And who is the leader today?

Joseph Campbell once expressed himself by saying: “Leadership is a mysterious, elusive quality. Its existence is easy to recognize, difficult to describe, even harder to use in practice, and is obviously impossible to form as a quality in others.”

In the “era of freelance”, the question of how to manage the staff, arise with increasing frequency. That is why today I will try to answer this question and share with you my experience. Managing subordinates in outsourcing is not that easy since they have completely different priorities.  Although, if they peg you as a worthy, fair-minded and honest leader, you will get a reliable and loyal team for years. I am going to tell you the story of my own steep and thorny way to leadership.)

The most important thing

First of all, different groups of workers demand special approach of being managed. Usually, it depends on the situation. For example, “employees” should be treated and managed as “partners”. The partnership itself excludes “management” as it implies equality of participants. Partners do not give direct orders to each other, they may only persuade and convince.

So, here is our first rule – «People do not need to be controlled and governed, the task of the leader is to direct them»

That is said, you should not concentrate all the power in your hands, but give it to your subordinates, creating conditions for the development of the workforce. Try to involve all the employees in solving organizational problems. Every member of your team should feel useful.

Don’t forget about management

Our second rule is – “The leader is endowed with power, but true management is about generating motivation, not force”. It is extremely important for a leader to determine what can serve as motivating factor for a certain employee (such factors may be as follows: material remuneration, emotional encouragement, working conditions or career). You say it is clear and still does not work. As a matter of fact, it does not work because you do not know the needs of your team and you d o not have authority with your colleagues. Most likely, your subordinates are afraid of you what, consequently, gives such results. So, what to do? – The answer is simple – it is high time to gain authority in the team.

The real authority consists of the unity of a specialist, the position occupied, and personality. Authority is conquered by the leader himself. The leader appears before the team as a person endowed with reason, will, and adherence to principles; the person who is strict, but fair and moral. Sometimes, the authority of the leader takes on the nature of the authority of the individual. This is the power based on an unconscious belief in personal qualities or leadership abilities. At the subconscious level, the subordinate identifies himself with the leader. It satisfies his needs for membership and respect. Another way is the power, based on the intelligent belief of the manager’s competence. The influence of the leader is achieved through his personal, visible achievements.

Try to hear your team

Our third rule is – “The leader is somebody ready to be responsible for the others”.  This is the type of leader who gets the most dedicated team of enthusiasts that will follow him to the edge of the world. But for this, you will need to adhere to a set of principles. This will be featured in a separate article, which will be published in a week and, of course, will include the sharing of my own experience.

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P.S. I have a piece of advice for you, start watching an American television series ‘SUITS’.