An article I was reading the other day really hit home and reminded me of many important concepts. The article was about the 10 traits of superior leaders. I believe that every person can be a leader in their own organization in whatever position they currently hold. It may be leading in small ways or just working for change in a very focused area. Leadership traits are still required to work on change at any level, in your own life or as the head of a corporation.
Sometimes people feel frustrated because they don’t know how to help their organization, corporation, or even themselves improve. I’ve been there. Especially over the last couple of months, I’ve heard some people say they wish the company they worked for would be more responsive or that change is not happening to help workers learn and grow in their positions/jobs.
When asked for advice, I usually encourage people to become the change agent that they would like to see in their organization. If they develop leadership traits, they can lead at whatever level they are at in their organization.
One friend complained to me a couple of months ago that her corporation did not provide any training. She was frustrated and venting to me since she knew I would sympathize about how important training was because I am a trainer. I think she was surprised when I told her she should funnel her frustrations into constructive activities to improve her own leadership traits and encourage her company to provide the training that she needed. It might not happen right away, but there were several things she could do over time to encourage the change she wanted to see in the corporation she worked for.
First of all, I asked her to look at her company’s mission and/or vision statements. I told her to write out her specific goals for training. Next, she should line out the benefits for her, her team, and her company as a result of that training. I suggested that she quantify as much as possible the savings the training would provide. I explained how doing all of those tasks would help her develop her leadership traits, including interpersonal and communication skills, showing ambition and vision, and building competency and experience in analysis and problem solving.
Her reaction was much better than I expected. I was afraid that she would think it was too much to do and not want to follow up on any of it. In the last couple of months, she has made some good progress towards her goal of getting the training she needs. She has also told me how much better she feels because she empowered herself to do something and not just sit back and wait for change.
The article that I read was a wonderful reminder of how important it is that we are all change agents at our current level in our corporation or organization. If we see a change that needs to happen, we should be part of the solution to help instead of complaining and wishing for change!
