How to Become a Leader at Work

In almost every professional setting that I have ever been in, the higher
level leaders are on the lookout for emerging leaders. So in this video we're
going to talk about how to become a leader.
Hello again friends I'm Alex Lyon
and Communication Coach is here to help you increase your impact so you can
lead the teams around you with higher levels of excellence. I'm especially
interested in helping team leaders, front-line supervisors and front-line
managers. And in today's video we're gonna talk about how to become a leader.
In the past couple of decades of my professional experience, I have noticed a
pattern, a three-step pattern, that I want to unpack for you in terms of how to
become a leader. The first step is you have to become a great individual
contributor. That means that on your team you were hired for a role and you have
to do that role really well. You're an expert you have to 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. The second thing you
have to do as an individual contributor is develop better people skills. You have
to get along with your team members. You have to get along with clients. If you
can't get along with people, now no one's gonna think of you as a potential leader
in the future. The third thing you want to do when you're an individual
contributor is handle pressure well. Sometimes a customer will complain
or someone else on the team is really hard to get along with. You're going to
face some kind of problem and if you handle it well then people will start to
develop a trust in you. They'll say Oh Erin is ready for the next level or
Robert really handled that pressure well. He can handle responsibility. 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. So 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. A lot of times there's a need,
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. And if you see that [need]
and you take initiative, take some action and help solve that
problem 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 times 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, Well Alex
you know, 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. So you can get stuck
in the role of individual contributor if you only talk about your favorite topic
when it comes up. You have to talk about the overall team concerns and contribute
to the discussion more generally. You have to broaden your vocabulary and the
issues you're able to speak on. So now you're leading by example. The next step
up is sooner or later a leadership position will open and you have to cross
that chicken line and apply. You have to stick your neck out and say I'm gonna
apply for this. And what happens is when you're leading by example, here's like
the little magic to it, you're really already acting as a leader. And so you
will without realizing it, you'll be at the front of the line and everybody is
mind for that kind of promotion because you're already acting like a leader and
that promotion is just gonna make it official. This middle step leading by
example is one that people often miss. They think, If I just do my job really
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 people 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 again across a variety of professional settings. So enough about
what I think about how to become a leader. I want to hear what you think.
What are your tips for becoming a leader in professional settings? I would love to
hear your comments in that section below. So thanks. God bless.
See you next time.
And so when you handle that pressure well people start to think
Oh maybe Erin or maybe Robert, maybe their level- uhh.
Alright.