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WHY do you want to be a leader?

LeaderWhat is your reason for either aspiring to be a leader or wanting to be more effective as a leader?

Perhaps you are motivated by the potential rewards (compensation and recognition) that come from additional responsibility. You may decide that developing stronger leadership skills is part of an overall professional development plan.

Alternatively, you may believe that a leadership role is part of a central purpose in your life.  It may be important to you as part of a personal identity.  You may be driven by a sense of obligation to serve others in some leadership capacity.

In a recent article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors tested the hypothesis that potential leaders with a combination of motives were the most committed and highest performing.  Their findings were somewhat surprising.

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Three Ways to “Manage Up”

Manage UpWhat words would describe the relationship with your manager or supervisor?  Would you use words like subservient, directed, chain-of-command, or authoritative? If so, it is unlikely that you are providing the greatest value to either your boss or the organization as a whole.  It could be that you don’t know how to effectively manage up.

In their recent book Influencing Up, David Bradford and Allan Cohen advocate that employees have greater capacity to influence their boss than they might believe.  Their contention is that powerful people need powerful direct reports.  More specifically, leaders need people who take initiative and get things done.  They also contend that leaders need direct reports who are willing to speak truth-to-power in a way that is respectful. So how can direct reports manage up more effectively?  It starts with understanding how to be more influential with their manager.

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