Game Plan together.