Some people say that leadership is something innate. It’s either you’re born to be a leader, or you’re destined to be a mere follower. Though there are numerous studies to prove this theory, and there are still more findings and stories to support the claim that leadership is learned and nurtured.
To date, there are numerous motivational speakers and self-help books which aim to help us become effective leaders. The need for leaders is apparent.
With all the hype and buzz about leadership, you might think why do we need to possess it? Why do we have to exert effort to become good and influential leaders? If you are already in a leadership role, you may ask, why do I have to improve myself and be better?
The answer to this question is simple. We need leadership to get things done. We need people to step into leadership roles to be able to influence others to move and work in the right direction.
If you are part of an organization, whether small or large, you will understand that a leader usually leads people to success. But before that, a leader helps to get things done on every level.
What is a Win-Win kind of leadership?
It’s difficult to steer people in the direction you want if you don’t let them understand why you’re doing it, how you will reach the goal, and what they can get out of it. Given these, it is therefore important that a leader has a vision and clear foresight. It’s also equally important for a leader to know what to do to reach the goal. Lastly, it’s vital that the leader makes the members feel that they get something valuable out of the goal completion.
Making people follow you while giving something valuable back to them is what you call a win-win kind of leadership.
In Project Management, this kind of win-win leadership is crucial since project completion and quality are both at stake. If the people in your team don’t share the same vision as you, if it’s not clear to them how you can achieve a goal, and if they feel like they can’t get anything valuable from it, you can’t make them work efficiently. You also can’t empower them to be proactive.
On the other hand, if the team or the company’s vision is clear to every team player, if the path they need to pass through is visible, and if they get something good as a takeaway, you’ll certainly get excellent results.
How can a leader develop a Win-Win leadership strategy?
Developing a win-win mindset is easy. All you have to know is what’s in it for an individual if they do a certain task or if they become proactive members of the team.
For example, you are a Project Manager or a Team Leader of a group of Account Managers working for a rehab facility. As part of the Account Management team, you have the task of maintaining a relationship with your Rehab Consultants. Aside from this, you have the goal of reaching 1,000 bookings per month. How would you mobilize your team members to proactively maintain good relationships with your organizers while working to reach the 1,000 monthly bookings? To each of these people, hitting the quota may not be as urgent and as important as it is to you. The thing is you can’t do it alone, and the only way to achieve these targets is to get everybody working as a team.
If you understand the Win-Win type of leadership, you will start by examining the needs and the circumstances of the people in your team. Think of one thing they can gain if they help you achieve your goal. In this case, an answer to “what’s in it for me?” could be as simple as a plaque of recognition, being featured as the model employee of the month or getting cash incentives.
The point is you have to find that something that will make the people in your team love what they do. Though this is not an easy task, once you master this strategy, you will realize how easy working with teams, big or small, is.
Knowing what motivates people
An organization is a melting pot of people with different culture and backgrounds. More often than not, because of these differences, the organizational climate becomes hostile and negative. As a result, getting things done and working in a team becomes unbearable.
In an ideal setting, employees will always work toward goal completion and team success. Despite their differences, they will strive hard to be agreeable and motivated.
This is not true in the real world though. Most of the time, people clash because of the need to be right and to look good.
It is the leader’s task to make the team collaborate and unite despite their differences. At each person’s core is his motivation, desires, and reasons for doing what he does. It is the task of the leader to know what fuels his people and what drives them to achieve success.
The leader must know that there are three types of people — visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual people are usually motivated by what they see, while the auditory ones are motivated by what they hear. Lastly, the kinesthetic types are moved by actions and movements. If you can identify which among these categories your team member belongs, it would be easier to know what can motivate them.
To empower an auditory individual, saying positive or commending them works best. To a visual team member, posting their names in the employee bulletin board and congratulating them for a job well done will work best. Lastly, a pat on the shoulder or a congratulatory handshake could do wonders in perking up the motivation of a kinesthetic team member.
Article by: Patrick Bailey