They Don't Teach Corporate in College (52 page)

Consider your team's time pressures and keep the meeting to an hour.

Have meetings too often (once a week should be the maximum).

Allow team members to interrupt each other or monopolize the discussion with their own opinions.

Allow the discussion to wander off topic for too long.

In my 10-year career in the leadership development space, I've come across the work of Development Dimensions International (
DDIWorld.com
) numerous times. Robert Rogers at DDI generously provided me with seven traits exhibited by
true
leaders—not merely people who are in charge because they happened to get a promotion. If you want to be in a position to shape the destiny of your organization, start honing these qualities in your first managerial position, while you're still young!

1. Great leaders are masters of ambiguity.
The modern workplace is fraught with chaos. These leaders possess the ability to stay calm amid turmoil and to be convincingly reassuring. They keep their people focused with clear direction and goals, and view change through the lens of opportunity.

2. Great leaders inspire confidence and believe in the future.
Leaders who make it a priority to understand and address employee needs, who can differentiate those things that are important from those that are not, and who can communicate a long-term vision that attains the buy-in of employees and customers alike, are the ones who find their organizations rewarded with long-term customer relationships and loyal, engaged employees.

3. Great leaders have a passion for results.
These leaders place emphasis on those activities, initiatives, programs, and processes that produce the best ROI. They are able to stay the course, overcoming any obstacle thrown in their way, because they believe their focus will truly bring about the outcomes they are seeking.

4. Great leaders express unwavering integrity.
Leaders must earn trust every day. Their values must be visible through their actions, and they must be both able and willing to be held up as an example to others. Bad news, such as the need for layoffs or budget cuts, or the failure of the organization to meet financial targets, must not be hidden or sugarcoated.

5. Great leaders set others up for success.
Leaders who are true talent advocates understand that feeling successful is a prerequisite for ongoing engagement and that successful people are more, not less, likely to stay. But they also understand that success is about more than praise. It's about developing people, giving them room to grow, and coaching them to be their best.

6. Great leaders have strong, rather than big, egos.
Leaders with big egos, so good at tearing others down, are often terribly insecure themselves. They lack the self-confidence that leadership demands. On the other hand, those with strong egos have a positive self-image but at the same time are able to acknowledge and value the thoughts and contributions of others.

7. Great leaders have the courage to make tough decisions.
When faced with making difficult choices, the best leaders do not shy away from taking prompt action. They know that indecisiveness can lead to paralysis, and that popular decisions are not always the best decisions. And they understand that too many compromise decisions, although usually less painful to reach, breed mediocrity and lead to results that, in the end, please nobody.

If you're in your 20s and are already managing one or more direct reports, chances are you're on the fast track. You are obviously good at what you do and have earned a pat on the back. But as DDI alludes to, be careful of arrogance. I guarantee that you will be difficult to work with if you insist that you're always right. The people underneath you can teach you something if you're willing to pay attention. Remember this saying from Ralph Waldo Emerson, and stay humble: “Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn from him.”

Now that I'm in my mid-30s and have been a manager for a lot of years, I see that it's okay not to know it all. When I got my first employee at 26, I thought I had to instantly stop asking questions because I was supposed to be the informed one. I didn't want the other managers or my employee to think I was ignorant. Some projects got pretty screwed up because I was scared to admit I didn't have all the answers. These days, I feel comfortable enough with myself to speak up!

Marcelo, 36, Sao Paulo

Make expectations clear up-front.
Your first interactions with new employees demonstrate exactly what kind of boss you will be. Use the opportunity to let them know right away how you prefer to work and what you expect from them.

Teach employees to be self-sufficient.
Invest time in teaching your employees what they need to know to become fully functioning members of your team. Show that you appreciate their efforts, and allow them to manage projects independently. Your role is to offer direction and a supportive ear—not to micromanage.

Learn to criticize constructively.
Criticism is necessary to any manager/employee relationship, but you should never bang your employee over the head with it. Follow a positive statement about your employee's performance with the word
and
instead of the word
but
. The
but
erases the good intentions behind your original comment and diminishes the credibility of the criticism to come.

Be meeting-savvy.
Set up regular meetings with each of your employees to solicit timely and relevant feedback. Ask targeted questions to prompt discussion about project status, and make sure to provide guidance on issues they may be facing.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently said that the average young American has more than seven different employers before she reaches age 26. This means that, in general, twenty-somethings are changing jobs every 16 months. No doubt about it, this is not your parents' business world. Many people their age spent decades working their way up the ladder in the same company—a career path that is virtually unheard-of today. The job-jumping craze of the early 21st century may be over, but the market will continue to be fluid as company loyalty decreases and an upcoming labor shortage opens more opportunities for driven young workers.