When you move into a leadership role, you lose your ability to gripe, especially with your direct reports. Instead, you become a representative of the company. You need to enforce the company’s policies and demonstrate the company’s values. You also have to be a role model and set the tone by supporting your peers, managing change, and controlling your emotions.
The key to becoming a successful leader is learning how to evolve from an individual contributor to a leadership role. Here are four key areas where you need to develop leadership maturity.
Upholding Company Policies
If the company has policies and procedures, you are responsible for enforcing them and abiding by them yourself. You are now in a position of authority. If a process or policy is not working, use your voice to bring change. Instead of gripping, establish a team to improve it. Leadership maturity means knowing, following, and enforcing the company policies.
Supporting Your Peers is Leadership Maturity
Once you are in a leadership role, your team consists of the other managers you work alongside, not the team that reports to you. Gone are the days when you could spend time griping about other leaders and their weaknesses. Instead, you must support them in public and help others see why they may be doing something a certain way. You can coach them through decisions that aren’t making sense in private. Help build them up rather than tearing them down. Leadership maturity means supporting other leaders.
Change Management
When the organization’s leadership commits to a change in strategy, process, or policy, you must support and enforce it. The days of complaining about constant change are over, especially in front of your direct reports. In some cases, you will have directly participated in the decision to change, and that was when you had an opportunity to influence it. Now is the time for you to inspire your team to buy into it and give it an honest effort of success. Report back any findings or gaps you identify to help smooth out any opportunities to improve, especially if it hurts productivity. Leadership maturity means helping the employees accept change management.
Controlling Emotions is Leadership Maturity
Once you start a leadership role, it is critical to remain calm, cool and collected. You have to be agile in dealing with roadblocks that pop up throughout the day, and you have to help your team adjust when confronted with a frustrating problem. Learning to control your emotions will go a long way with your team, and you will become known as someone who handles pressure well. Successful leaders don’t engage in public outbursts, profane language, or fist slamming. It is the fastest way to lose the respect and hope of your employees. Leadership maturity means controlling your emotions.
Once you are in a leadership role, you need to develop leadership maturity. You can’t just pay lip service to management decisions. Instead, you must support them. Leaders can’t complain about their peers; they help them. You can’t have outbursts when you don’t get your way or things don’t go well. More importantly, you have to handle pressure well. Align yourself with the mission, vision, and values of the company.
When leaders constantly complain about policies, their peers, change, or lose their temper, they become toxic leaders who damage the culture and ultimately ruin the company.
Last updated on February 4th, 2022 at 06:24 am
