Leadership - Proactive behaviour
Proactive behaviour
Lead by example
In order to be a better leader you must sharpen your own proactive behaviour and be less of a follower.
To do this you must be aware of what being a proactive person really is.
- You tackle needs using priorities.
- You focus on ‘important’ and not ‘urgent’ issues.
Remember.
Urgent
Urgent tasks are deadline based. This is usually independent of yourself and is often driven by others. The sooner the task needs completion the more urgent it is. This has no relation to importance. It is a simple matter to rank any jobs that you have in terms of their deadlines.
Important
The importance of a job drives how much ‘time’ you want to spend on it. Notice that this is independent of ‘urgency’ and is what you want to do not what you actually spend on it. For any task the quality of your output will often relate to the time you spend on it.
These tasks should be longer term and much more strategic in nature.
Other proactive traits are.
- Positive attitude and mindset that says ‘I never give up’.
- Act instead of react.
- Look for opportunities.
- You will invest time in yourself and your team.
- You are in control.
Clarification
Leaders will know exactly what they need to do and in what order.
Before you can clarify the order of tasks you must define exactly what they are.
It’s no good having a lot of ‘issues’ in your head. You wont be able to juggle all of these and reach the correct resolution for each.
If you are looking at project management [see Complete Project Management plus PRINCE2] there are more formal systems for methodically deriving a list of tasks, dependencies etc.
If we are looking at a purely personal approach we only need to consider what is ‘bothering’ you that you wish you could sort out more efficiently.
It’s these sort of issues that can fester. Trying to resolve them in a random fashion can make the situation worse and increase worry and stress.
Get all of these thoughts down on paper.
Make a list.
They could be related to family, work, interpersonal issues etc.
It’s a list of issues you want a solution to.
Control
The reason that you have this list is that you are NOT in control.
Had you been in control they would not have been an issue.
To improve your control your will need to increase your influence.
Consider each of your issues.
Think why you have the problem. Be very honest.
Then derive ONE action to solve your problem.
You must have the belief that your action will solve your issue.
You may have to be quite brave to implement it.
When your issue is finally resolved you must believe that there is a positive benefit to you.
Although you may not think it at the time the benefit may extend to others.
Success
When carrying out this sort of exercise achieving success is important for morale and gaining momentum.
If you have a list of 20 or 30 or more issues start with a few of the most important.
Tackle no more than 5 issues at first.
Can’t say ‘No’
One of the biggest problems in being ‘lead’ instead of ‘leading’ is the inability to say ‘No’.
A simple strategy to try to use is:
- Clearly there is no point in being too blunt and rude.
- Listen carefully to what is being asked of you.
Ask questions to clarify certain issues. Get the full information on goals, deadlines, resources, priority etc.
You may be able to use this data to build into your argument for ultimately saying no. - You will need to be direct. Don’t be vague.
Don’t hold out false hope once you have reached your decision be clear that ‘no means no’. - Justify
When you refuse to take on something make sure you back up the decision with solid reasons. - Options
If you are unable to take on the work try to suggest alternatives.
Suggest someone else that could help.
Suggest another approach.
Perhaps retiming is a possibility.
Fear of responsibility
Subconsciously or consciously many people don’t like to lead because they are not willing to accept the responsibility that comes with it.
It is often easier to take the easy route and fall in to becoming a follower.
You will often accept a level of stress or other hardship to keep the status quo.
If you do make the extra effort towards master of your own destiny you may find the overall benefits outweigh the perceived negatives.
The problem here is that there is a real danger that in avoiding the issue that stress will increase further.
If this is the case, you may reach a point where it is extremely difficult both mentally and physically to change your destiny.
Irrational fears
Many people often feel they lack confidence to present themselves in the correct light to achieve leadership.
If we are honest, we have all been in a position where we have been reluctant to raise a question for fear of looking silly.
This is very common. We don’t want to see ourselves as a failure to our peers.
It is common amongst youngsters to do something they basically disagree with because of the desire to fit in.
These actions are for followers and not leaders.
You need a plan to try to overcome these.
Firstly learn to recognise these issues and be honest.
Practice your technique for overcoming them in a friendly environment.
If necessary, get opinion from others.
You will almost certainly find that others have a much higher opinion of your performance than you have.
Set yourself targets to achieve.
Put your plan into action in small steps, gradually escalating it as you gain in confidence.
If you have several issues you are trying to resolve is there a common theme. For example, shyness. Help to solve this and many of your problems will disappear.
Try to think of steps you can take to think about what is coming up in your diary.
Try to implement some proactive actions each day.