The Differences Between Leadership & Supervising

You can lead in many ways without being a supervisor, but good supervisors often have good leadership skills. Top managers often have good leadership skills and effective supervising skills.



Formality
Leadership has formal and informal elements, while supervising is generally a formal rule in management. Some leaders have formal management roles such as executive, department manager, store manager and district manager. However, some leaders emerge through informal channels. They lead by example or motivate others without a formal leadership position. Supervising is a specific job function whereby you monitor and provide feedback and direction on the performance of subordinate employees. This typically comes with a management title.

Role of Followers
Leadership has no inherent requirement that others follow. Supervisors typically have an authoritative position over employees who are obligated by their job status to follow directions. Good leaders can inspire people to follow their vision and direction without formal title leadership. Supervisors have title authority over their employees but their ability to get cooperation and peak performance depends on their leadership qualities. Good supervising leaders are more likely to motivate followers to give their best.

Basis of Power
Leaders and supervisors can both have authority or power derived from their job titles. Informal leaders, though, can have the power to influence others without a powerful position. This enables charismatic or inspiring employees at all levels to lead teams and motivate workers. Supervisors who have good leadership skills can typically use these skills as their basis of power to influence. Supervisors who lack quality leadership skills might have to rely on their position power.

Coaching
Leadership typically means motivating or inspiring others to act in a way that benefits you, them or the organization. Supervising usually has a coaching element where the supervisor and employee interact. Leaders do not always have oversight responsibilities for the performance of others. Supervisors, by definition, do have subordinates and typically have responsibilities to help them set goals, develop and ultimately achieve those goals.

The Keys to Handling Unreasonable & Difficult People

1.    Keep Your Cool
Benefits: Maintain self-control. Avoid escalation of problem.
How: The first rule in the face of an unreasonable person is to maintain your composure; the less reactive you are, the more you can use your better judgment to handle the situation.
When you feel angry or upset with someone, before you say something you might later regret, take a deep breath and count slowly to ten. In most circumstances, by the time you reach ten, you would have figured out a better way of communicating the issue, so that you can reduce, instead of escalate the problem. If you're still upset after counting to ten, take a time out if possible, and revisit the issue after you calm down.

2.    "Fly Like an Eagle"
Benefits: More peace of mind. Reduce risk of friction.
How: Some people in our lives are simply not worth tussling with. Your time is valuable, so unless there’s something important at stake, don’t waste it by trying to change or convince a person who’s negatively entrenched. As the saying goes: “You can’t fly like an eagle if you hang out with turkeys!” Whether you’re dealing with a difficult colleague or an annoying relative, be diplomatic and apply the tips from this article when you need to interact with them. The rest of the time, keep a healthy distance.

 3.    Shift from Being Reactive to Proactive 
Benefit: Minimize misinterpretation & misunderstanding. Concentrate energy on problem-solving.
How: When you feel offended by someone’s words or deeds, come up with multiple ways of viewing the situation before reacting. For example, I may be tempted to think that my co-worker is ignoring my messages, or I can consider the possibility that she’s been very busy. When we avoid personalizing other people's behaviors, we can perceive their expressions more objectively. People do what they do because of them more than because of us. Widening our perspective on the situation can reduce the possibility of misunderstanding.
Another way to reduce personalization is to try to put ourselves in the difficult individual’s shoes, even for just a moment. For example, consider the person you’re dealing with, and complete the sentence: “It must not be easy….” “My partner is so emotionally distant. It must not be easy to come from a family where people don’t express affection…”
To be sure, empathetic statements do not excuse unacceptable behavior. The point is to remind yourself that people do what they do because of their own issues. As long as we’re being reasonable and considerate, difficult behaviors from others say a lot more about them than they do about us. By de-personalizing, we can view the situation more objectively, and come up with better ways of solving the problem.

4.    Pick Your Battles
Benefits: Save time, energy and grief. Avoid unnecessary problems and complications.
How: Not all difficult individuals we face require direct confrontation about their behavior. There are two scenarios under which you might decide not to get involved. The first is when someone has temporary, situational power over you. For example, if you’re on the phone with an unfriendly customer service representative, as soon as you hang up and call another agent, this representative will no longer have power over you.

