You ever sit down and just ask yourself “what the $@#! am I supposed to do now?” That’s an accurate way to describe my afternoon on April 23rd, 2017, the first day on the new job. I was just elected president of my business fraternity, and for the first (and definitely not the last) time, I had no clue what to do.
I had been talking with other members and generating ideas for months leading up to this election night. I held previous leadership positions in the fraternity. All my experience and all my conversations led up to this moment, yet somehow I was unsure what my next step would be. Where do I start? How do I actually begin making my ideas into a reality?
Luckily, I wasn’t the only one feeling a little lost. After talking with other college leaders, many echoed the same sentiment of inexperience and wariness. You can find hundreds of classes at any college teaching technical skills, but seldom are classes taught that provide students with the skills necessary to lead both their peers and their future coworkers. There are plenty of articles and books on traditional leadership in the workplace, but few focus on peer leadership. Over the course of my senior year, I interviewed dozens of business professionals and professors focused on the leadership development of young students. In addition to my own personal experiences and research, I crafted this article to answer that very question I had faced: what to do now? Here are three of the most impactful lessons I learned as a leader to not only start you off on the right foot, but to make you a better leader during your term as well.
1. Set goals and expectations early.
One of the easiest ways to mitigate future issues is to set clear expectations early in your term as a leader – both for yourself and others. This is a great place to start if you find yourself lost. During my tenure, I made it a goal to talk with each member on my executive board. I asked them two questions: what do you want to get accomplished, and what do you expect from me? In return, I would add on what I expected from them. Often, I would revisit what we talked about throughout the course of the semester as a way to keep focused on key initiatives and help keep others accountable.
After gathering this information, it is time for you to analyze. Review what each person said. What possible synergies do you see? How can people work together? Understanding the goals of your members gives you an overview of where your organization is likely to go. Use that to your advantage as you create a strategy that helps people accomplish their goals in the most effective manner.
This point is especially important if you lead some of your best friends, which is likely in college. You wear two hats as a college leader: that of a friend and that of someone who needs to progress your organization. Sometimes progressing your organization means having tough conversations with your friends, especially if they are failing to meet their own goals. You have the right to hold people accountable for what they said they would do, and if they are not doing it, it’s your job as a leader to find a solution. Just be aware, they have the same right to offer constructive criticism if you are failing to meet the expectations set of you early on. In both scenarios, mature and well-run teams will come up with effective solutions together without getting personal feelings involved.
2. Make your position clear and concise. Then do it again.
Effective communication is absolutely necessary for the success of any leader. Consider the fact that leaders spend 80% of their day communicating. So if we’re using so much of our day to communicate, how can we do it well? With simplicity and repetition.
My late professor Dick Canada once told me that the smartest people in the room are not the ones that communicate simple ideas with complicated words, but those who communicate complicated ideas in simple ways. When miscommunication occurs from a lack of understanding, many issues can arise. Humans are drawn to simple things, like the user-friendly iPhone interface, for example. When reading from a textbook, we can better comprehend with easy language and digestible diagrams. If you have an idea or strategy to communicate, get rid of the fluff and be precise with your point. It will save time and further prevent miscommunication issues down the road.
Once you have communicated your idea, it is time to hammer it home. Winston Churchill once said, “If you have an important point to make, don’t be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit it once. Come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack.” If you lead a large organization, it is likely you don’t have the time to talk to every single member. To make sure your point is communicated throughout the organization, communicate your point to your closest members. Make it a priority they communicate it to their closest members, and so on and so forth. Down the stream your idea goes, reaching every member through the neural network of your organization. Furthermore, practice what you preach. You point doesn’t always need to be communicated with words. If your point is being fiscally responsible with the budget, cap how much spending everyone does and keep a close eye on where the money goes. Create a two-year financial plan. Words mean nothing if you don’t back it up.
3. Don't be a micro manager.
Everyone hates a micro manager. Don’t be afraid of losing control by providing the autonomy your peers need to thrive. Setting up autonomy in a workplace takes trust and dedication, but done right, is extremely effective in fostering productivity. One Swedish company illustrates how to successfully apply autonomy in an organization. The company separates its 2,000 employees into numerous different “squads,” no larger than 8 people. Each squad is responsible for a particular aspect of the company but has their own freedom to go about owning this function. They are kept accountable through customer reviews and internal feedback, which helps balance accountability with autonomy. Employees are extremely driven and engaged through this model with high levels of satisfaction.
This company also has 30-million subscribers and 3 billion dollars in revenue, known famously around the world as Spotify. Spotify has seen tremendous success due to its employees’ autonomy to own facets of the company while remaining accountable.
Apply this model to your organization to see strong results. Keep members of your executive board accountable through a consistent stream of feedback, but let them own a specific function of the organization. Be a leader by focusing on overall vision and empowering your peers through autonomy. Don’t be a micro manager by focusing on every little process and concern. College is not only a time for leaders to learn but everyone else as well.
4. BONUS! Believe in yourself. You're probably your own toughest critic.
Leadership is hard. When decisions come to you, 50% of people will likely agree with your decision and 50% of people won’t. That’s just the nature of the position. At the end of the day, if you listen to all opinions and consider all options, be proud of the work you do. Being a leader in college is a learning experience. I made many mistakes, but through those mistakes, I was able to be a much better leader moving forward. As Michael Jordan said: “…I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” Nothing can ever replace experience, but hopefully these tips can help you be a better leader than you were before. So put one foot in front of the other and start your journey.
Feeling lost as a leader? Don’t know what to do next? Feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] and let me try and help.
