No One Can be a Leader Without Followers

Published on: Monday, July 07, 2008       Comments (0)       Category: Human Capital,  Leadership,  Managing, 

One can lead a project, a market, an industry, but to effectively accomplish those goals, one must first successfully lead people. How is that done? By building a tremendous set of technical skills? Developing significant core competency muscles? Being the best marketer, scientist, operations manager?

Yes and no.

It takes a whole menu of talents to reach leadership levels, and colleagues will respect and perhaps admire that expertise, but converting them to believers — followers — takes more than fancy strategic footwork. It takes the ability to communicate credibility, trust and motivation — often referred to as “the soft skills.”

“Although people tend to describe these types of skills as ‘soft,’ the most successful leaders understand that to motivate, persuade and advance the business’s interests, such skills are essential, indispensable and equally important to the ‘hard’ skills,” says Ruth Sherman, communications consultant and author of Get Them to See It Your Way, Right Away. “To implement a new strategy or make major changes of any kind, there must be a plan. Then, they must commit to it and follow through.”

The key, says Sherman, is to communicate messages with the “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me?) factor. “Unless a direct connection can be made between what employees are being asked to do — getting behind a turn-around plan or supporting a new initiative — and how it will benefit them, they won’t do it. This is human nature. The message has to have some type of emotional content and connection, and it doesn’t have to be about money or other perks. It makes for good feelings which are motivational by nature.”

Avoid dry, technical, jargon-heavy language, Sherman warns, as everyday talk is more humanizing. “Interestingly, it’s when we use big words or overly formal language that we lose credibility. People feel talked down to. They are reluctant to ask questions, because they don’t want to come across as unknowledgeable. If there is one thing we know, it’s that people resent being made to feel ignorant and they will turn off, stop listening.”

As the leader, you have to model the behavior you expect. “Show — not tell. If support for a strategic plan is being sought, for example, and it’s a tough sell, the leadership could hold small meetings with business groups or departments and allow employees to voice concerns or worries and share their own. This type of openness engenders trust.”

If the leader’s behavior is inconsistent, Sherman says, “Executives are just spinning their wheels, which I’ve seen happen repeatedly.”