5.    Separate the Person From the Issue 
Benefits: Establish yourself as a strong problem solver with excellent people skills. Win more rapport, cooperation and respect.
How: In every communication situation, there are two elements present: The relationship you have with this person, and the issue you are discussing. An effective communicator knows how to separate the person from the issue, and be soft on the person and firm on the issue. For example:
“I want to talk about what’s on your mind, but I can’t do it when you’re yelling. Let’s either sit down and talk more quietly, or take a time out and come back this afternoon.”

6.     Put the Spotlight on Them
Benefits: Proactive. Equalize power in communication. Apply appropriate pressure to reduce difficult behavior.
How: A common pattern with difficult people (especially the aggressive types) is that they like to place attention on you to make you feel uncomfortable or inadequate. Typically, they’re quick to point out there’s something not right with you or the way you do things. The focus is consistently on “what’s wrong,” instead of “how to solve the problem.”
This type of communication is often intended to dominate and control, rather than to sincerely take care of issues. If you react by being on the defensive, you simply fall into the trap of being scrutinized, thereby giving the aggressor more power while she or he picks on you with impunity. A simple and powerful way to change this dynamic is to put the spotlight back on the difficult person, and the easiest way to do so is to ask questions. For example:
Aggressor: “Your proposal is not even close to what I need from you.”
Response: “Have you given clear thought to the implications of what you want to do?”

7.    Use Appropriate Humor
Benefits: Disarm unreasonable and difficult behavior when correctly used. Show your detachment. Avoid being reactive. Problem rolls off your back.
How: Humor is a powerful communication tool. Years ago I knew a co-worker who was quite stuck up. One day a colleague of mine said “Hello, how are you?” to him. When the egotistical co-worker ignored her greeting completely, my colleague didn’t feel offended. Instead, she smiled good-naturedly and quipped: “That good, huh?” This broke the ice and the two of them started a friendly conversation. Brilliant.When appropriately used, humor can shine light on the truth, disarm difficult behavior, and show that you have superior composure. In “How to Communicate Effectively and Handle Difficult People (link is external),” I explain the psychology of humor in conflict resolution, and offer a variety of ways one can use humor to reduce or eliminate difficult behavior.

8.    Change from Following to Leading 
Benefit: Leverage direction and flow of communication.
How: In general, whenever two people are communicating, one is usually doing more leading, while the other is doing more following. In healthy communication, two people would take turns leading and following. However, some difficult people like to take the lead, set a negative tone, and harp on “what’s wrong” over and over.You can interrupt this behavior simply by changing the topic. As mentioned earlier, utilize questions to redirect the conversation. You can also say “By the way…” and initiate a new subject. When you do so, you’re taking the lead and setting a more constructive tone.

9.    Confront Bullies (Safely)
Benefits: Reduce or eliminate harmful behavior. Increase confidence and peace of mind.
How: The most important thing to keep in mind about bullies is that they pick on those whom they perceive as weaker, so as long as you remain passive and compliant, you make yourself a target. Many bullies are also cowards on the inside. When their victims begin to show backbone and stand up for their rights, the bully will often back down. This is true in schoolyards, as well as in domestic and office environments.When confronting bullies, be sure to place yourself in a position where you can safely protect yourself, whether it’s standing tall on your own, having other people present to witness and support, or keeping a paper trail of the bully’s inappropriate behavior. In cases of physical, verbal, or emotional abuse, consult with counseling, legal, law enforcement, or administrative professionals on the matter. It’s very important to stand up to bullies, and you don’t have to do it alone.

10.     Set Consequence
Benefits: Proactive not reactive. Shift balance of power. Win respect and cooperation when appropriately applied.
How: The ability to identify and assert consequence(s) is one of the most important skills we can use to "stand down" a difficult person. Effectively articulated, consequence gives pause to the challenging individual, and compels her or him to shift from obstruction to cooperation. In “How to Communicate Effectively and Handle Difficult People (link is external),” consequence is presented as seven different types of power you can utilize to affect positive change.

