Leading and managing is tough and requires a huge amount of skill, experience, knowledge and personal attributes. So for something completely different, this article shares my ideas on the complete A to Z of leading and managing.
Now I am sure that you will have heard some of these before so what I want you to focus on is how you might apply each of these tips on a day to day basis.
A is for acknowledging others and a bias for action.
B is for maintaining balance between life and work and bringing out the best in others.
C is for clarity of purpose, communicating effectively and making great choices.
D is determining the direction or strategy, deciding what to do and decisiveness.
E is emotional competence, enthusiasm and evolution.
F is for focusing on what matters, treating everyone fairly and having fun.
G is for goal setting, giving effective feedback, getting the best from teams.
H is for honesty, helping others to achieve success, taking the hard decisions.
I is for innovation, idea generation and interest in other parts of the organisation.
J is for making judgements even when you have imperfect information.
K is for keeping your knowledge up to date and knowing what you do best.
L is for lifelong learning and listening effectively to others contributions.
M is for maintaining morale in good and bad times, motivating others and making decisions.
N is noticing the great things that people are doing day in and day out.
O is for optimism, spotting and exploiting opportunities and being open to ideas.
P is for professionalism, personal and team productivity and performance.
Q is for quality, using questions effectively to deal with challenging situations and gain insights.
R is for results focus, recognising the talents of others and balanced risk taking.
S is for setting strategy, finding solutions and standing back from the detail.
T is for taking control of your time, taking responsibility and team development.
U is for understanding expectations and using the range of team skills and expertise.
V is for understanding your values, creating organisational values and valuing others.
W is for working with others, aiming to create win-win outcomes and tackling time wasters.
X is slightly challenging so I am going to cheat. X is for using your experience effectively.
Y is about knowing when to say yes, knowing yourself and your development needs.
Z is about not immediately discounting zany ideas before you have properly considered them.
Got some personal tips to share? Leave a comment with your favourite A to Z leadership and management tips.