By A.S. Damiani CPE/FAFE

This article will focus on 21 ways to help you develop and/or reinforce your leadership skills and potential.

WHO ARE LEADERS?

Leaders are people who bring out the best in others by leading by example. They have a positive attitude, communicate well, get along with others, create positive work places, lead change, manage confrontation, have a sense of urgency, inspire others, mentor others, are not afraid of failure, have goals and WORK HARD. Leader get their authority from below (managers get their authority from above).

Leaders understand what employees want and help them overcome their fears. They constantly encourage others to do their very best. Leaders also understand that employees who feel good about themselves do more work and better work. The simplest yet most powerful tenet of leadership - a critically important yet overlooked truth - is how important it is to make others feel important. One of my mentors, Zig Ziglar, says ?you can have everything you want in life if you?ll only help others get what they want.?

What do people want? People want: To be healthy, to be involved, to be important, to have a challenging job, to be appreciated and to have job security.

What do people fear? People fear: Failure, public speaking, rejection, change and confrontation.

HOW TO BE A LEADER

The best and fastest way to learn to be a leader is to observe and imitate a proven leader. Associate with positive people and learn leadership from the experience of those who have reached the top. Don?t be afraid to ask someone you respect to be your mentor. Mentoring will get you to the top quicker than any other management tool available.

Nothing is more important than having and maintaining a positive attitude. It is fundamental to your success. Remember, nothing constructive can be accomplished with a negative attitude.

Other traits I?ve found very important to leadership are to work hard, have a sense of urgency, constantly stay in school and take public speaking courses. As Mr. Ziglar says, ?the only thing worse than training your employees and losing them is not training them and keeping them.?

Therefore, here are 21 ways to develop/reinforce your leadership skills

Work Hard

Success only comes before work in the dictionary. Study successful people and you?ll find that they all work hard. You can overcome a lot of weaknesses by working harder than others and being punctual. I always tell young people that the surest and quickest way to get a raise and/or promotion is to ask for more work.

Accept the Challenge

We should recognize that there are fewer well-paying jobs available and older managers with obsolete skills (as well as younger managers) will have to better prepare themselves in order to compete successfully. Much of the downsizing that occurred in the 1990s has affected middle management the most. Companies are looking for leaders to emerge to replace that eliminated layer of management - leaders who can instill in their employees the attitudes and feeling that they can and will accomplish objectives that enhance productivity as well as their personal and professional lives. Productivity is the name of the game. Those who master productivity will not only survive, but also thrive, and even in the most trying circumstances, there are several things you can do right now that will give you a jump start and bring out the leader within you.

Think Big and Positive

We?ve been conditioned to believe that we are helpless and can?t do anything about it. The greatest challenge you have is to be the best you can be and unleash your and your employees? fullest potential. Your success has to do with thinking big and thinking positively. Have a vision and share it with others. Henry Ford once said, ?If you think you can or you can?t, you?re right.? If you can impart the ?I CAN? philosophy in those around you, you?ll be on the right track. Nothing constructive can be done unless you think positively.

Know the Business of Your Business

Understand how your job and your department fit into the company as a whole. Learn how your boss sees your job and don?t be afraid to ask him or her that question. Then concentrate your efforts on those things deemed most important by the boss and/or by the customer.

The following employer ?needs? may be of help to you in asking the right questions and help point you in the right direction:

• People who add value - who contribute much more than they cost
• People who adapt fast
• People who ?buy in? and embrace change
• People who have a sense of urgency
• People who accept ambiguity and uncertainty
• People who behave as if it were their business
• People who keep on learning
• People who hold themselves accountable
• People who get close to their customer
• People who manage their own morale, i.e., are self-motivated
• People who continuously improve
• People who are solution-oriented, not finger-pointed
• People who change before they have to
• People who constantly help others

Senior executives often talk about where their company is going. They want their leaders to develop people to their fullest potential, develop positive attitudes, and create voluntary changes in people?s behavior. They also talk about the importance of a balanced work life, sharing information (training), accepting the magnitude of change, and interdependency. And they advise their people to stop living in the past. Companies are now focusing on success-based employment and no longer on security as a guiding principle.

Become Indispensable by Educating 
your Boss

Many of us assume that our boss knows and appreciates what we do. That?s not the case. Send regular reports to your boss on the many value-based contributions of your department, such as highlighting savings achieved, increasing life span of equipment, reducing energy, increasing indoor air quality, etc. Concentrate on value and bottom-line contributions. Often it is helpful to videotape before and after conditions of maintenance and other projects to illustrate accomplishments and quality. We?ve got to get better at selling ourselves and our accomplishments. Leaders in facilities management should also look at outsourcing as a viable option before someone else does.

