How to Lead in a Competitive Environment
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If you consider yourself a strategic leader, then you know the importance of translating strategy into action and results. Here are a few tips:

Know yourself — know your leadership brand and what makes you different than other leaders in similar roles. Ask yourself, “Are people willing to be led by me or am I just managing their daily activities?” If you have a strong leadership brand, you are being followed because you’ve won the hearts and minds of those who work for and with you. So, are you an influencer or a director? What is working well for you and what behaviors should you consider changing?

Case Study: Consider the impact one leader had when she first became a part of the senior management team in a Fortune 500 organization.

When I first began working with Mary (name has been changed to protect confidentiality), she was a mid-level, high-potential woman seeking our executive coaching to help her move forward in her career.

In her promotion to a senior management role, the very first thing she did was determine what behaviors were recently pointed out in her performance appraisal as areas for improvement. She then called each of her new peers, requesting a meeting with them in person (and this team was spread across the country). She asked for an hour to meet with each of them on a more personal AND strategic level.

Each peer granted her request, of course, and during those meetings she shared her targeted areas for improvement and asked to be supported in holding herself accountable for personal growth. As a result, each colleague was impressed with her self-confidence in asking for help along with her sincere desire to grow professionally. The powerful ending of this case study is that Mary climbed further in her role to become President of a large division of the corporation before her recent retirement.

Know your role — what is expected of you as you operationalize the expectations of the business with your personal contribution to the organization? How can you be fully engaged in using your strengths? Have you “recently” taken an assessment on how others perceive these strengths? And what can you do to inspire and recognize others?

Case Study: Here’s how a client of ours built a work environment that inspired trust and respect.

Bill developed a communications plan during our executive coaching engagement that outlined—strategically and tactically—how he would communicate his vision for the organization and his business plan for the division. In creating his communications plan, we first determined the clear, consistent and constant message he wanted to share (the 3 C’s of a strong personal leadership brand). Then Bill chose the vehicles for building stronger communication that he felt comfortable using.

Some of the communication vehicles he decided upon included a monthly internal newsletter where he recognized those who made valuable contributions to the organization that month, suggestions he called his Top Ten Tips for the month’s business growth and enhanced customer satisfaction, and a quarterly video conference with his team across the country where he gave the opportunity for Q & A about any issues that were on their minds.

Bill’s leadership attributes included engaging, inspiring, visionary, strategic and trusting. Using his brand attributes and communications skills, he soon led his team in accomplishing outstanding results for the company and ultimately won the award for “Best Loved Boss” of the year.