By Kathy Groob, Publisher – Future leaders were in abundance at this week’s Young Democrats of America convention this week in Louisville, Kentucky.  I spoke for an hour to over 75 bright, energetic and engaged women who are seeking the path to success and leadership in their careers and political lives.

These women get it. They described a leader as someone who is honest, courageous, bold, strong, effective, energetic, able to delegate, respectful and dedicated.  They were right, but how do you develop those skills and get others to notice and see you as a leader.

Leadership is not power; although we need authority to move things forward.  Becoming a leader is not popularity contest; although people respond better to someone who treats them fairly and with respect.  Leaders do not get out of doing the dirty work; but need to be able to delegate effectively.

Leadership just doesn’t come naturally – have you heard that expression a born leader?  Just because a child is strong or bossy, seeming to be a take-charge person, doesn’t always make them an effective leader.  When faced with a problem or challenges, true leaders will emerge and show his or her strength.

Leaders don’t display emotions; but good leaders are passionate and full of energy.

After being an independent consultant to a heavily male dominated midsize real estate and construction firm for 17 years, I was asked to join the firm, trade my consulting role for that of an employee. It was a big step for me to give up my small business and become part of a larger corporation, but I was ready for a change and a new direction in my career.  I laid out my conditions for salary and title and they accepted.  I joined the company as a Vice President and the first female on the company’s executive leadership team.

The culture shock was amazing, but after awhile I was able to make significant changes, developed a new division and built a winning leadership team that included many more women

The things I had to learn and really work on to succeed in that heavily male, conservative environment included being prepared with facts and figures whenever I brought a new idea; tempering my emotions and building political support for my ideas in advance of decision meetings.  In this case, leadership was not just holding a certain position; it was building support and moving a group of people to accomplish specified goals.

How can you develop your leadership skills no matter what your current position?

1. Practice – practice everyday making a series of decisions driven by your core values and your ethical compass.  Lead by example.
2. Be passionate about your work or your service. Be prepared for every day and hit the ground running. Passion and work ethic can have a huge impact on how you are perceived by others—outwork them!
3. Your word is your bond.  You absolutely, unequivocally must have the trust of the people around you.  Keep confidences and don’t gossip.  This is hard to do sometimes, but absolutely critical to seeing you as a true leader.
4. Deliver on what you say you are going to do – this is rare today.  If you say you are going to do something, do it.  I you can’t deliver as promised, get help, follow up with a status update and deal with expectations up front.
5. Jump in and do what needs to be done – don’t wait for an assignment, look for what is needed and do it.  Leaders don’t need to be told what to do.
6. Mistakes – it you make a mistake, say something you didn’t mean, loose your temper – apologize, make it right.

Once you are on a leadership track and have others working for you, always let people know where they stand.  Continually provide feedback and honest evaluation of your expectations and team member performance.  And spend more time with your star performers than with low performers.  Unfortunately, the opposite is mostly true, but your true leadership success will come from building a successful, strong team around you.

Leadership Styles

In the book Five Star Leadership, the training and development of leadership shills needed in the military are discussed.  The military is great at developing leaders by following proven practices.

There are several different leadership styles as there are common responsibilities.  A participatory leadership style includes others in decision making vs. an authoritarian style.  Generally the leader is good at setting goals, defining measures, delegating responsibility and holding people accountable.

Challenges for Women

 “The areas where real money and power reside are still mostly occupied almost exclusively by men.”

–       As leaders, women must walk a delicate balancing act

–       Women are held to higher standards; must be better

–       Women cannot be too pushy or too soft

–       Women are expected to exhibit more compassion

–       People take direction easier from men than from women

–       Women need to be more careful promoting themselves

As more women achieve leadership positions, the general public will become more comfortable with women in power positions.

Women need to do a better job of helping other women

–       Build strong networks of professional women

–       Develop the skills you need to ask for what you want and what you deserve (Read Knowing Your Value)

–       Women are harder on other women than they are on men – we need to stop doing that

–       Find a mentor; man or woman- someone who will help you develop skills and get ahead

–       Established women need to help younger women; ask a woman for help