From the course: Building Your Team

Understanding your leadership style

From the course: Building Your Team

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Understanding your leadership style

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- Before we get into the nuts and bolts of team building, let's look at how and why it's important for you to understand the role your personality and leadership style have on the overall success of the team. It goes without saying that as a leader, your behavior and demeanor will be judged. So it's helpful for you to understand how you appear to others or how you show up. Knowing how you show up to your team is as crucial to success as knowing what to do with the team. This reminds me of Joan, a participant in one of my workshops on leadership. She never realized that the way she showed up affected her team's morale. During the debrief of a team building activity, she evaluated herself as a poor teammate because she didn't respond quickly when it was her turn to perform, reminded that this was an untimed activity and speed of reply was not a factor. She said, "I heard that, but didn't believe it because nothing in my life's without a time pressure." As she spoke, her eyes widened and a realization came to her. I could almost see the light bulb that clicked on in her head. She said, "Oh my goodness! Now I realize why my direct reports are so nervous when I enter the room." She understood that she always shows up with a sense of urgency, and how that negatively impacted the rest of the team. When we talk about showing up, we're also referring to the internal leader or the inner game inside your head. That's the mental and emotional preparation necessary for success. As you work on preparing to be a strong leader, think about traits that successful team leaders have. In fact, John C. Maxwell once said, "People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." Here are some ways you can strengthen your leadership skills before you start working with your team and during your interactions. Start by being honest with your team. Honesty invites trust, and trust commands respect. Next, be real about yourself. Your vulnerability can foster empathy from your team. You should also always demonstrate appropriate humor. Your ability to take the work seriously and yourself lightly lightens the load for everyone. Check out my "Humor in the Workplace" course for more on this. Last, become a great communicator by being a good listener who acknowledges what others say even when there's disagreement. Be a timely honest communicator, able to disseminate bad news or good news in a way that's objective. All in all, as you prepare yourself the goal is to become the leader you would like to follow.

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