Are you currently thriving in a position and considering transitioning into a leadership role? If you’re not sure, consider the following: Are you praised for displaying company values and known for always delivering? Are you a good communicator? Do others come to you with problems or to get your advice? Do you enjoy the role of leading/encouraging your co-workers? If you answered “yes” to the above question, you should definitely consider a role in leadership. So how do you transition from being a “doer” to a “leader”? Tips to Ensure a Smooth Transition into a Leadership Role suggests the following:
Leaders take control of their personal and professional development in order to continuously grow and maximize their contribution. As a leader do you have a professional development game plan? If you do, here are some good ideas to consider, and if not, here are some ideas to get you started: 1. Read- Commit to reading a sampling of the following: A book about leadership a month. For recommendations on books to start with, see our Top 10 Leadership book recommendations. Downloading the app Good Reads and selecting the “Business” category can help you select some good titles. Once you begin rating
Leaders are readers. One of the easiest and cheapest ways to grow as a leader is to read about leadership and take the knowledge gained from your reading and apply it. When asked about the best leadership books out there, here are the ones I recommend. Great leaders lead themselves first. You can’t lead others if you can’t leader yourself through strong personal habits. The best personal leadership book I have found is Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Leaders are influencers. For a timeless classic on influence, read How to Win Friends and Influence People by
I want to round out the goal setting discussion by focusing on the importance of feedback. To illustrate, feedback has played a critical role in a current client business coaching engagement. To begin the coaching process this past summer, we employed a 360° feedback mechanism to help set priorities for the client’s development. Feedback was first necessary to set goals and priorities. Based on areas for improvement, we developed four questions that she asks herself each and every day. These are all “yes” or “no” questions. (As example, a question I ask myself every day is “Did I do something to develop new business
Davis Ozier is a perfect example of the value Veterans can bring to business. After serving in combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the Army as leader, he is now working on his MBA at the Darden School of Business to apply his leadership skills in the private sector. Through his experiences, he can help us learn some very important lessons in dealing with real world problems. Here are 5 leadership lessons Davis learned through his service: 1. Make the decision (or recommendation). We will never have all of the information that we wish, but will still be forced to make the decision.