Last night, I spent about half an hour talking to one of our organization's leaders in the parking lot at my office. We had just finished attending a committee meeting that I felt was very successful. As it frequently happens at my organization, the committee chairman was unable to conduct the meeting, so it fell to me as the "staff liaison" to keep things flowing and get as much work done as possible.
This leader I was speaking with (who shall remain nameless) took it upon himself to give me some advice for leading meetings, and leadership in general. I told him that I was simply an employee... a staff liaison. He countered by telling me that I was in a leadership position whether I liked it or not. The choice before me was to either lead effectively or lead poorly.
Here are the tips he gave me:
- Less "I" and more "we".
- Engage silent or passive participants directly to inspire them. Call on them by name and ask them what they think.
- Allow people to take credit for your work. The success of the work is what's important, not the credit for doing it.
- It's hard to lead without followers. Inspire those you work with to take ownership and improve the quality of their contributions.
- Making people feel important will make them perform important work.
Is this advice you would follow? Let me know what you think about these tips!