In conclusion, to know how to handle unreasonable and difficult people is to truly master the art of communication. As you utilize these skills, you may experience less grief, greater confidence, better relationships, and higher communication prowess. You are on your way to leadership success!

The productive ways to deal with your difficult coworker

These are ten productive ways to deal with your difficult coworker.

1. Start out by examining yourself. Are you sure that the other person is really the problem and that you're not overreacting? Have you always experienced difficulty with the same type of person or actions? Does a pattern exist for you in your interaction with coworkers? Do you recognize that you have hot buttons that are easily pushed? (We all do, you know.) Always start with self-examination to determine that the object of your attention really is a difficult person’s actions.
2. Explore what you are experiencing with a trusted friend or colleague. Brainstorm ways to address the situation. When you are the object of an attack, or your boss appears to support the dysfunctional actions of a coworker, it is often difficult to objectively assess your options. Anger, pain, humiliation, fear and concern about making the situation worse are legitimate emotions.
3. Pay attention to the unspoken agreement you create when you solicit another’s assistance. You are committing to act unless you agree actions will only hurt the situation. Otherwise, you risk becoming a whiner or complainer in the eyes of your colleague. Approach the person with whom you are having the problem for a private discussion. Talk to the coworker about what you are experiencing in “I” messages. (Using “I” messages is a communication approach that focuses on your experience of the situation rather than on attacking or accusing the other person.) You can also explain to your coworker the impact of their actions on you.
4. Be pleasant and agreeable as you talk with the other person. They may not be aware of the impact of their words or actions on you. They may be learning about their impact on you for the first time. Or, they may have to consider and confront a pattern in their own interaction with people. Worst case? They may know their impact on you and deny it or try to explain it away. Unfortunately, some difficult people just don’t care. During the discussion, attempt to reach agreement about positive and supportive actions going forward.
5. Follow up after the initial discussion. Has the behavior changed? Gotten better? Or worse? Determine whether a follow-up discussion is needed. Determine whether a follow-up discussion will have any impact. Decide if you want to continue to confront the difficult person by yourself. Become a peacemaker. (Decide how badly you want to make peace with the other person and how much you want your current job. Determine whether you have experienced a pattern of support from your boss.) If you answer, “yes,” to these questions, hold another discussion. If not, escalate and move to the next idea.
6. You can confront your difficult coworker’s behavior publicly. Deal with the person with gentle humor or slight sarcasm. Or, make an exaggerated physical gesture – no, not that one – such as a salute or place your hand over your heart to indicate a serious wounding. You can also tell the difficult person that you’d like them to consider important history in their decision making or similar words expressed positively, depending on the subject. Direct confrontation does work well for some people in some situations. I don’t think it works to ask the person to stop doing what they’re doing, publicly, but you can employ more positive confrontational tactics. Their success for you will depend on your ability to pull them off. Each of us is not spur-of-the-moment funny, but if you are, you can use the humor well with difficult coworkers. If you have done what you can do and employed the first five recommended approaches with little or no success, it’s time to involve others - your boss or a manager. Note that you are escalating the situation. 
7. Prepare to talk with your boss. Take notes and address the issues, not as interpersonal problems, but as issues affecting your productivity, the work and your progress on projects. Tell your boss exactly what the difficult person does.
8. Make a plan to address the issues. Perhaps involve your coworker's boss. Recognize that a good boss is likely to bring your difficult coworker and his supervisor into a three or four-way discussion at this point. Expect to participate in follow-up over time. Rally the other employees who might have an issue with the difficult person, too - carefully. Sometimes, a group approach convinces the boss that the impact of the behavior is wider and deeper than she had originally determined. Be careful with this approach, however. Know what works with your boss. You want to solve your problem, not make it look as if you are rabble-rousing and ganging up on another employee. If these approaches fail to work, try to limit the difficult person's access to you. 
9. Protect the needs of your business, but avoid working with the person when possible. Leave voluntary committees, Choose projects he or she does not impact. Don’t hurt your own career or your business, but avoidance is an option.
10. Transfer to a new job within your organization. Depending on the size of your company, you may never have to work with this difficult coworker again. You need to decide whether the good in your current situation outweighs the bad or whether the bad outweighs the good. If the good wins, stop complaining and get back to work. Back track on these recommended steps and retry some of them when appropriate. If the bad wins, redirect your energy to leaving your current employment. You'll be glad you did. .

