The weekly team meeting is not going as smooth as Femsy would like it to be. Femsy stands her ground.

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A great leader:

• Is self confident and has a strong sense of self;
• Sets and communicates clear (behavioural) standards;
• Makes sure that team members understand what is expected from them;
• Manages pushback without getting emotional or frustrated;
• Acts decisively in difficult situations.

How to best handle the situation:

Leading involves keeping your eye on the goal, setting common objectives, dealing with resistance, managing your emotions, being a role model and getting others to believe in where you’re headed. It requires a strong self-awareness and a lot of self-confidence.

Leading puts you in the limelight. Don’t let criticism prevent you from taking the lead or a stand. People will always say it should have been done differently anyway.

Learning suggestions:

• Make sure your team members understand what is expected from them. Set and communicate clear standards;
• Your emotional reactions might make others think that you have issues with tough leadership situations. Learn to recognize and control your emotions. Instead of immediately reacting, ask questions or invite a person to tell you more about his/her point of view;
• Look and sound like a leader. This requires a strong voice, eye contact, self-confidence and a strong presence. A lot of leadership presence has to do with forceful presentation skills. Take a workshop that is using video taping;
• If you know you’re right then take a stand. In case you are wrong, which happens to all great leaders sometimes, accept personal responsibility for errors, admit it and move on;
• Tips for staying in control in meetings:
  • Send a meeting agenda in advance;
  • Nail the introduction of every topic. Be very specific by ensuring that every meeting participant knows exactly what you want to talk about and “what is in it” for him/her;
  • Allot specific amounts of time to agenda topics;
  • Manage pushback, bring people back on track and cut people off if needed;
  • Nail the closure of every topic with SMART action points, decisions and/or conclusions.
• Leaders are readers. Interesting books which could address your specific needs are for example:
  • “Emotional Intelligence 2.0” by Travis Bradberry & Jean Graves;
  • “Power Talk” by Sarah Myers McGinty;
  • “Leadership, the Power of Emotional Intelligence” by Daniel Goleman;
  • “Act like a Leader, Think like a Leader” by Hermina Ibarra.

Femchallenge:

Leadership requires presence. Would I pick you as a leader if I met you for the first time during an office gathering? What makes you the leader?

Femcommunity tips:

We welcome your thoughts, experiences and comments on how you would deal with such a situation.

Read more about Co-Colours and Co-Colours Team.