From the Post: The Rise and Fall of Effective Leadership: Theory and People
Grab your journal for this one. In your day-to-day leader work watch for a situation where you might use an approach that has worked for you in the past. Now, think of the person or people you are talking to or working with. Consider your approach, and evaluate if this approach will be effective for this particular situation. Write down how you would approach it. Then write down one or two different ways you might approach the situation based on what you know about the person, people, or situation. Don’t assume what worked in this situation in the past will work this time.
The second part of the exercise is to observe behavior. What you may find is that people will respond differently to the same situation which challenges the approach you use or the theory you learned. Being able to recognize different responses and how you would handle each response will help you to become more flexible in how you lead.
Lastly, pay attention to your emotional response. If you feel yourself being challenged you may revert to a default skill. You may find yourself being more authoritative in your response rather than collaborative. An effective leader will understand their own emotions, what triggers those emotions, and how to manage emotions so they don’t get in the way of being the type of leader you want to be.