The Five Bases of Power

Positional Power Sources

Legitimate Power
A president, prime minister, or monarch has legitimate power. So does a CEO, a minister, or a fire chief. Electoral mandates, social hierarchies, cultural norms, and organizational structure all provide the basis for legitimate power.This type of power, however, can be unpredictable and unstable. If you lose the title or position, legitimate power can instantly disappear – since others were influenced by the position, not by you. Also, your scope of power is limited to situations that others believe you have a right to control. If the fire chief tells people to stay away from a burning building, they'll probably listen. But if he tries to make people stay away from a street fight, people may well ignore him. Therefore, relying on legitimate power as your only way to influence others isn't enough. To be a leader, you need more than this – in fact, you may not need legitimate power at all.

Reward Power
People in power are often able to give out rewards. Raises, promotions, desirable assignments, training opportunities, and even simple compliments – these are all examples of rewards controlled by people "in power." If others expect that you'll reward them for doing what you want, there's a high probability that they'll do it.
The problem with this power base is that you may not have as much control over rewards as you need. Supervisors probably don't have complete control over salary increases, and managers often can't control promotions, all by themselves. And even a CEO needs permission from the board of directors for some actions. So, when you use up available rewards, or when the rewards don't have enough perceived value to others, your power weakens. (One of the frustrations of using rewards is that they often need to be bigger each time if they're to have the same motivational impact. Even then, if rewards are given frequently, people can become satiated by the reward, so that it loses its effectiveness.)

Coercive Power
This source of power is also problematic, and can be subject to abuse. What's more, it can cause unhealthy behavior and dissatisfaction in the workplace.Threats and punishment are common tools of coercion. Implying or threatening that someone will be fired, demoted, denied privileges, or given undesirable assignments – these are examples of using coercive power. While your position may give you the capability to coerce others, it doesn't automatically mean that you have the will or the justification to do so. As a last resort, you may sometimes need to punish people. However, extensive use of coercive power is rarely appropriate in an organizational setting. Clearly, relying on these forms of power alone will result in a very cold, technocratic, impoverished style of leadership. To be a true leader, you need a more robust source of power than can be supplied by a title, an ability to reward, or an ability to punish.

Personal Power Sources

Expert Power
When you have knowledge and skills that enable you to understand a situation, suggest solutions, use solid judgment, and generally outperform others, people will probably listen to you. When you demonstrate expertise, people tend to trust you and respect what you say. As a subject matter expert, your ideas will have more value, and others will look to you for leadership in that area. What's more, you can take your confidence, decisiveness, and reputation for rational thinking – and expand them to other subjects and issues. This is a good way to build and maintain expert power. It doesn't require positional power, so you can use it to go beyond that. This is one of the best ways to improve your leadership skills.

Referent Power
This is sometimes thought of as charisma, charm, admiration, or appeal. Referent power comes from one person liking and respecting another, and strongly identifying with that person in some way. Celebrities have referent power, which is why they can influence everything from what people buy to whom they elect to office. In a workplace, a person with charm often makes everyone feel good, so he or she tends to have a lot of influence. Referent power can be a big responsibility, because you don't necessarily have to do anything to earn it. Therefore, it can be abused quite easily. Someone who is likable, but lacks integrity and honesty, may rise to power – and use that power to hurt and alienate people as well as gain personal advantage. Relying on referent power alone is not a good strategy for a leader who wants longevity and respect. When combined with expert power, however, it can help you to be very successful. Anyone is capable of holding power and influencing others: you don't need to have an important job title or a big office. But if you recognize the different forms of power, you can avoid being influenced by those who use the less effective types of power – and you can focus on developing expert and referent power for yourself. This will help you become an influential and positive leader.

