CLASS: Managing, Motivating, and Leading People

Community of Learning for Administrative Support Staff (CLASS): Part 3 Managing, motivating, and leading people

Presenter: Sophya Johnson

November 16, 2016

Objectives

1. Why is this important 2. Leading when you don’t have authority

3. How to manage, lead and motivate without a title

Managing, Motivating, and Leading People

ď‚´ Why is this important in your role?

Activity13. The Good, the Bad, and the Reasonable  Teamwork can be tough.  Dealing with different personalities and compromise is not necessarily easy.  Is teamwork always easy?  List some of the reasons why teams sometimes don’t work or what makes teamwork so difficult at times.

 So, what do you do when you are part of a team and there are barriers to the team’s success?

Leading When You Don’t Have Formal Authority https://hbr.org/2009/05/leading-when-you-dont-have-for.html

 Whether you’re a manager, a frontline worker, or an independent contractor, at one time or another you’ve surely had to influence, or even improve, the performance of people who don’t formally report to you.  These principles work even in roles where you might assume authority is a given

1. Let your enthusiasm for the work be contagious.  Every job, project, and activity has unique fundamentals that, when respected, naturally enhance the endeavor.  That doesn’t mean you need to be a purist, ignoring all external motivators, to succeed in leading people you don’t formally manage.  But if what really drives you is the core of the challenge itself — and you let other people see that — most of them will be drawn toward your goal organically.

2. Demonstrate excellence without being cocky or solicitous of approval.  Bearing the burden of someone else’s ego is always a turn-off, whether the ego is already big or in need of puffing up.  When an ego-driven person is your direct manager, you just hold your nose and do your best to perform in spite of the stench.  But, let’s face it, you’re not going to waste your time following someone like that if she doesn’t have real authority over you.

3. Don’t be overinvested in outcomes.  Leaders who don’t have formal authority come under suspicion when they act more like a team captain than a curious scientist.  In essence, the effective informal leader is inquisitive rather than watchful.  But those who truly embody it make better unofficial leaders — and better teachers, too.

 What are your techniques for leading when you don’t have formal authority or, when you do, for leading quietly despite your explicit role?

6 ways to be a leader when it’s not part of your job title http://idealistcareers.org/6-ways-to-be-a-leader-when-its-not-part-of-your-job-title/

 Are you being underused in your current position?  Do you feel you could create a positive change in your organization if only your title had “Manager” or “Director” in it?  It’s easy to think that we can truly lead once our jobs change, but leadership doesn’t just mean having a fancy title and lots of supervisees.

 Leaders stand out not only for their individual contributions, but also for their ability to inspire others, to create a sense of community, and to help organizations weather difficult storms.

1. Make connections Even if everyone is doing stellar work, if people aren’t communicating between departments or projects, there can be mistakes, duplicated effort, and missed opportunities.

One thing anyone can do is play close attention to different areas of the organization, and make important connections.

2. Allow others to shine

Leadership often means making others look good.

This could be recognizing other people’s talents and making good use of them, sharing the credit for successes, or being inclusive of people who are often overlooked.

Give compliments freely, and offer constructive criticism in a kind way when it will benefit someone else.

3. Improve a system or process When you’re down in the trenches, you’re highly qualified to evaluate the systems and processes that you use every day.

If your superiors don’t have the daily hands-on experience that you have, they may not recognize opportunities to streamline.

Do you have ideas for how to automate aspects of your work?

Have you noticed redundancies in your workflow?

Have you witnessed duplicate efforts in different departments?

You might be the source of a revolutionary idea in your organization.

4. Be a team player Cheerfully volunteer to do work outside of your job description, and take on your share of the grunt work.

Be generous with ideas and information, rather than keeping them to yourself.

This is a surefire way to become your team’s MVP.

5. Lead by example Simply having a positive attitude can have a huge effect on morale.

Just consider how much one person’s negative attitude can derail a project or create a divisive atmosphere.

Demonstrate enthusiasm (it’s contagious!), refrain from complaining, and above all, avoid office gossip.

These might seem like instructions for being a nice person, but they’re also a recipe for strong leadership.

6. Develop rare expertise Is your organization lacking certain expertise— perhaps knowledge of a certain software program, a new training technique, or the latest research on community organizing?

You can make yourself invaluable by taking on the task of becoming the organization’s go-to expert in an important but overlooked area.

Activity 11. There is No “I” in Team Teamwork Quotes  Put together 3 Teamwork quotes

Leadership is Not Title or Position http://www.georgeambler.com/leadership-is-not-title-or-position/

 Position, title and authority are often confused with leadership.  The best leaders don’t lead from position or authority.  Leadership is not an actual position or title.  Whether you’re the president of a county, a chief executive office or a manager, your title will not make you a leader.

 Whilst position, title and authority provide you with the potential to lead, they do not make you a leader.  To many of us incorrectly talk about the leadership referring to the senior executives in an organization.  Leadership does not just automatically happen when you reach a specific position, pay grade or level of seniority.

Summary of Strategies  Find out what they need  Be respectful  Lead by example  Do what you say  Admit when you don’t have the answer  Be accessible