Post by account_disabled on Apr 30, 2024 5:06:39 GMT -5
In May, I was honored to present my thinking on “How to Help Your Next-Gen Become Leaders in their Own Right” at the Public Relations Society of America’s Counselors Academy Spring Conference. Leading leaders under you presents special challenges: how much autonomy do you give them? When do you step in, and when do you hold back? How do you lead someone who, in many ways, is a peer? They’re a talented bunch who’ve risen close to the top for a variety of reasons. Yet they still need guidance, encouragement, and feedback from you to continue their leadership journey. Not only to best serve you and your organization, but those they lead, guide, encourage, and mentor, as well. It’s not easy, but I believe it’s certainly worth it. Effectively leading leaders can be amazingly fulfilling, so here are 10 tips I believe will help you do just that. Recognize Them as Leaders When we want someone to step up and act a certain way, one of the most effective things we can do is treat them as if they’re already in that position. That can pull them into a higher level of performance. And it’s especially effective when leading leaders.
The first step is establishing a vision that’s meaningful to them. And acknowledge they’re going to play a special role in achieving that shared vision. (And remember it’s one thing to say “This is my vision,” but when you’re willing to create a shared vision, you increase their buy-in and loyalty to you exponentially.) To prepare for the workshop, I turned to an article I had written on this topic a few years back. It was Hotel Email List for PRSA’s PR Strategist, including three PR “top dawgs” respected for their ability to lead leaders: Ellen Ryan Mardiks, vice chairman, president, consumer marketing practice, Golin; Jim Joseph, now global president, brand solutions, Burson Cohn & Wolfe; and Rob Flaherty, now chair of Ketchum PR. Flaherty encourages leaders to imagine a “blank canvas on a tight frame.” The tight frame is your vision, and some of the core strategies; they get to paint the canvas for achieving that vision for their department or function. As you give more and more responsibility to them, it’s important that you motivate them by setting a good example, says Flaherty.
That means working hard, constantly bringing value to the business, and not just being a coach, but a player-coach (who still has a fastball!) And that fastball isn’t about communications, but leadership. It can be exhausting, and it’s supposed to be. But when you get it right, it’s exhilarating! Don’t Only Delegate, EMPOWER! One reason many of us resist delegating is because we focus on what we’re giving away. Instead, focus on what we’re getting: the chance to do more for your organization, your second-tier, and yourself. When you delegate effectively, you can focus on the things that only you as an agency owner or corporate communications function can do: vision, strategy, long-term planning, and business development. As Robin S. Sharma said, why resist change when it’s the main source of your growth? To be even blunter… per my friend Joel Curran (a former corporate and agency leader, now vice chancellor of public affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): Create the objective, show the direction, and get the hell out of the way! Get comfortable letting them do it their way.
The first step is establishing a vision that’s meaningful to them. And acknowledge they’re going to play a special role in achieving that shared vision. (And remember it’s one thing to say “This is my vision,” but when you’re willing to create a shared vision, you increase their buy-in and loyalty to you exponentially.) To prepare for the workshop, I turned to an article I had written on this topic a few years back. It was Hotel Email List for PRSA’s PR Strategist, including three PR “top dawgs” respected for their ability to lead leaders: Ellen Ryan Mardiks, vice chairman, president, consumer marketing practice, Golin; Jim Joseph, now global president, brand solutions, Burson Cohn & Wolfe; and Rob Flaherty, now chair of Ketchum PR. Flaherty encourages leaders to imagine a “blank canvas on a tight frame.” The tight frame is your vision, and some of the core strategies; they get to paint the canvas for achieving that vision for their department or function. As you give more and more responsibility to them, it’s important that you motivate them by setting a good example, says Flaherty.
That means working hard, constantly bringing value to the business, and not just being a coach, but a player-coach (who still has a fastball!) And that fastball isn’t about communications, but leadership. It can be exhausting, and it’s supposed to be. But when you get it right, it’s exhilarating! Don’t Only Delegate, EMPOWER! One reason many of us resist delegating is because we focus on what we’re giving away. Instead, focus on what we’re getting: the chance to do more for your organization, your second-tier, and yourself. When you delegate effectively, you can focus on the things that only you as an agency owner or corporate communications function can do: vision, strategy, long-term planning, and business development. As Robin S. Sharma said, why resist change when it’s the main source of your growth? To be even blunter… per my friend Joel Curran (a former corporate and agency leader, now vice chancellor of public affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): Create the objective, show the direction, and get the hell out of the way! Get comfortable letting them do it their way.
