The 3 D's - Essential Leadership Skills
(Originally published in the Hudson Valley Business Journal - February 26, 2007)
A search on Amazon.com listed 193,692 books on the topic of leadership. With that many resources on leadership you would think today's business owners, leaders and managers would have it figured out.
But, alas, reading about leadership and "doing" leadership are two different things. It's easy to read about leadership. But in applying leadership skills business leaders sometimes feel like a fish out of water.
In my consulting practice I find that business leaders tend to see things more complicated than they really are. This may be to justify the fact they need outside help, or maybe it's just a way to reinforce their ego. Either way, my role is to help simplify the challenges and help them improve their leadership skills.
When a leader thinks of all the strategies they need to master it can be overwhelming. I've found, however, that when they chunk the overwhelming list of ledership skills and strategies into simple categories it makes it easier to identify where to focus.
With an eye towards simplifying the strategies necessary for effective leadership, I've decided leaders need only to focus on developing these three: Decision-Making, Delegation and Diplomacy.
Decision Making
Leaders must make decisions. Effective leaders make decisions promptly and have a process or doing so. Leaders that can't make decisions are like kitchen knives too dull to cut through a rare steak; they take up valuable space but are useless in fulfilling the role for which they were acquired. Decision-making is the foundation of moving a business and teams forward. Many leaders and their direct reports tell me in our consulting sessions that the present decision-making process (or lack thereof) often gets in the way of their business, or department, moving forward.
Business leaders must make decisions in many different areas such as; company vision, marketing scope, personnel (hiring, firing, salaries, bonuses, benefits, etc.), problem solving, goals, resource allocation, and so on. In my experience I've found the challenge isn't with the breadth of the decisions leaders need to make, but with the fact there is no consistent decision making model, causing decisions linger. This causes stress, anxiety and sometimes resentment throughout an organization, business or department.
To improve your decision-making muscles and move situations forward more quickly, create a decision making model that works for you and your team, then commit to using it and make it a habit.
Delegation
Some leaders delegate as though they're playing fetch with their dog; they toss out a project and hope it gets effectively returned to them. When it doesn't, they begrudingly chase after it.
This is the number one challenge facing most leaders in small business today. The leaders with which I consult take on too much and fail to delegate to subordinates for a number of reasons. The primary excuse being that "it will take less time for me to just do it than it will be to explain how I want it done." That may be the case the first time, but imagine what could happen if you invested that same amount of time in training and coaching the subordinate. Next time you will be able to confidently hand off that task, and the time after that.
Delegation is not abdication. Leaders must learn proper delegation skills. Delegation must be done with specific instructions, expectations, deadlines and a system for checking-in at mutually agreed upon time periods if the project or task requires multiple stages.
Mastering this leadership skill will exponentially enhance the results you get as a business leader and improve your time management.
Diplomacy
Diplomacy is defined as "skill in managing negotiations, handling people, etc., so that there is little or no ill will; tact." In this context, mastering the art of diplomacy will make your decision-making and delegation skills more effective, thus making you a more effective leader.
The skill of diplomacy impacts all forms of communication for leaders and it will impact the level of results leaders get from their decision-making, delegation and the commitment they can obtain from the members of their team.
In my last workshop I had business leaders brainstorm how the skill of diplomacy could help. Here is what they listed as keys to applying diplomacy in their leadership roles: approaching situations with class, treating people with respect, communicating with etiquette & ethics, handling delicate situations professionally and with respect, and negotiating with the focus on win-win outcomes.
Look for ways the "3 D's of Leadership" can help you focus your attention to improve your leadership skills and get better results from your team and for your business.