How to be a good leader

13th of February 2022

Lead Image

One thing I’ve noticed in almost every professional setting that I have ever been in Is that the higher-level leaders are on the lookout for emerging leaders. As an individual, colleague, or team player at your place of work, you have to work towards developing the characteristics of a leader in order to stand out among others. In the past couple of my very weird experience with life, I have noticed a pattern, a three-step pattern, which I will be writing about in a few paragraphs in terms of how to become a leader.

An individual contributor

The first step is you must become a great individual contributor. That means that you have a role to play, and you have to play that role really well. If you're an expert at your field, you must bring your expertise to bear. If you have a deadline, you've got to hit that deadline. You've got to make sure you're doing your part and pulling your weight.

Develop better people skills

The second thing you must do as an individual contributor is develop better people skills. You must get along with your team members and clients. If you can't get along with people, no one's gonna think of you as a potential leader in the future.

Handle Pressure well

The third thing you want to do when you're an individual contributor is handle pressure well. Sometimes a customer will complain or someone on the team may be hard to get along with. You're going to face some problem, and if you handle it well then people will start to develop a trust in you.

They'll say “oh Kristoffer is ready for the next level or Quincy really handled that pressure well, he can handle responsibility” and blah blah.

You've probably seen the opposite when people around you make things worse, and they really go crazy when there's a problem and show their stress. You don't want to do that. You want to get through it smoothly.

Once you're doing that well at the individual contributor level, the second phase of this arc is you have to lead by example. And I really see two major areas where people can lead by example. The first one is that there will be a need.

There will be a need

A lot of times there's a need, there’s either going to be some problem that's going on or some issue that needs attention, needs a little extra work and most people on the team will just wait.

If you see that need and you take the initiative, take some action and help solve that problem or help meet that need, then you're leading by example. A lot of times people don't realize that they're supposed to do this. They're waiting for the manager above them to handle it but often your boss will be waiting for someone on the team to do it.

In fact, you may even be the one to bring up the problem. You may say, oh, you know, there's a real issue here. And your boss might say something like “Kristoff it sounds like you really want to work on this. Why don't you do that”. That's a signal to you to take initiative and lead by example.

A lot of times we want our bosses to solve all of our problems, but they want the opposite. They want us to step up and lead by example. And the other thing you want to do when you're leading by example in this second stage is you want to make sure you're speaking outside of your area of expertise.

Speak outside your area of expertise

You can get stuck in the role of individual contributor if you only talk about your favourite topics when it comes up. You must talk about the overall team concerns and contribute to the discussion more generally. You must broaden your vocabulary and the issues you're able to speak on.

The next step up is sooner or later a leadership position will open and you have to cross that chicken line and apply.

Cross that chicken (cowardly) line

You must stick your neck out and say I'm gonna apply for this. And what happens is when you're leading by example, you're already acting as a leader (almost like magic).

You will without realizing it be at the front of the line and everybody would want that kind of promotion for you because you're already acting like a leader and that promotion is simply gonna make it official.

Leading by example

This step of leading by example is one that people often miss. They think, If I just do my job well, sooner or later someone will promote me. They don't realize that leading by example is the unofficial step toward official leadership, and that's what the higher levels are doing. When people are looking for emerging leaders, they're not just looking for smart people. They're looking for people who are already leading by example., and I have seen this unfold time and time again across a variety of professional settings.

Note that the above is simply my opinion based on experience and should be considered subjective.

Enough about what I think about how to become a leader. I’d like your opinion on what you think about how to become a leader in a professional setting.