How-To Get Your Seat At the Table: Part 1 Practicing Leadership
You love your job...time flies when you're at work because you feel productive and challenged. You want to step up your game, move into a leadership role. Now more then ever you want responsibility for the decisions that are being made and you want to put into action your ideas.
Leaders come about in a variety of ways - some are born, some are made, most develop out of practice and experience.
Getting a seat at the tabel requires you to work smart, leverage the people you know, take a few risks. So how do you practice leadership?
Take responsibility for projects on your team - as projects come up let you manager know you want to take on more then your usual list of tasks. Tell them why you are capable and point to recent successes, if you can, that prove you are capable of getting the job done. If you don't have anything that is an obvious recent win, then use your intellect. Do the necessary leg work to show you are fully educated on the scope of work. Most importantly, remember to pick projects wisely, don't over promise and keep your word.
Keep your ego in check. Ego does not equal Leader. As much as leadership is about telling others what to do and keeping them on track, it is also about following directions. Every successful leader is motivated by the success of the project. The goal is the directive that a leader follows in order to make decisions, and choose risks. The goal, vision, mission drives everything. And yes, we all know, Leaders have egos - but a leader's ego is only satisfied if the project is successful. When teams see the leader is motivated by the goal, they are more likely to listen and follow the plan laid out.
Keep focused on the big picture. Leaders pay attention to how all aspects of the project to insure they everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle. You keep the team on track, look out for the bumps in the road, make sure the communication between all parties is clear and think about "what next".
Build your confidence by taking a few calculated risks - these are actions that have over a 90% chance of you being right. Leaders are at the forefront of every project. You are tasked with taking charge and giving directions. This requires you to step out of your comfort zone, and build your confidence. Every time you succeed you will feel more assured of your choices and decisions.
How are you practicing to be a leader - leave thoughts and questions in the comments below.
Part 2 - How To Make Decisions