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.