Apply This to Your Life

• Go through each of the power bases, and write down when and how you've used that source of power in the past.
• Ask yourself if you used the power appropriately, consider the expected and unexpected consequences of it, and decide what you'll do differently next time.
• Think about the people who have power and influence over you. What sources of power do they use? Do they use their power appropriately? Where necessary, develop a strategy to reduce someone else's use of illegitimate power over you.
• When you feel powerless or overly influenced, stop and think about what you can do to regain your own power and control. After all: you're never without power. Make an effort to be more aware of the power you have, and use it to get what you need, confidently and effectively.

Understanding Power

• Leadership and power are closely linked. People tend to follow those who are powerful. And because others follow, the person with power leads.
• Leaders have power for different reasons. Some are powerful because they alone have the ability to give you a bonus or a raise. Others are powerful because they can fire you, or assign you tasks you don't like. Yet, while leaders of this type have formal, official power, their teams are unlikely to be enthusiastic about their approach to leadership, if this is all they rely on.
• Leaders may have power because they're experts in their fields, or because their team members admire them. People with these types of power don't necessarily have formal leadership roles, but they influence others effectively because of their skills and personal qualities. And when a leadership position opens up, they'll probably be the first to be considered for promotion.

Understanding Power

5 bases of power:

1. Legitimate – This comes from the belief that a person has the formal right to make demands, and to expect compliance and obedience from others.
2. Reward – This results from one person's ability to compensate another for compliance.
3. Expert – This is based on a person's superior skill and knowledge.
4. Referent – This is the result of a person's perceived attractiveness, worthiness, and right to respect from others.
5. Coercive – This comes from the belief that a person can punish others for noncompliance.

• Better understand why you're influenced by someone, and decide whether you want to accept the base of power being used.
• Recognize your own sources of power.
• Build your leadership skills by using and developing your own sources of power, appropriately, and for best effect.
• The most effective leaders use mainly referent and expert power. To develop your leadership abilities, learn how to build these types of power, so that you can have a positive influence on your colleagues, your team, and your organization.

Leadership Styles

From Mahatma Gandhi and Winston Churchill, to Martin Luther King and Steve Jobs, there can be as many ways to lead people as there are leaders. Fortunately, business people and psychologists have developed useful frameworks that describe the main ways that people lead. When you understand these frameworks, you can develop your own approach to leadership, and become a more effective leader as a result.
These frameworks and styles of leadership are based on several different approaches to leadership.


Lewin's Leadership Styles

There are 3 major styles of leadership:

1. Autocratic leaders make decisions without consulting their team members, even if their input would be useful. This can be appropriate when you need to make decisions quickly, when there's no need for team input, and when team agreement isn't necessary for a successful outcome. However, this style can be demoralizing, and it can lead to high levels of absenteeism and staff turnover.
2. Democratic leaders make the final decisions, but they include team members in the decision-making process. They encourage creativity, and people are often highly engaged in projects and decisions. As a result, team members tend to have high job satisfaction and high productivity. This is not always an effective style to use, though, when you need to make a quick decision.
3. Laissez-faire leaders give their team members a lot of freedom in how they do their work, and how they set their deadlines. They provide support with resources and advice if needed, but otherwise they don't get involved. This autonomy can lead to high job satisfaction, but it can be damaging if team members don't manage their time well, or if they don't have the knowledge, skills, or self motivation to do their work effectively. (Laissez-faire leadership can also occur when managers don't have control over their work and their people.)

Lewin's framework is popular and useful, because it encourages managers to be less autocratic than they might instinctively be.

Leadership

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.
– Professor Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
– Dwight D. Eisenhower



The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

• A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.
• An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to follow.
• An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring.

Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and efficient way.

Leadership means different things to different people around the world, and different things in different situations. For example, it could relate to community leadership, religious leadership, political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups.

An effective leader is a person who does the following:

• Creates an inspiring vision of the future.
• Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.
• Manages delivery of the vision.
• Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the vision.
• Leadership brings together the skills needed to do these things. We'll look at each element in more detail.

