Expert Opinion: How to grow as a leader

Hallidays HR Director, Liz Chiva, explains how to grow as a leader ahead of her upcoming seminar as part of the Rise with Xeinadin programme.

It’s easy to become a leader. The hard part is actually leading. Many are leaders in name only.

So how do you lead effectively? In fact – what actually is leadership? Well, first of all, don’t confuse it with management. Management is mostly about process. Leadership is mostly about behaviour.

Eisenhower defined it as “the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it”.

Managing and leading are two different mindsets – often different personality types. A good manager has natural talents for organising, implementing, delegating, reacting and improving productivity.

A leader’s talents, on the other hand, must include the ability to inspire, motivate, initiate change, challenge the status quo, proactively set the pace, and inspire loyalty.

To be a great leader, you also need the ability to let go – to give people freedom. To equip and empower good people to make good decisions, and trust them with it – right or wrong. And then have the wisdom and courage to stand by it as if it were your own decision.

So you need to create an environment within which the best people are able to do their best work. You need to organise your resources to multiply the talents and abilities of each individual in order that ordinary people are collectively capable of extraordinary things.

Which means the first thing you have to learn is, not to manage other people, but to manage yourself. Once you’ve mastered that, managing people is a doddle.

Of course – that’s easier said than done if you just rely on looking in the mirror and holding yourself to account. Change will come more rapidly and satisfying if you have a little help. Now, don’t look away like that – even the best sportspeople in the world use coaches to help them improve.

The next instalment in Halliday’s Rise with Xeinadin seminar series, ‘Growing as a leader’, takes place on Tuesday 26th September, 9:30 am – 12 noon at Hallidays’ office on Kings Reach Road in Stockport town centre. To find out more about the programme, and book a free taster place on their September seminar, visit the firm’s website.