Why You Should Think of “Leader” as a Mode, Not a Title
The following is adapted from The Leadership PIN Code.
During one of my coaching sessions, a leader said to me, “Why do I have to go to so much effort to get my team on board? They know they need to do the job, and they know I’m in charge.”
I empathize with where he was coming from. It can seem quicker to tell your team what to do and simply have them do it. But the task of a leader, as opposed to a dictator, is to think about the impact you want to have and the type of culture you want to invoke. All too often, people assume that because they have a title, they must necessarily have the skills to go with it.
A title only shows that you have the potential for leadership. True leadership doesn’t rest in any single position, but instead in a constant desire to create understanding, encourage engagement, and foster collaboration. “Leader” is a mode, not a job title.
You may have the title, salary, and the role, but are you actually leading in every moment? Read on to learn some of the key distinctions that exist between people who work in leader mode and those who only rely on the authority of their title.
Leaders Shine through Results
Leading in the moment is like being the conductor of an orchestra. While every musician is an expert in playing their instrument, it is neither possible nor necessary for the conductor to know how to play each instrument. The conductor is the only one who doesn’t make a sound yet creates the result and harmony through the orchestra.
As a leader, you shine through the results that you produce through others, not in yourself. The leader is never the first violin but enables the team to perform by getting all the roles to function together. Leading in the moment means utilizing the positive synergies in a team and letting those be the shining results rather than the leader being the face of those results.
Leaders Invite the Team to Responsibility
Leaders should set the direction about where the team is headed, but the team figures out the best way and the best tools to get there. If the leader decides the direction, how to get there and the tools to use, she is a hands-in fixer, not a leader, and is likely not focusing on the right things at the right time in the right way. Some use the term “coaching leadership.” Here, too, hand-holding, telling, and advising is not coaching; a good coaching leader doesn’t tell the team what to do but directs or helps them find their way to do it.
Engaged leaders create invitations to responsibility. They have a way of inviting or directing others that makes others want to follow them in spite of obligation and show up with their best every time. They empower others and give them the freedom to come in with new ideas or opinions or challenges.
Leaders Don’t Get Hung up on Management
Hands-on leadership is different from hands-in management. The key differences between managing and leading lie in the focus on tasks and people. Leaders are focused on a long-term perspective, creating a vision, setting direction, acting as change agents, and developing people. They create influence by building trusting relationships, which result in inspired followers.
Managers are focused on relatively shorter-term goals and plans, maintaining the daily business and steady operations, developing relevant systems and processes, and achieving results through assigning and following up on tasks.
Of course, there may be moments when you as a leader step into directing, setting the agenda, and facilitating your team’s goals. But don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. The task of a leader is to think about the impact you want to have and the type of culture you want to invoke.
Do you want people to come up with great ideas, be creative, collaborative, happy to be at work and go the extra mile, or do you just want to get through the day and get the job done?
Leaders are Learners and Observers
Successful leaders must make the shift from fixer mode to curious and learning mode. They are curious about what their team needs in order to do their work more effectively. If you’re curious, you’re less likely to get into telling, interfering, doing, and fixing. Here, rather than management, leaders shift into servant leadership, which is operating from the viewpoint of what they need to do to help others do their job properly, rather than doing it for them.
Choosing not to steer in certain moments might also be necessary. You may be able to step back out of an arena where people are managing their tasks and be an observer rather than being directive. Leadership is also knowing when to step in and when to step out; it isn’t always about being busy. You are leading when you are both present and active and present and observant.
Recognize that the Mode Changes
Because leadership is a mode, a person’s ability to lead fluctuates. It depends on contexts, knowledge, skills, and a whole array of other momentary factors. Leadership is dynamic, not just in the way that it generates energy for others, but also in the way it manifests in leaders themselves.
The bigger or more complex the challenges, the greater the demand on you as a leader to be able to persuade and influence your organization to see and embrace the changes positively. Some days, you may be more able to meet those challenges, and on others, you might fall short.
People who see leadership only as a title don’t have a good grasp on why success might come and go. Their perspective is static, solid, and purportedly predictable. That means that when challenges rear their ugly heads, most entitled leaders, as I like to call them, are unprepared to weather the difficulties.
When you see leadership as a mode, you know you can always take steps to become a better leader. You are able to grow, develop, and ultimately, become more consistent and confident in your leadership abilities.
For more advice on leadership, you can find The Leadership PIN Code on Amazon.
Dr. Nashater Deu Solheim brings a new toolkit to leadership development that is backed by decades of integrated experience in the areas of business and psychology. As a former forensic psychologist with clinical research in the neuropsychology of criminal minds, she developed a deep interest in effective learning strategies for lasting success. Now, as an expert negotiator who studied at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Dr. Solheim has combined her experience as an executive leader in international private companies and government ministries to present The Leadership PIN Code, the definitive guide for helping business leaders secure influence and impactful results.
