Unit 1, Listening 1 Leadership Isn’t Just for the Boss

 

Leadership Isn’t Just for the Boss

Mark Connolly: While every company needs a great leader, some of the most effective ones encourage their workers to take on some kind of leadership role as well. Our workplace columnist, Margot Ross-Graham, joins us now to talk about leadership. Good morning, Margot.

Ross-Graham: Good morning, Mark.

Connolly:            So, how does it help to have leaders at every level of an organization?

Ross-Graham: So, I think what’s helpful is to have leadership qualities at every level . . .

Connolly:            Uh-huh.

Ross-Graham: . . . and that there really actually is a distinction between being in a leadership role, which we often think of someone who supervises people . . .

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: . . . versus being a leader in your role, which is, in my opinion, around an attitude of how you approach your work. So I think organizations have every opportunity to create opportunities for people to act more leadership-like in their roles, and I think that’s good for an organization because it describes innovation and creativity and motivation to people all around you.

Connolly:            So what are ways that companies can create leadership opportunities, I guess?

Ross-Graham: So, one thing they have to do is have a leadership, uh, philosophy themselves, and what I mean by that is, in my opinion, one of the greatest ways to promote leadership is to promote cross-teamwork, so cross-borders team activities, because what it does is it puts people out of their comfort zone, it gives them an opportunity to try something new, to practice their skills with a different group, which means they have to try a different way of interacting. But that means organizations have to provide those opportunities and have to believe in people moving outside of their boxes and moving outside of their silos[1], which creates different kinds of communications as well. So I’d say that’s a big piece, is let people move outside of their normal duties and, in fact, encourage them to do that, because it gives them an opportunity to try different things. So that would be one thing. And, the flip side[2] of that is be really clear on your expectations of people within their roles and within new roles that they’re taking on. Because one thing that happens in organizations is a lack of clarity creates a lot of chaos.

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: And, so, it really doesn’t create an environment where people thrive[3]. It creates an environment where people are muddled[4] and sometimes not achieving all of the goals that they set out because they actually don’t know what those goals are. So being really clear on the roles and expectations is a big thing you can do.

Connolly:            But obviously, um, everybody can’t be a leader, right? You can’t have that expectation of everyone, can you?

Ross-Graham: Well, I think that you can have the expectation that everyone can be leader-like.

Connolly:            Mm-hmm.

Ross-Graham: But it’s impossible to have an organization of two hundred people and all of them be in leadership roles . . .

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: . . . uh, in the traditional sense of a leadership role, which, because that would mean that all three of us would be in supervisory roles and we’d be tasked with supervising, but we’d have nobody to supervise . . .

Connolly:            (laughs)

Ross-Graham: . . . and nobody to set expectations with, and we’d have all different things that we would be doing, so it isn’t realistic to think you’re going to create two hundred jobs in a two-hundred-person organization that are considered management.

Connolly:            So, so, what does leadership look like, then, if you’re in your role, uh, you’re doing your job? I mean, are there qualities, are you talking about qualities or things that you do or how you approach your job, or — ?

Ross-Graham: Absolutely. So, I’d say an example would be initiative, so, demonstrating initiative. So, rather than sitting and waiting for someone to give direction, so in a traditional form a supervisor gives you direction and you take that direction and you go and do it, and then you hopefully evaluate how you did, but for sure your supervisor would. In a leader-like organization, individuals would take initiative without waiting to get direction, because they were very clear on what the organization was doing and where they were going. They were clear in their own expectations of their job, so they don’t need to wait for direction.

Connolly:            And, and that’s where the organization comes in, to make that, that clarity, as you said earlier, right?

Ross-Graham: Exactly! So if . . .

Connolly:            If you know what that is, then you can . . .

Ross-Graham: You can go do it. Which saves a lot of time for people . . .

Connolly:            Yeah.

Ross-Graham: . . . because people are just doing what they need to do to get things done. But also that means you might be more creative in how you approach your work, and you would be encouraged to be more creative, which is more leader-like, because it requires different skills to be creative than it does to be a task- or a rule-taker. So I think that’s some qualities: motivation, how you are motivated at work and how you bring that motivation to the people that are around you. An example I could think about would be when you come to work in the morning, or you guys come in the middle of the night.

Connolly:            We come in very early in the morning.