1. Creating an Inspiring Vision of the Future
In business, a vision is a realistic, convincing and attractive depiction of where you want to be in the future. Vision provides direction, sets priorities, and provides a marker, so that you can tell that you've achieved what you wanted to achieve.

To create a vision, leaders focus on an organization's strengths by personal Learning Plan to analyze their current situation. They think about how their industry is likely to evolve, and how their competitors are likely to behave. They look at how they can innovate successfully Add to My Personal Learning Plan, and shape their businesses and their strategies to succeed in future marketplaces. And they test their visions with appropriate market research, and by assessing key risks using techniques.

Therefore, leadership is proactive – problem solving, looking ahead, and not being satisfied with things as they are.

Once they have developed their visions, leaders must make them compelling and convincing. A compelling vision Add to My Personal Learning Plan is one that people can see, feel, understand, and embrace. Effective leaders provide a rich picture of what the future will look like when their visions have been realized. They tell inspiring stories and explain their visions in ways that everyone can relate to. Here, leadership combines the analytical side of vision creation with the passion of shared values, creating something really meaningful to the people being led.

2. Motivating and Inspiring People
A compelling vision provides the foundation for leadership. But it's leaders' ability to motivate and inspire people that helps them deliver that vision. For example, when you start a new project, you will probably have lots of enthusiasm for it, so it's often easy to win support for the project at the beginning. However, it can be difficult to find ways to keep your vision inspiring after the initial enthusiasm fades, especially if the team or organization needs to make significant changes in the way that they do things. Leaders recognize this, and they work hard throughout the project to connect their vision with people's individual needs, goals, and aspirations.

One of the key ways they do this is through Expectancy Theory Add to My Personal Learning Plan. Effective leaders link together two different expectations:

• The expectation that hard work leads to good results.
• The expectation that good results lead to attractive rewards or incentives. This motivates people to work hard to achieve success, because they expect to enjoy rewards – both intrinsic and extrinsic – as a result.

Other approaches include restating the vision in terms of the benefits it will bring to the team's customers, and taking frequent opportunities to communicate the vision in an attractive and engaging way.

What's particularly helpful here is where leaders have expert power Add to My Personal Learning Plan. People admire and believe in these leaders because they are expert in what they do. They have credibility, and they've earned the right to ask people to listen to them and follow them. This makes it much easier for these leaders to motivate and inspire the people they lead.

Leaders can also motivate and influence people through their natural charisma and appeal, and through other sources of power Add to My Personal Learning Plan, such as the power to pay bonuses or assign tasks to people. However, good leaders don't rely too much on these types of power to motivate and inspire others.

3. Managing Delivery of the Vision

This is the area of leadership that relates to management Add to My Personal Learning Plan.
Leaders must ensure that the work needed to deliver the vision is properly managed – either by themselves, or by a dedicated manager or team of managers to whom the leader delegates this responsibility – and they need to ensure that their vision is delivered successfully.

To do this, team members need performance goals that are linked to the team's overall vision. Our article on Performance Management and KPIs Add to My Personal Learning Plan (Key Performance Indicators) explains one way of doing this, and our Project Management section explains another. And, for day-to-day management of delivering the vision, the Management By Wandering Around Approach helps to ensure that what should happen, really happens.

Leaders also need to make sure they manage change Add to My Personal Learning Plan effectively. This helps to ensure that the changes needed to deliver the vision are implemented smoothly and thoroughly, with the support and backing of the people affected.

4. Coaching and Building a Team to Achieve the Vision
Individual and team development are important activities carried out by transformational leaders. To develop a team, leaders must first understand team dynamics. Several well-established and popular models describe this, such as Belbin's Team Roles Add to My Personal Learning Plan approach, and Bruce Tuckman's Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing theory Add to My Personal Learning Plan.

A leader will then ensure that team members have the necessary skills and abilities to do their job and achieve the vision. They do this by giving and receiving feedback Add to My Personal Learning Plan regularly, and by training and coaching Add to My Personal Learning Plan people to improve individual and team performance.

Leadership also includes looking for leadership potential Add to My Personal Learning Plan in others. By developing leadership skills within your team, you create an environment where you can continue success in the long term. And that's a true measure of great leadership.

