(Editor’s Note: This series is brought to you by our friends at Capella University. Capella is an accredited online university dedicated to providing an exceptional, professionally-aligned education that puts you in the best position to succeed in your field. Enjoy the post!)
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been talking about the competencies (aka recipes) for human resources success. Those topics included:
Communication and Business Acumen
Relationship Management and Consultation
IMHO, this final post brings it all together – with the topic of leadership. I believe that the definition of leadership is the ability to influence others. That means that everyone is a leader. Leadership isn’t attached to a group of job titles that sit in the C-Suite.
In order for us to be a good leader, we need to do all of the other competencies we’ve talked about. We must practice ethics so people will trust us. We can’t influence others if they don’t trust us. We need to be able to effectively evaluate business situations and communicate business details. And, in our role as an internal consultant, we can only influence change when we have built positive working relationships.
Leadership is about using our power positively to influence organizational change.
The last thing to remember about leadership is the importance of “paying it forward.” Leadership is about helping others understand how to become effective leaders. Whether that’s by setting the right example or mentoring someone, leaders are not threatened by sharing their knowledge and expertise. Because let’s face it, great leaders want to work with other great leaders.
Tyler says
Your post is very inspiring Sharlyn. Building good relationships with your people is very important as a leader. As a leader, you don’t just boss others around but you guide them to be good at their job and to inspire others. I always put myself in someone else’s shoes. And yes, earning their trust is absolutely important.