Leadership

Leadership

To be successful in your career, regardless of your title or position, focus on developing your leadership skills.

Effective leaders can add value simply by being present on teams. They are inspirational and motivating. They know the right things to say to people to help them understand what's needed, and they can convince people to support a cause.

• Leadership is about imparting vision and rallying/meeting people around that vision.
• Leaders motivate and inspire and are concerned with strategic vision.
• Good leaders commonly have strong interpersonal skills and are well respected.
• Good leaders are directive in their approach but allow for plenty of feedback and input.

Leadership Styles – [Reeta]

There are many leadership styles, as below, referred to as ‘Situational Leadership’. This refers to using different leadership styles based on the people and project work they are dealing with.

The three categories of leadership styles are

• Top-down:  (old timer style - My way or the highway) Where  the leadership consists of taking the manager’s vision and essentially using the team members as the means by which this vision is carried out.   As the name implies, it gives the most autonomy to the leader and is the least empowering from the standpoint of the team members; they are the servants of the project manager.
• Analytical - Making the technical decisions for the project which are communicated to the project team. (If PM is highly technical then anyone in the team)
• Autocratic - Manager has power to do whatever he or she wants
• Bureaucratic - Making sure that the project team follows procedures exactly.
• Consultative-Autocratic - After soliciting input from team members, makes decisions by him- or herself
• Directing - Telling others what to do. (In case of Unforeseen risk occurs and rapid action is required)
• Driver - Constantly giving directions

• Bottom-up:   Where  the leadership consists of taking the input from the team members and coordinating or integrating it in some fashion in order to carry out the vision of the project.    It gives the most autonomy to team members and the leader is actually the servant of the group, rather than the other way around.
• Facilitating - Coordinating the input of others
• Consultative - Obtains others’ opinions and acts as the servant for the team
• Charismatic - Energizing and encouraging team to perform project work
• Laissez-faire - Not directly involved in the work of the team, but manages and consults as necessary.

• Lateral:   This is where leadership consists of having the entire group, including the project manager, get involved in carrying out the vision of the project.    It gives the most autonomy not to the manager or the group, but to the dynamics of the team itself.    In this style, each person in the group is the servant of the other, and yet also has the opportunity to contribute towards the solution.
• Consensus - Problem solving in a group, and decision-making based on group agreement
• Delegating - Establishes goals, gives project team sufficient authority to work
• Democratic - Encourages team participation in the decision-making process
• Influencing - Emphasizes teamwork, team building, team decision making
• Supporting - Providing assistance along the way

Lead By Examples: Develop Expert Power

• Good leaders lead by example. They "do what they say," and "say what they do."
• These types of leaders are trustworthy, and show integrity.  
• They get involved in the daily work where needed, and they stay in touch with what's happening throughout the team/organization.
• Great leaders don't just sit in their offices and give orders; they demonstrate the actions and values that they expect from the team.
• A key part of being a good role model is leading from the front by developing Expert Power.

Providing Vision & Motivating People to Deliver the Vision

• This is your ability to create a Vision of the Future, and to present this vision in a way that's compelling and inspiring to the people you lead.
• Another great way of inspiring people is to use bright stories to explain your vision.

Managing Performance Effectively

• Effective leaders manage performance by setting their expectations clearly and concisely.
• When everyone knows what's expected, it's much easier to get high performance.

Providing Support and Stimulation

• Effective leaders require committing to developing their people.
• To be highly motivated at work, people usually need more than a list of tasks to be completed each day. They need challenges and interesting work. 
• Think about your approach to Task Allocation, and look for opportunities to match people with jobs and responsibilities that will help them grow and develop.
• Perform Training Needs Assessments on a regular basis to determine what your team needs to be successful.

Emotional Intelligence

• The concept of emotional intelligence used to be referred to as "soft skills," "character", or even "communication skills".
• EQ is the ability to recognize feelings – you’re own and those of others – and manage those emotions to create strong relationships.

Few More Leadership Tactics:

Being a Good Role Model & Proactive

• You must have good domain knowledge
• Understand the subject/functionality thoroughly
• Always be prepared to take responsibilities
• Work on the current phases a head of time
• Start reporting without being asked
• Always communicate interim status
• Proactively take initiatives

Team Spirit:

• Respect your team.
• Motivate team members
• Encourage team with positive appraoch.
• Protect team from being part of external issues.  

Regards,

Arun Manglick