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Women in Leadership Positions Volume 4, No. 6 June 2005 Greetings, BEING IN A LEADERSHIP POSITION means
you have the ability to accomplish goals through the work of other people. In
this newsletter I will use the words leader and manager interchangeably. Recently one of my clients discussed a young woman who is
being promoted into a leadership position. My client has been asked to mentor
the young woman. I told my client that in this June newsletter I am
discussing information about actions that can help a new leader or manager.
Even if you are not a "new leader," you can use these ideas to
improve the performance of your employees and your relationships with them. Challenges for New Managers
TOO OFTEN EMPLOYEES ARE PROMOTED
into leadership or management positions because they are performing their
current job well. Unfortunately, they do not receive much training on how to
manage employees. WOMEN HIRED OR PROMOTED into leadership positions face
additional challenges. Both men and women indicate they prefer a man for a
boss, which suggests they are more willing to follow the instructions of a
male boss. WOMEN TEND TO BE MORE CONCERNED than men about having
balanced relationships. The relationship between two women is balanced if
they both feel that they have equal power and equal self-esteem. If one of
the women is promoted to a leadership position, her power will be greater. In
addition, her self-esteem may be higher. Consequently, the relationship is no
longer balanced. The non-promoted woman may be feeling hurt that she was not promoted.
She may start "sniping at" or engaging in other
"back-stabbing" activities. (In the March, April, and May
newsletters I discussed how we can help each other build self-esteem. You can
review them by going to www.pilot-your-life.com. Click on the "Newsletters"
button and look up past issues of Pilot-Your-Life.) SMART Goals
EACH EMPLOYEE NEEDS TO KNOW what her SPECIFIC goals are
and how her performance will be MEASURED or evaluated.The
goals need to be ACHIEVABLE -- not impossible to accomplish. If the main goal
is large it may need to be separated into smaller goals that will ultimately
lead to the accomplishment of the bigger goal. A RESULTS-ORIENTED GOAL refers to the outcome that will
be expected when the goal is accomplished. For example, if an employee
attends a training workshop, a results-oriented outcome could be a written
paper describing what the employee learned. An example of a time-bound goal
for a receptionist would be: "Be seated at your desk ready to answer the
phone and greet clients 5 minutes before the office opens." THE CONFERENCE WITH EACH EMPLOYEE needs to be an open
discussion of advantages and disadvantages of the goals. The goals decided
upon need to be thoroughly understood. How the employee is going to let the
manager know what is being accomplished needs to be specified. In this way,
accountability is built into the process and the employee is responsible for
keeping the manager informed. Both the leader and the employee are responsibile for staying up to date on what is happening.
Situational Leadership Style
WHEN AN EMPLOYEE IS NEW TO THE JOB or learning new
skills, the directing style would be appropriate. The manager needs to
specifically tell the employee how to do her job. As an employee becomes more
competent, the leader can move to a coaching style where she asks the
employee to share ideas about how to do the job. However, the leader still
makes the final decisions. THE SUPPORTING STYLE OF MANAGEMENT can be used
effectively with employees who have demonstrated they know how to do the job
and are committed to the organization's goals. These employees can design
good action plans and know how to handle problems. The manager can support
the employee by agreeing to her plans (unless unfavorable results might
occur). When an experienced employee knows how to do her job and is committed
to accomplishing the goals of the organization, a manager can delegate
projects and give the employee the responsibility plus the authority to do
what is necessary. In this situation the leader would offer her support if it
is needed. The employee should keep the manager informed on her progress. The
manager can build into the delegation process how she needs to be informed on
the status of the project. IF AN EMPLOYEE'S LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE GOES DOWN, a
manager may need to start using a more controlling leadership style. For
example, a leader might need to use the directive style if an employee
is under great stress in her personal life. For example, a serious illness,
death, or a divorce can be so stressful that the employee is no longer able
to perform her job satisfactorily. In a future newsletter I plan to discuss
more specifically what to do in such situations. Tips for Women in Leadership Positions
Information about Mary Alice Hurd, Ph.D.
MARY ALICE coaches successful women and men who want to
enjoy life and prosperity. I am an executive coach and a licensed
psychologist in Professional Excellence Group for
Executive Women Bankers
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