Three Key Steps to Becoming a Leader

“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” –John Kenneth Galbraith 

Common to most definitions of leadership is the idea that a leader is someone who takes responsibility – and is held accountable – for resolving the stresses of the community that she serves. There are many women that come to mind when we think of such leaders, one of the most prominent being Gloria Steinem. Steinem helped create both New York and Ms. magazines, and formed the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971 with Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan. Despite criticism and personal challenges, Steinem remained active and outspoken and mobilized the communities around her to address the issue of women’s equality at work and home. 

So what does this mean for you at work and in your community? Let’s take a close look at the three steps to leading powerfully:

Highlight an issue that addresses stress in your community and/or workplace. Notice what is creating a challenging feeling for you and what others are saying about how they feel. This is a major clue to a need at play that is not being addressed. To do this well, you must interpret these stresses in the way I described in my previous blog, How to Turn Stress into Resiliency. Then, help yourself and others to confront these stresses as a group and commit to its resolution by forming a shared vision of the possibility. 

Generate a strategy for dealing more effectively with the issue. The most powerful change strategies will address changes in beliefs, behaviors, and the environment. The leadership challenge for you is to keep the conversations rooted in the “adaptive” interpretation of emotions – highlighting the need behind our challenging emotions. For instance, the need behind anger is to assert our rights, behind resentment is to air our grievance, and the need behind frustration is achievement. Shifting the focus of our attention to strategies that can help us meet our collective needs moves us in a powerful direction for change. 

Mobilize others to take action. This is about shared leadership and making choices. Delegate to members of your team, and don’t take on too much. This is a recipe for a burnout. Effective leadership is about the conversations you create, keeping the attention on the strategies and actions that make a difference.  When a person shifts their beliefs in a way that creates a positive impact, notice this and use it as a way to help others see it too. 

–Andrea Zintz, Career Coach