Note:

The words "leader" and "leadership" are often used incorrectly to describe people who are actually managing. These individuals may be highly skilled, good at their jobs, and valuable to their organizations – but that just makes them excellent managers, not leaders.

So, be careful how you use the terms, and don't assume that people with "leader" in their job titles, people who describe themselves as "leaders," or even groups called "leadership teams," are actually creating and delivering transformational change.

A particular danger in these situations is that people or organizations that are being managed by such an individual or group think they're being led; but they're not. There may actually be no leadership at all, with no one setting a vision and no one being inspired. This can cause serious problems in the long term.
Key Points

Leadership can be hard to define and it means different things to different people.

In the transformational leadership model, leaders set direction and help themselves and others to do the right thing to move forward. To do this they create an inspiring vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach that vision. They also manage delivery of the vision, either directly or indirectly, and build and coach their teams to make them ever stronger.

Effective leadership is about all of this – and it's exciting to be part of this journey!

Keys to create a powerful team

The key is to create a powerful team that works effectively even when the boss is not available. A startup team is like a basketball team — you will not win if you do not play together.

Each team member plays a role in your company and each individual is part of the whole. If you want to work effectively your team must be harmonious.

The keys are:

1. Build trust and respect. Nurture a team-oriented environment based on trust and respect, without which there will only be limited success. A startup is like a ship going through high uncertainty. The captain needs the trust of his team, because people follow trust and integrity, not a person. Uncertainty can be balanced by trust which gives the team the ability to work together no matter what reality brings. Likewise, if you are not in the office, you have to be sure that team members will cooperate in the atmosphere of open communication. The stronger the trust, the better the team will navigate without the captain on board.
2. Be true to your word. If you demand high productivity and quality work, you’d better be as good as your word. You get what you give. If you promise to do something, be sure you will fulfill it. When team members notice that you are a reliable person, they will emulate your behavior.
3. Organize a meeting for all employees. If you want to improve teamwork, help people get to know each other better. Organize in-person meetings for all workers (all teams) at least once a year — more often if at all possible. Informal conversations bring people together and warm up human relationships. One option is to invite your team to play a game, like football or basketball. If players want to win, they have to focus on cooperation. The same principle is present in teamwork. And through teamwork and team sports, individual character and natural talents are expressed.  They have to make decisions fast so they don’t have time to prepare their reactions. Those are the situations where pure character is exposed and real relationships are built.
4. Take advantage of conflict. There are no teams exempt from occasional misunderstandings. Somewhere, somehow, conflict will show up. When confrontation between employees gets out of a hand in a startup, the CEO must face it. Don’t complicate the situation by deciding what is good or bad. Listen to all sides carefully and then talk to other team members who observed the quarrel. Brainstorming  solutions favorable for both sides may even result in ideas that would never have come to mind in without the conflict. It does not mean that confrontations are good, it just means that they make people think about two points of view of the matter. More points of view means more possibilities.
5. Make hiring a team effort. If you want to hire a new person, discuss this with your team. Let your team members talk with candidate because they will work together and it’s important this person fit into the team. Of course, experience and suitable qualifications are important — but the most important qualities to hire for are always personality and social skills that are compatible with your team. With regards to trust and respect described above, personality and social skills are like glue. They help people communicate. They can glue different people together, whereas qualifications just ensure tasks are completed properly.

How to Build Strong Teamwork

Building strong teamwork begins with trust and clear communication. When teams trust all members and communication is clear and frequent, teamwork starts to build.  You must encourage and recognize great teamwork and quickly resolve any disputes that might occur. Create clear and recognizable goals and objectives and always listen for feedback from your team members. Encourage cooperation and help all team members to secure all the supplies and materials they need to be successful.

Step 1
Create a clear goal for building teams. Craft your goals and expectations clearly and specifically. Establish frequent team meetings and other methods of communication. Plan for team-building activities and retreats. Research and create a feedback and measurement system for your teams.

Step 2
Build trust and openness with your employees by speaking with them often. Schedule as many one-on-one meetings as possible and actively listen to your associates. Create feedback mechanisms like surveys and focus group meetings. Be visible to your employees and model good teamwork skills.