Ross-Graham: Very early in the morning, or whenever you start work, wherever that is in a workplace, whatever time of day you show up at work, the attitude that you bring to work. So are you excited to be there? Are you talking with people in the environment around you? Are you welcoming and saying hello? Versus you come to work, you put your head down, you get your job done, you don’t engage[5] with anyone, and you get out. Which actually is what we would want an employee to do. We pay you to come to work to do your job . . .

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: . . . to do it well, and then to go home and come back the next day. And, so, both of those are things that we expect, but leaders in organizations or people who have leadership qualities come to work with an enthusiasm and a motivation that’s infectious . . .

Connolly:            Mm-hmm.

Ross-Graham: . . . which creates other people to be excited about being in the workplace. So, in the past, I’ve talked about the importance of leaders or bosses walking around and saying hello to people at work . . .

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: . . . and really excited to see people, but that goes to employees, too. So, you and I, if I came to work every day and never said hi to you, it’s not my responsibility to say hi to you, but I create an environment where you might be more excited to come to work if we actually have an amicable[6] and maybe a good relationship.

Connolly:            Right.

Ross-Graham: So . . .

Connolly:            It makes it much, much easier for everybody.

Ross-Graham: And more fun. I am sitting beside you all day long, so that relationship-building quality would be a leadership quality that’s not expected of you to do your job, but it creates an environment for all those around you that you want to be there.

Connolly:            Hmm.   

Ross-Graham: So it’s quite easy to demonstrate leadership in a workplace without actually being in a leadership job.


[1] silo: noun a system, process, department, etc., that operates separately or is thought of as separate from others

[2] flip side: noun a different way of looking at an idea, argument, or action

[3] thrive: verb to become, and continue to be, successful, strong, healthy, etc.

[4] muddled: adjective confused

[5] engage: verb to become involved with and try to understand something/somebody

[6] amicable: adjective done or achieved in a polite or friendly way and without arguing

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unit 5, Listening 1, Part 1: Urban Settlements

Part 1: Urban Settlements Narrator:        Almost 180,000 people move into cities each day. And now, for the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population live in urban settlements . Urban settlements can be as large as megacities like Tokyo in Japan, with 35 million inhabitants . . . or as small as the city of Canterbury in the United Kingdom, home to little more than 40,000 residents. And yet, they have many similarities. Every urban settlement has a central business district in its historic core . This trading district is always situated where several main roads meet, and is the primary location for shops, offices, restaurants, and entertainment. High land value means few people live here. This is the main difference between the central business district and other urban zones. During the Industrial Revolution, many towns experienced a massive [1] influx of industry workers. These workers and their families ne...
Read more

Unit 7, Listening 2, Change Is in the Making

Change Is in the Making Kevan Gilbert: Welcome to Change is in the Making , Domain7’s podcast where we explore all things digital through the lens of purposeful change. I’m Kevan Gilbert. Veronica Collins: And I’m Veronica Collins, and together, we’ll be discussing themes of connection making and culture shaping. We’ll be delving into [1] how to create meaningful change from a business standpoint and a human perspective. Gilbert:           Today, we’re looking at the exploding reality of quote, unquote “digital transformation.” . . . Collins:           But I saw somebody call it a digital revolution the other day instead of digital transformation, and that really seems to ring true, that we’re living through, in the same way that the Industrial Revolution [2] completely reorganized people’s lives. We’re living through a digital transformation in that way— Gilbert:   ...
Read more

Unit 6, Listening 2, America’s Magnet for Innovation and Investments

America’s Magnet for Innovation and Investments Renee Montagne, Host: Think of the most technologically innovative companies of the last 50 years—Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter. Each one has a Silicon Valley address, and each one got backing from venture capitalists . Over the last decade, more than a third of the nation’s venture capital has gone into Silicon Valley, and much of it has come from there, as well. In our series on the history of Silicon Valley, NPR’s Laura Sydell has this story on how venture capital and high tech grew up together. Sydell, byline: When tech entrepreneurs go looking for money, they can easily end up here: University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, with its clean brick sidewalks and high-end boutiques. Bill Reichert is a venture capitalist. Reichert:       Within five blocks of here, there are probably between 30 and 40 venture capital firms. And there are probably also about 30 or 40 start-up companies that have b...
Read more