Do you want to be a leader - think like a leader

Every person in the world has an opinion. A television, Radio and other media rife with all sorts of commentators who make suggestions and give out seemingly authoritative advice to officials and managers, as well as what they should do. During the dinner, we are also talking about a party or cooler at work that should be done or should have done to others, or discuss punctures superiors.

At work, we can express their opinions as the official point of view - as the opinion of the entire company. Or we can assess the actions of the chief, without thinking about the problems and interests of others, that he had to be taken into account. We do so because of the fact that is not well informed. Or are convinced that it is not necessary to understand all the details, it's not part of the job responsibilities.

Leader - is not one who merely expressed their opinions on all issues (although sometimes it is appropriate, and in some cases even necessary). For leadership requires more: it is necessary to look at things more widely, to have principles and be confident in their actions.

"I thought I did a good job"

Jim - the vice-president of the company that produces consumer goods. He called me to discuss the problems faced by at work. Jim sought the advice he had just experienced an unpleasant experience, and trying to figure out what went wrong.

Jim has worked on the launch of a major project. He was a member of a large multidisciplinary team led by a senior vice president in charge of one of the most important departments in the company. The team was responsible for the development of a new product design, packaging, marketing and sales strategies. This product was vital Jim companies because the market share of several other goods began to be rapidly reduced and management is urgently needed to find new opportunities for growth. They believed that a new product will benefit customers and raise the company's position in their eyes.

Each participant of the project was entrusted to one aspect of the work associated with the new product and launching it. Jim was responsible for the organization of points of sale of the new product. This is not the primary objective, but, given the importance of the project and high professionalism of the other team members, Jim thought it was a great opportunity to prove himself.

After several weeks of work, he came with a detailed plan for the demonstration and deployment of the product in various trade sectors: grocery stores, pharmacies and other sales outlets of consumer goods. In addition, he has developed several additional materials - tests for the regional sales outlets, to be carried out on the spot.

During work on the project team members met once a week to report back. Senior vice president wanted each member of the team was aware of the plans of others, and all aspects of the launch. He expressed the hope that all members of the team will ask each other questions and learn about each other's problems, and therefore will be able to develop the most effective strategy.

At first, Jim was very pleased with his work on the project. "I thought I did a good job", - he told me. Jim believed that things are going just fine, so what happened next, introduced him into confusion.

At one of the meetings during the final stage of the project Jim was asked to present final recommendations. To his surprise, a few colleagues sharply criticized his proposal. They believed that it does not correspond to the nature of the product, pricing, and likely behavior of consumers when buying. In particular, team members felt that its positioning points of sale more in keeping with impulse buying, while they We were convinced that this product should be positioned and regarded as pre-planned purchase from the point of view buyer.

Jim was shocked. After the meeting, the head of the team took him aside and asked how much he really knows about the product launch. "I was at every meeting, - said Jim, - and all listened attentively." If this is true, he asked the head, while Jim's vision is so much at odds with the expectations of other team members? Jim said that he feels that it is correctly perceived all heard at meetings and also used his experience gained in the successful launches of other products.

Head continued to ask Jim a number of specific questions: "What do you think, who should buy it? How much it should cost? As it should be packed? "Jim admitted that he never thought about these issues, as they were not part of his job. He said that this had to worry about the other team members.

Head was not satisfied with the answers Jim.

Before the end of the meeting, he advised him to think how he could answer these questions, if I was a team leader, and not just its members with a limited set of responsibilities.

Jim thought it was a strange recommendation. He called me to see my reaction to the incident and ask for advice on how he should respond to the problems with the project manager. My response was simple: "Jim, your boss gave excellent advice. And I totally agree with him. Imagine what you carry the responsibility for this situation. Try to think as if you were a manager or even the owner of the company. Imagine that your life depends on every aspect of the right product launch. What would you do? You're a talented guy. Think as a leader and use their talents to answer these questions. "

Jim admitted that he had never thought of such an approach, partly because none of his bosses never encouraged him to do so.

"Are you sure this is part of my duty? I really have to do it all? "" Yes, - I answered - if you want to be a leader, must. "

Jim decided to get down to business with the utmost seriousness. He interviewed the other members of the team applied all their skills and talents to understand every aspect of product positioning. He even spent some of their own research in selected outlets, watched positioned competitors' products. After this work, he began to realize that his initial recommendations were, at best, superficial. And at worst - is strikingly different from how to properly position the product.

Jim made the unpleasant discovery: the last time he had done his job sucks. His ideas did not meet the project. As a result, he made a second-rate work and also was unhappy with his colleagues. Jim decided to have the courage to apologize to the manager and team members.

Project participants have taken his apology. They were impressed that Jim found the strength to admit that he was wrong, go back, re-do all the work and to rethink their recommendations. He explained the new proposals for positioning, which quickly approved the whole team. Jim felt that now it is appreciated.

He realized that he has gone through the experience gave him valuable knowledge. This awareness was strengthened when the senior vice president told him: "From this moment on, Jim, I hope that you will act as a leader. You have great potential, but only if you think the owner. Expand your horizons, not narrowing. "

Jim promised myself that in the future it will not be thought of as a highly specialized worker, instead he will approach the job as if he were the owner of the company. This new way of thinking helped him learn to think more clearly and work many times more effective.

Expanding horizons

Sounds simple: think as an owner. But in practice it is difficult. You must put yourself in the place of the person who makes the decisions. And you can understand that this place does not suit you. Too much pressure, too many factors that must be considered, too many people concerned. Because of the complexity, constant changes, a myriad of opinions easier to think, "Damn, that's not my job!"

Yes, it's your job, if you want to become a leader. To think as an owner - is to seek confirmation of the correctness of their actions. Necessary to achieve the highest confidence, no doubt, what should be done.

In fact, most of the time the leader can not be convinced, how do the right thing. But he continues to collect information that suffers in indecision and analyzes up until it reaches the desired level of confidence.

On the other hand, sometimes leader need to be alert, if confidence in something came too quickly or if he clings to the original idea, it does not take into account all the rest. Each of us have blind spots - the things we do not understand. Therefore, it takes time to gather information, consider alternatives, to suffer, and finally, to ensure that a balanced solution is found.

The fact is that self confidence search process can be very complex. Circumstances change all the time, competitors are not asleep, the market, new products and so on. In addition, different people look at the same situation from different points of view, and everyone thinks that he knows how to do it right. To respond to these factors, the leader is necessary to analyze, consult, seek information, discuss options, a lot of thinking.

While you are going through this process, you do not know for sure what to do next. However, as a leader, you have to constantly strive to achieve the confidence of the most important issues. How to do it? You and your team need to focus all their efforts on specific agreed steps that will help you come to a reasonable solution.

With experience you will learn to better understand themselves and to feel, when I went full confidence. The leaders are not looking for excuses. Instead, they think like owners and encourage the team to think the same way.