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In my corporate career, I was fortunate enough to get a lot of feedback and guidance on being a more effective leader. Being the structured person I am, I started reflecting on what I learned each week and wrote some things down.
Once I’d filled a couple of pages of a notebook, I started to edit out a few that no longer seemed relevant, reordered them a little bit and then continued to add. When I left my corporate role back in 2020, I had ten years' worth of reflections, condensed into many one-line “truths of leadership.”
Over the summer, I read Gretchen Rubin’s “The Happiness Project”, which talks about her Eight Splendid Truths of Happiness. Inspired by this, I’ve revisited my old notebook to look at my collected wisdom. I was heartened to see that what I wrote was still very relevant today, given the issues that my leadership coaching clients are grappling with.
So, I’ve decided to create my Ten Truths of Leadership and share them on this blog. Whatever stage you are at in your career, I hope you find them helpful!
1. Tackle any problems or difficult situations as soon as they arise. Despite your hopes, they will not go away and will only get worse. The same goes for any difficult conversations you know you need to have
2 .Ask for what you want or need. There is a right way and a wrong way of asking, but as the saying goes, “If you don’t ask, you won’t get.”
3. Good, slick project management is key. Get the basics right, ensure projects are appropriately resourced, provide realistic timings, and communicate proactively with stakeholders. These hygiene factors can make or break your reputation in the workplace.
“If you want to influence someone then get in front of them”
4. Important people rarely read documents or long emails. If you want to influence someone, then get in front of them - don’t send them a paper or email about your work, even if they ask you to.
5. Don’t work in a vacuum - let others know what you are doing. For how to do this, take a look at one of my previous blogs on self-promotion.
6. Accept compliments well. False humility is not authentic, and a genuine lack of self-belief can mean you are overlooked for opportunities. Linked to this is knowing and owning your strengths and not discrediting your achievements.
7. Tenacity is key. I was never the highest performer at work, but I got far partly because I would chase people who said they would do something for me and then forget. It’s a pain, but you can’t change another person’s behaviour, so if it's important to you, then persist!
“How do I want to be in this meeting?”
8. Less is more. When asked for input in a meeting or for comments or feedback, think about the 2 or 3 things you want to say that will add the most value to the conversation. And then stop. Filling air time with trivia reduces the impact of your contribution that is valuable.
9. Take five minutes before each meeting to gather your thoughts. Ask yourself two questions - what do I need to get out of this meeting (remembering point 8 above!), and how do I want to be in this meeting? If it's a meeting you’ve convened, take 15 minutes.
10. Be dignified under pressure. The impact this has on those in your leadership circle cannot be underestimated.
That’s my top 10 - how about yours? Use the comments field to share with others!