Step 3
Schedule and attend team-building activities. Design your own team-building games or locate a vendor who can conduct them for you. Plan offsite meetings and dinners where you recognize outstanding team players. Establish team-building goals and be certain they are a part of all employee performance reviews.

Step 4
Create rewards and incentives for good teamwork. Publicize outstanding team players on your website and all internal company communications. Establish team incentive and reward programs that pay out frequently. Seek feedback from all team members and customers and constantly recognize your best team players.

Step 5
Implement your programs throughout your entire organization. Publicize your meetings and speak with as many associates as possible during these meetings. Create energy at these meetings and be certain team activities are a part of the launch of your program. Provide your full support and answer all employee questions.

Step 6
Measure and review your teamwork program often. Obtain feedback from your employees and review your measurement of the program. Adjust your program, based on feedback and measurement. Provide additional rewards and incentives as needed. Constantly communicate your teamwork goals, objectives and program.

Steps to Building an Effective Team

The first rule of team building is an obvious one: to lead a team effectively, you must first establish your leadership with each team member. Remember that the most effective team leaders build their relationships of trust and loyalty, rather than fear or the power of their positions.


The steps are:

• Consider each employee's ideas as valuable. Remember that there is no such thing as a stupid idea.
• Be aware of employees' unspoken feelings. Set an example to team members by being open with employees and sensitive to their moods and feelings.
• Act as a harmonizing influence. Look for chances to mediate and resolve minor disputes; point continually toward the team's higher goals.
• Be clear when communicating. Be careful to clarify directives.
• Encourage trust and cooperation among employees on your team. Remember that the relationships team members establish among themselves are every bit as important as those you establish with them. As the team begins to take shape, pay close attention to the ways in which team members work together and take steps to improve communication, cooperation, trust, and respect in those relationships.
• Encourage team members to share information. Emphasize the importance of each team member's contribution and demonstrate how all of their jobs operate together to move the entire team closer to its goal.
• Delegate problem-solving tasks to the team. Let the team work on creative solutions together.
• Facilitate communication. Remember that communication is the single most important factor in successful teamwork. Facilitating communication does not mean holding meetings all the time. Instead it means setting an example by remaining open to suggestions and concerns, by asking questions and offering help, and by doing everything you can to avoid confusion in your own communication.
• Establish team values and goals; evaluate team performance. Be sure to talk with members about the progress they are making toward established goals so that employees get a sense both of their success and of the challenges that lie ahead. Address teamwork in performance standards. 
• Discuss with your team:

1. What do we really care about in performing our job?
2. What does the word success mean to this team?
3. What actions can we take to live up to our stated values?

• Make sure that you have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish; that you know what your standards for success are going to be; that you have established clear time frames; and that team members understand their responsibilities.
• Use consensus. Set objectives, solve problems, and plan for action. While it takes much longer to establish consensus, this method ultimately provides better decisions and greater productivity because it secures every employee's commitment to all phases of the work.
• Set ground rules for the team. These are the norms that you and the team establish to ensure efficiency and success. They can be simple directives (Team members are to be punctual for meetings) or general guidelines (Every team member has the right to offer ideas and suggestions), but you should make sure that the team creates these ground rules by consensus and commits to them, both as a group and as individuals.
• Establish a method for arriving at a consensus. You may want to conduct open debate about the pros and cons of proposals, or establish research committees to investigate issues and deliver reports.
• Encourage listening and brainstorming. As supervisor, your first priority in creating consensus is to stimulate debate. Remember that employees are often afraid to disagree with one another and that this fear can lead your team to make mediocre decisions. When you encourage debate you inspire creativity and that's how you'll spur your team on to better results.
• Establish the parameters of consensus-building sessions. Be sensitive to the frustration that can mount when the team is not achieving consensus. At the outset of your meeting, establish time limits, and work with the team to achieve consensus within those parameters. Watch out for false consensus; if an agreement is struck too quickly, be careful to probe individual team members to discover their real feelings about the proposed solution.