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Effective leaders take others to places they have never been before. They help organizations achieve their visions and produce meaningful results for all stakeholders. This article reviews the leadership literature to help students and workers in early stages of their careers build a strong foundation for leadership by learning to apply five fundamental approaches: establishing personal credibility, managing one's time well, being proactive, empowering others to act and networking.
Introduction
"The earliest test of leadership comes with that first assignment to manage others. Most new managers initially fail this test because of a set of common misconceptions about what it means to be in charge" (Hill, 2007; 49). College students and early career workers can benefit from continual leadership development in order to prepare for the business world and their first foray into the challenging world of leading others. It is imperative to the success of early career workers to recognize many essential leadership characteristics and practices, some of which may be counterintuitive to those who have not had opportunities to lead others in productive efforts.
The purpose of this article is to review five fundamental leadership skills that have been recognized widely by the top experts in the leadership field: establishing credibility, managing time, being proactive, empowering others to act and networking. Mastering these five practices will aid college students and early career workers in building a strong base upon which other leadership skills can be added as their careers progress.
Leadership is not a single trait one may or may not possess; it is not, as some incorrectly assume, the hard-to-define attribute of "charisma." Rather, leadership consists of a set of well-recognized attitudes, behaviors and skills. Attitudes can be adopted and behaviors and skills can be learned then honed through practice. By adopting and developing the five leadership characteristics presented here, the authors believe young people who possess a desire to be recognized as effective leaders can build strong roots from which effective leadership will blossom--and be recognized by others.
Establishing Credibility
It would be encouraging to start this leadership discussion with an attribute that can be developed quickly and is guaranteed to be long-lasting. Alas, exactly the opposite is true concerning the single most important contributor to leadership, credibility. It takes a long time to establish and it can be forfeited in a heartbeat. Such is the nature of leadership. It isn't easy or convenient.
Citing the reciprocal relationship between those who lead and those who choose to follow, Kouzes and Posner (2003) state, "Credibility is about how leaders earn the trust and confidence of their constituents. It's about what people demand of their leaders as a prerequisite to willingly contributing their hearts, minds, bodies and souls. It's about the actions leaders must take in order to intensify their constituents' commitment to a common cause" (p. xiii). In their acclaimed book, The Leadership Challenge (2002), Kouzes and Posner refer to credibility as "the foundation of leadership" (p. 32). Individuals need to be able to trust their leaders and leaders' actions must reinforce what they say and believe. As stated in their First Law of Leadership: "If you don't believe in the messenger, you won't believe the message" (Kouzes and Posner, 2002; 33).
How do leaders establish credibility? According to Kouzes and Posner's research, there are four major contributors. Leaders must be perceived by followers as honest, forward looking, competent and inspiring.
Honesty is the most important element of the leader-constituent relationship.
"Character" and "integrity" are frequently used as synonyms for this vital leadership characteristic. Leaders' behaviors, not their words alone, evidence their honesty. From the follower's perspective, there must be consistency between their leader's words and deeds. "If leaders espouse one set of values but personally practice another, we find them to be duplicitous" (Kouzes and Posner, 2002; 37). Leaders walk the walk, they practice what they preach, they do what they say they will do. Sounds straightforward, right? Of all the leadership characteristics, honesty is the most personal. Values, the standards that guide conduct in a variety of situations, are not just for preaching, they are for acting out!
Honesty starts by knowing yourself. Be aware of your personal values. Communicate them through stories you tell about your personal experiences, demonstrating that you have learned important lessons about your beliefs concerning right vs. wrong, good vs. bad and fair vs. unfair. And be sure your behavior mirrors your personal values--followers are always watching. Also, college students and early career workers should take note that promises should never be made casually. Unkept promises brand potential leaders as dishonest and they forfeit their credibility. Admitting mistakes is another common means of establishing honesty. We all make errors. Do not attempt to deny or hide them. Show that you learn from your mistakes.
Forward-looking individuals exhibit a concern for the future and are able to articulate a sense of direction. After all, followers can only join leaders on their journey if leaders seem to know where they are going. Constituents want to know what will be better in the future, how the organization will look and feel. They want to understand the reason for their work and sacrifice. Forward-looking leaders have a talent for articulating a positive, optimistic and worthy view of the future. Are you perceived by others as forward-looking? Audit your own speech. How often do you speak in the future tense, as opposed to the past and present? How often do you articulate what can be right, rather than what is wrong? How often are you optimistic versus pessimistic?
Competence is evidenced by a leader's track record, the demonstrated ability to get things done. Constituents must perceive their leaders as capable and effective in their organization's most significant tasks. Here, of course, an aspiring leader must be able to demonstrate relevant experience. Time and patience are required in developing a track record; one does not develop competence overnight. Kouzes and Posner state, "The most important competency a leader brings to the role is the ability to work well with others" (2002; 30-31). Leaders must be able to bring out the best in those who contribute to a positive future. Working productively and positively in team experiences in college or in one's early career experiences--as both a leader and as a follower--will go a long way toward demonstrating leadership competence.
Inspiring leaders are recognized as enthusiastic, energetic and positive about the future. Effective leaders are able to communicate their vision in ways that encourage others to join them. Their emotions are contagious. For example, their body language is emotionally expressive: they "lean forward in their chairs, they move their arms about, their eyes light up, their voices sing with emotion and they smile" (Kouzes and Posner, 2002; 144). If a leader cannot display passion for his or her cause, why should anyone else? Expressing vision and sincere passion for the future is consistently rated as the single most uncomfortable aspect of leadership. Many people simply do not want to "stick their neck out" by exposing their personal vision for a better future. After all, what if no one cares and no one follows? Leadership is neither easy nor convenient nor free from risk.
It is important for college students and early career workers to recognize the importance of credibility as they develop their leadership abilities. Credibility is attributed to leaders by followers who perceive them to be honest, forward-looking, competent and inspiring. Be patient in developing and demonstrating these characteristics. Remember that it is hard to establish credibility, but very easy to lose it.
Managing Time
Followers take important cues from what leaders do. And they don't notice only the big examples (for instance, what actions are taken in a crisis). Numerous little opportunities for behavior modeling occur each day that help followers learn what leaders think is important. When do they arrive and leave? What events do they attend? How much of their day is spent working alone or with others? Who are the "others"--customers, superiors, employees, peers? How much time is spent in training or practicing innovative techniques? "How we spend our time is the truest tangible indicator of our priorities, of what we think is important. Constituents can measure how serious their leaders are about key values by observing how much time is spent on them" (Kouzes and Posner, 2003; 188).
Looking at your "to-do" list, you may think to yourself "if only there were more hours in the day." The fixed number of hours in the day, combined with time constraints imposed by tasks that must be accomplished, make effective time management an important skill for successful business leaders--as well as a critical area for college students and early career workers. Throughout the day there will be countless demands on an individual's time. These demands may not necessarily add value to personal or professional development. According to management guru Peter Drucker (2006), effective time management should be approached in a systematic fashion.
The first step is to audit the time spent on tasks and activities. The importance of identifying how time is allocated is two-fold. The time a person perceives he/she spends on a particular task and the actual time spent, are often surprisingly different. Identifying how your time is allocated is necessary because it will help determine where time is wasted and what activities are gratuitous. Creating a simple log is a good method to compile the relevant information needed to analyze your use of time. Spend a week or two logging all your activities and the time spent on each. Identify major activities and the time dedicated to them.
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