As a new leader, gaining credibility with your team is essential to foster trust, collaboration, and achieve collective goals. Mastering the “Essential C’s of Leadership Credibility: Confidence, Connection, Clarity, and Courage,” helps get you there!
In Parts 1 and 2, I covered Confidence and Connection, respectively.
Confidence is about believing in yourself and “facing” it until you make it.
Connection is about developing your relationship intelligence and communication skills.
The moment you become responsible for the performance of others, you need to understand what it takes to manage them well, and optimizing the third “Essential C,” Clarity, is key!
Clarity is about providing structure to orient, support, and monitor your team.
Here are 5 great tips to get you started:
Provide A Clear Roadmap: Make sure you and your team know WHY you are doing what you’re doing (making the trip), and WHERE you’re going (following the route).
Effective leaders regularly articulate and uphold the vision, mission, strategy, and action plans of their team or organization to foster optimum alignment and enrollment.
Design a Rational Blueprint: Ambiguity in roles, responsibilities, and professional behavior can lead to confusion, frustration, wasted time and effort, and a lack of accountability. It’s a recipe for “quiet quitting.”
Where the roadmap communicates the why and the where, the blueprint communicates HOW, leading to better collaboration and increased productivity.
It’s your job to:
-Define and communicate the roles, responsibilities, and appropriate professional behavior of your team and organization, and
-Ensure your organizational structure makes sense.
Write a Compelling Script: Finally you have to be clear about WHAT you want from your team.
Think it through!
Make sure you establish actionable goals, give clear directions, and set obtainable performance indicators to empower your team to prioritize their tasks, align their efforts, make informed decisions, and work more efficiently.
Be Adaptable: Circumstances may change, and unexpected challenges may arise. As a leader, you need to be flexible and open to revisiting plans, adjusting goals, and providing clear guidance during uncertain times to help your team navigate transitions effectively and foster resilience.
And finally,
Be Responsible: Have you ever had a boss who told you to do something and maybe even made you drop everything you were doing because what they needed was “urgent,” only to have them change their mind, or forget, or never follow up?
What happened to that leader’s credibility in your eyes?
If you’ve ever experienced this (and who hasn’t?) then promise yourself that you’ll not repeat this behavior with your team! Be accountable to being accountable!
As a new leader or manager, providing a clear framework for your team to operate within empowers them to excel in their roles, build trust, and foster a collaborative environment. Make clarity your compass and watch your credibility soar!