BAJAN SUN MAGAZINE
Upgrade: You can stick to the business and
leadership skills you have and are comfortable with,
but it is unlikely that your current skill set will keep
pace with the growing complexity of your company.
The problem is that a leader’s pre-ordained
obsolescence creeps up almost unnoticeably until
time and circumstance takes the leader to task. Yes,
you have unique skills and talents that got you to
this point … but that’s no guarantee that those skills
can or will take you any further.
Strategy: Make a plan to upgrade your skill set at
least once a year. Challenge yourself to get better.
And guess what? It will actually feel good and
broaden your leadership horizons.
OK, stop avoiding it: We each have natural skills
and interests that we build our careers on. But when
leading a business, there are skills you need to
know that are beyond your interests, abilities, and
comfort zone. Nevertheless, there are specific skills
that your leadership position requires you to learn
and know – but not necessarily master. For
example, the need to know and understand your
financials and practice financial discipline is a nonnegotiable for all leaders. You can
delegate
the bookkeeping and accounting –
but you cannot delegate the
knowledge of what your financials
are telling you. You may have a low
tolerance for confrontation, but
knowing how to navigate tough
conversations that must take place
is non-negotiable.
OCT 2014
Every company has ick: It’s that festering, toxic stuff
that lurks in dark places with names like
“resistance”, “resentment”, “attitude problems”,
“egos”, “entitlement”, “laziness” and “indifference”, to
name a few. No one aspires to be a leader because
they want to deal with ick … but it’s part of the job.
What’s interesting and remarkably clear is that as
ick accumulates over time, it does so right under the
very noses of the leaders that build the company
structures, layers and levels that feed the ick. Ick
feeds on stagnation, lack of information flow, lack of
opportunity – and lack of appreciation. The point
here is that what you need to know is all around
you.
Strategy: The best way to know and prevent ick is
by involving all employees in the process of
business g rowth. Contrary to popular belief, people
want to be a part of something that’s worthy of their
effort. People want to contribute. That’s why I
believe in open companies with open leadership and
cultures. That’s why I believe in transparency and
open-book management. What you need to know
resides in the hearts and minds of those you
lead. Tap into the knowledge of your people and you
will know more than you could ever imagine..
Strategy: I bet you have a couple of
non-negotiable skills that you’ve
been avoiding like the plague. Well,
it’s time to make peace with these
imaginary monsters because in this
case, you know exactly what you
don’t know and it’s time to do
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something about it.
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