Source| Global Human Resources Think Tank
Author| Tangxue senior career planning instructor
A few days ago, the topic of "why most of the big leaders are very kind" on Weibo caused a heated discussion.
The comment area is boiling, and most of the comments are directly calling on the workplace people to stay sober and not be deceived by the "flower-picking smile" of the big leaders - they are just wearing a mask of kindness, and they will scold the middle-level cadres when they turn their heads.
According to the "kicking cat effect" of workplace rank and strong and weak relationships, employees are still the ultimate victims.
There is a story like this in the workplace:
An employee accidentally broke the company's glass door, and the big leader saw it and immediately went up to ask for warmth, so that the employee felt warm;
When he returned to the office, he called the employee's direct superior into the office to reprimand, and bluntly said that the employee damaged the company's property and should be compensated according to the price. The direct superiors are very embarrassed and helpless, and they can only do evil people themselves.
Similar cases are not uncommon in the workplace, and whether the leader is kind or not is not directly related to the size and level of the position, but is more of an illusion of compartment management.
Good leaders are catalysts for teams
Douban's high-scoring biographical movie "Legend of No. 42" tells the true story of the famous baseball player Jackie Robinson.
As a dark-skinned player, he not only has superb ball skills, but also withstands the criticism of the media and fans, and can endure insults and unfair treatment, and finally completely rewrites the racial segregation policy of black and white players in major leagues with practical actions.
Behind these achievements, in addition to his personal unremitting efforts, but also from the team leader Blanche Ricky's unconditional trust, support and guidance.
Blanche Ricky first had the insight to recruit him into the team, not afraid of outside discussion and accusations, overcoming various difficulties and obstacles to make the players and opponents continue to accept him, and giving encouragement and help during his emotional trough, so that he could move firmly towards the goal.
Catalyst-based leaders are best at motivating people to take positive action and driving positive changes in inefficient processes to create new strategies, new ideas, and even qualitative changes across the team.
They no longer play the role of main actors and problem solvers, but are committed to becoming coaches and supporters of the team, interacting with employees through effective communication and dialogue, improving their sense of participation, and being knowledgeable and brainstorming.
Blanche Ricky acted as a catalyst for Robinson's success.
Twitter co-creator Jack Dorsey spoke about leadership, saying:
"All we do is make people more open, more creative and more ambitious. This will ask others to think about what's possible, rather than telling them how to do it. ”
Good leaders need to understand the art of balanced management
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said that a leader's level is suitable grayscale management, not white and black, either one or the other.
"Wise compromise is an art of concession, compromise is also a virtue, and mastering this superb art is an essential quality for managers."
From the moment you step into a leadership role, you need to adjust your mindset.
To be clearly aware that team management needs to be all-encompassing, you can't blindly lead the team according to personal preferences.
Excellent leaders will put balanced management through the whole process of talent management selection, education, use and retention.
From the initial selection link, the balance of team development will be considered, and the entire team will be regarded as an ecological chain, which needs to be good at thinking and willing to execute, and some people are willing to think about things and can provide planning or innovation positions;
Some people are reluctant to do planning, but they are better at implementation, providing basic support positions, and ultimately realizing that different types of people are placed in suitable positions.
The so-called balance is not a narrow sense of requiring the leader to be a "water master", so that the team is peaceful and without competition;
Instead, it means that the leader makes reasonable configuration and adjustment of various influencing factors and interrelationships in order to achieve the set goals of the team, master the principle of moderation, and fully activate the individual potential to achieve the best performance of the team.
How can novice leaders build a leadership brand?
1. True integrity
A few years ago, when I was just heading the HR department, I had a tricky thing to do.
There is a veteran employee of the department who has been employed for 8 years, mainly responsible for the management of social security and provident fund, and the work content is single and unwilling to learn other modules of professional knowledge.
But her gentle personality is also good, because of her similar age, she often chats together.
The original rapport changed completely after I was promoted.
I think she relies on the old and sells the old, and does not want to be enterprising to drag the team's hind legs; she feels that her former colleagues have become leaders, and she is not acceptable for performance feedback.
In order to break the deadlock, I took the initiative to communicate with her, used THE SOWT analysis method to explain to her the pros and cons and potential risks in the future, and frankly expressed my desire to help her grow in her career, and finally she untied the knot and accepted the rotation arrangement.
As a novice leader, whether it is an internal promotion or an external airborne landing, it needs a run-in process to be accepted and trusted by team members.
It's a tough hurdle and a test.
1) Pay attention to the excellent side of others
Jack Welch wrote in his autobiography: "Every day, every year, I always feel that I don't have enough time to spend on people.
For me, people are everything, and I constantly remind leaders at all levels to maintain their passion for people, discover their excellent side, and pass on the vitality, responsibility and professionalism of the work layer by layer. ”
In a team, everyone has different strengths and weaknesses.
As a novice leader, you need to spend time and energy to pay attention to employees, meet with employees individually on a regular basis, keep abreast of their work status and strengths, and provide necessary resource support at key nodes.
Good leaders have a talent for making those around them better.
2) Be good at accepting feedback
Leaders are also human beings, not gods, and there will inevitably be times of misjudgment when making decisions. Novice leaders, in particular, need to hear the real voices around them, such as:
"You're always going your own way, you're always blind to what's going on with the team. Or you may have seen it and not taken any action. ”
"The previous leader tried this method, but it ended in failure, and you continued to muddy the waters..."
Many times, based on the leader's authority, employees dare not think and dare not speak.
If leaders want to become better, they must have an open mind, have the courage to face their own problems, and be willing to accept feedback from the team. Even proactively and skillfully ask questions and listen to get more information.
No one wants to be a crappy leader, maintain a humble posture, take the initiative to learn leadership skills, win trust with honesty and authenticity, and gradually establish their own leadership brand in practice, in order to lead the team to create better results.