Adopting the right leadership style will depend on the context of the situation. A business leader’s intuition will play a key part in this. Elements that will affect the outcome relate to interaction, level of experience and the strength of the personalities in the team.
With proper thought and planning you can demonstrate good leadership skills. Above all, it is your behaviour that will inspire the team.
Team assessment
A business leader will need to assess which leadership style or styles - and these range from supportive through to forcing – is appropriate to the team. This will depend on a number of factors, including:
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The current level of motivation and attitude of the team
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The level of effort and application being shown by each team member
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The trend of recent sales results
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The gap between expected and actual results
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ The stability and experience of the team
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ External factors such as market changes, mergers and competitors
A leader should assess each factor to build a balanced perception of the team. This will then influence the style they decide to adopt.
Delegation
A measure of the effectiveness of your leadership style will also be reflected in your ability to develop people. Delegating certain tasks will form an essential part of this, and will have the following benefits:
Motivating the team (by helping them become more effective)
Developing leadership skills
Getting the team to interpret your company’s strategic goals
Helping them to fulfil their role as a team member and take responsibility
Delegation can be defined as giving someone the authority and responsibility to complete a task or action. This will be a time saving for you so that you can concentrate on managing the risk rather than actually doing it yourself.
There is an art to delegation and there is much to learn about when to delegate, who to delegate to and how much to give them.
How to delegate
Delegating tasks to people can create more work to begin with, as many tasks need regular review. Questions may be fed back to you and this will require more of your time. Therefore in order to build your confidence and to delegate effectively, consider the following points.
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Ensure that you delegate tasks that provide an element of decision- making and responsibility.
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Where possible, allow the individual to decide how they will implement the task. This encourages initiative and self-confidence.
úÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Avoid giving tasks that might de-motivate someone. This could mean that they avoid doing them in the future.
Five steps to delegation
Step I
Select an individual who will benefit from a combination of:
Gaining experience.
Improving their leadership skills.
Adding an interesting challenge to their jobs.
Step 2
Ensure that you explain the task fully, including why you are delegating to the individual.
Discuss the importance of the task and how it will develop the person. The aim here is to motivate them to do it.
Step 3
Focus on the anticipated results and state that you need a deadline for completion of the task
Decide whether to explain how a task was dealt with previously. Us the opportunity to encourage the person to suggest a plan of their own
Let the individual get on with the task and encourage them to take the initiative.
Step 4
Plan a way to monitor the individual’s performance.
Step 5
Emphasis your ability to provide help and support when your sales people need it. This can be done by agreeing specific times in the day when you will be available for questions.
There are four main options when it comes to deciding how to delegate a task.
Option I - We discuss - We decide - You act - You report back.ÿÿÿÿ
Option 2 - You decide - We discuss - You act - We discuss.
Option 3 - You Decide - You Act –You report back - We discuss.
Option 4 – Your task – You report back as agreed.
As the person you are delegating to becomes more proficient, you can move from option I through to option 4. This provides a valuable learning opportunity for them in a leadership role.ÿ It also helps that person to accept a level of responsibility so that you are not doing their job for them.
A business leader can strengthen the team’s motivation and performance by helping them develop themselves. Effective delegation is a key leadership skill and requires patience, planning, trust and a good monitoring process.