How To Make The Jump From Manager To Leader
 
 
“The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.”
—Faye Wattleton
 
 
What do you think it takes to move from a manager to a leader in your field? Conventional wisdom lets us believe that working hard at our assigned tasks is what’s required, but there’s a difference between being a manager and being a leader. Take a look at Ellig and Morin’s table below. Which category better represents how you’re operating today?
 
Are you a manager or a leader?
 
 

 
 
Chances are most of you will see that you’re currently operating at the manager level. There’s nothing wrong with that . . . unless you thought you were aiming to be a leader. There are steps you can take to rise to this higher level. I’ll give you my three easy steps. Consider each step as adding a garment to your daily wardrobe that you’ll be wearing to work from now on.
 
Step 1:  Pin down your goals and values and communicate them to others. (My tip this week is related to this.)
 
Step 2:  Be a visionary with new ideas—don’t accept things as they’ve always been done. Inspire others with your ideas and enthusiasm. Encourage them to speak up with their ideas and the problems they see at work. Let others know you’ll hear them out and will consider their suggestions when you make decisions. But, when you make your decisions, you’ll proceed directly to Step 3 below.
 
Step 3:  Be bold and assume “the buck stops here” mantle, knowing full well that this means you may have a few dissenters. You should expect this and stop trying to make everyone happy!
 
 
 
 
Here’s my tip of the week.
 
Tip:
Many of you have told me you appreciate it when I give you a script to work with. Here’s one for you to use when talking with higher ups in your company.
 
I like working for this company and my goal is to reach the leadership level in X (marketing, etc.). I would appreciate it if you consider me for any new projects, teams, or studies that deal with this.
 
(Now if you want to carry this conversation to a higher plane—as a leader would—add the following.)
 
If you’re interested, I have an idea for a survey which would provide information to benefit the company. Would you like me to email it to you and then we could meet to discuss it?
 
You get the idea. If you want to be a leader, add these 3 pieces of advice to your working “wardrobe.”
 
 
Further Reading:
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Powerful Body Language For Working Women —Women, Change Your Body Language, Change Your Message
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Are Women As Ambitious As Men? —Is Ambition Good For Men, And Bad For Women?
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Natalie R. Manor, Leadership & Confidence
—Many Women Are Competent, but Lack Confidence
 
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Tags: leadership, working, women, business, career

Learn To Ask And Appreciate
 
 
The saying “Nice girls don’t ask!” is yesterday’s advice for business.
Today’s advice is “Women ask, and ask, and appreciate what they get.”
—Nancy Clark
 
 
As I mentioned in my earlier posting, men ask for things eight times more often than women. That’s proof that we’ve learned the lesson Nice Girls Don’t Ask only too well. It’s time to throw out this obsolete adage. It’s time to master asking at three levels.
 
The first level is asking for non-financial items. Watch the guys on this one because they’ve gotten very good at finding clever things to ask for. At WomensMedia, we’ve received hundreds of examples. For instance, Cheryl was organizing a combined presentation for several branches of a banking firm. “I sent out a speaking agenda that made sense to me.” she said. “Men immediately started phoning me: ‘I must speak before Jim!’—‘Jack can’t talk before me!’—‘My branch is older and larger, so I have to speak first!’” Cheryl started bending one way and then the other; she couldn’t make anyone happy and she was miserable. She had even decided she’d speak last just to show the feuding parties that she didn’t care about positioning.
 
She asked for my advice. I told her to stick with her original agenda, and to confirm the fact, suggested she send it out again with an allotted speaking time next to each participant. Then when the day came, she was to take the microphone and welcome everyone and talk about what was to be accomplished and then to introduce each speaker when his time came. At the end, she was to conclude and summarize the meeting. The next day, she’d send out an email summary with requests for any new questions that now needed to be discussed. Here was her chance to organize the next presentation.
 
At first Cheryl was looking at the situation through the Nice Girl Lens and saying, “That’s all so petty and unimportant.” Without that lens distortion, she could see that each man knew he had a chance to improve his image by positioning, and that it wouldn’t hurt to try. That’s an example of the first level—a non-financial request.
 
The second level is to ask for money. It can be for a raise as I coached you previously, or it can be for a bonus tied to a benchmark that’s important to your company. Get creative here—you have a chance to name the benchmarks. Of course, it can’t be something you’re already expected to do in a regular workday. And, since I’m not in favor of letting you work even longer hours, I suggest you volunteer to organize lunch meetings with others to take care of this new effort.
 
The third level of asking involves your career development. At first, meet with your boss and ask him (or her) to be your advisor for your career plans. Tell him the types of projects you’d eventually like to work on. Ask if you could discuss this on a regular basis, such as every 3 months. Thank him in advance for his help. Make sure you thank him—remember, appreciation is part of this—each time he sends something your way. At the 3-month meeting, reiterate your appreciation.
 
Here’s the tip of the week.
 
Tip:
Your assignment is to start a list of Level 1 items that can be requested. Positioning at a meeting and other things that boost your image should be on it. What about office location (such as next to X), office size, equipment, special software training, etc. You get the idea. Now get creative and write a long list!
 
 
Further Reading:
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Women Still Make Less Money:  Here’s How To Make Sure It Doesn’t Happen To You!  —Make As Much As A Man! 
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Women Need To Ask! —Men Ask More, Men Get More
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Michelle LaBrosse, Negotiate Your Way to Success

 
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Tags: working, women, business, ask, money, image, self-promotion