Best-Practices Leadership
A leader in an organization can’t do everyone’s job. Instead of micromanaging, strong leaders use organizational leadership to coordinate, communicate, motivate and delegate among employees and team members. For comprehensive organizational effectiveness, each individual needs to be seen as a contributor, with the leader at the helm.
Most importantly, best-practices leadership involves keeping employees motivated throughout the process, adapting your scope or strategy as necessary, and developing an effective communication strategy.
Some people never make it to the other side because they’re more successful at being doers. This is a crucial point in determining if you’re going to move up the ranks.
Browse our articles, tools and advice on best-practices leadership.
Your boss asks you to head a prestigious project, and you can’t wait to
accept. You know that as leader of a high-impact initiative, you can
gain visibility and play an increasingly greater role. Just don’t overlook the downside.
Use language that shows your leadership, says author Sarah Myers McGinty.
When we ask Working Smart
readers what challenges they face as managers, the issue of moving from
a hands-on doer to a delegating leader often vexes them.
I used to work for a CEO who seemed happiest when we were launching
some costly new undertaking. Big expenditures excited him and made him
feel like we were doing something.
In his office are photos of Farooq Kathwari and his family hiking the
mountains of Kashmir, India. Kathwari grew up there, and his love of
mountain climbing serves as a metaphor for his corporate ascent.
Browse the latest business books and you’ll see dozens of titles on
leadership. But these books hide the ugly truth—that part of being a
leader is making unpopular decisions.
You love your stars—the smartest, most reliable employees bound for greatness. They’re low maintenance and make you look good. It’s the other 90 percent you worry about.
Use language that demonstrates leadership.
Alan Shugart, 70, founded Seagate Technology in 1979, building the
company into the world’s largest independent manufacturer of disk
drives and related components.
At its simplest, delegation involves handing over assignments to your employees. But there are four ways to delegate.