Invest in Yourself and Others

Invest in training yourself and your people. Most people use the excuse that training dollars were dropped from the budget. Investment in training will pay for itself several times over within the first year and I?ve experienced a 125:1 payback, so there is little to risk involved. What you will spend in training will reduce your overall budget every time. Why, then, do we continue to skimp on training? The only thing worse than training your people and losing them is not training them and keeping them.

Focus Training on the Human Element

People are the essential ingredient in coordinating time and products, using the time and managing the resources. By focusing training on the human element and on ?mindset? issues, significant results can be obtained and training that impacts behavior will enable real change. I have found that Zig Ziglar?s ?Strategies for Success? training system is the best training resource to use for this purpose.

Take Public Speaking Courses

Being able to communicate well with others is a highly desirable leadership trait and yet, it is often rated the No. 1 fear. Take a Carnegie course or join Toastmasters? Club and learn how to share your experience with others.

Increase Your Visibility

Volunteer for projects in your organization that nobody wants and do a great job on them. Some examples are U.S. Savings Bond Drive, United Way, and other charity drives. Volunteer in the community and become a community leader. Champion projects important to the company and your boss. Always be visible in support of your boss. Join professional organizations such as AFE and participate in them to the fullest.

Involve Your Employees

Confucius taught an important lesson many years ago and we need to learn the lesson. ?If you tell people something, they?ll forget; if you show them, they?ll remember; if you involve them, they?ll understand.? Don?t ever underestimate the power of employees.

Increase Your Ability to Deal with Change

A leader must be able to cope with adversity as his or her company undergoes change. Don?t be overwhelmed by our increasingly changing world. You not only have to adapt to change, but also have to become an agent for change.

Bring Back Values

It is vital for a leader to have honesty, credibility, ethical behavior, integrity, candor and sensitivity - a leader who cares. Cavett Robert says, ?People don?t care how much you know until they know how much you care.? Positive, caring environments are characteristic of all successful companies and they breed optimism and high morale. A positive, caring environment is vital to productivity. Many studies have shown that productivity is always much higher in companies that develop and nurture these environments. People who feel good about themselves always produce more and with better quality. People with values, in combination with a positive attitude, will never tolerate being in second place in any marketplace.

Financial Know-How

Facilities management is a financially based business. Today?s manager must understand financial statements and the impact of their operation on the bottom line. They must also be proficient in presenting their value to the organization financially. A dollar saved in operations today equates to about $20 in sales. Being able to communicate well and incorporating numbers that affect the bottom line, will make a positive difference in how you are perceived by top management. Think as if you were the CFO of your company.

Value Diversity

Diversity is the differences that make each individual unique. Learn to address situations in a multicultural environment that will guard against prejudice and maintain good relationships.

Be Decisive and Be Bold

Good judgement, anchored by prudent risk taking, are qualities found in leaders who act boldly with courage, tenacity and persistence. Leaders don?t procrastinate and aren?t afraid to make decisions (many of us won?t give ourselves permission to be wrong).

Develop a Sense of Urgency

A fine art of management is the ability to communicate a sense of urgency to employees who work with you without haranguing or being unpleasant about it. Let your employees know how important having a sense of urgency is to you, to them and to the customer.

Never Fear Failure

Failure is a trademark of success. All successful people fail. As long as you learn from your mistakes, it?s OK to make mistakes. You?ll move forward in your career quickly if you can overcome the fear of failure.

Be Inquisitive

You should always ask questions. If you tell people what to do, they?ll do it begrudgingly. If you ask intelligent questions and ask that they come up with solutions, they?ll be more responsive and responsible.

Be a Team Player

In order to stand out from the crowd and be a leader you must also fit in and be a team player. Team excellence demands a cooperative and expeditious search for the right yes.

Encourage Others

Leaders constantly encourage others and spread loyalty and credit downward.

Look for the Gold in Others

People want to be recognized. Why don?t we heed this advice? Do these things and become a finder of the good in others. It?s the most important lesson that we can learn. When we become ?other-people? centered, we will receive the true rewards of life. That?s what leadership is all about. More than anything, it will help bring out the full potential of the employee. When you look for the gold in others, you?ll always find some in you.

SUMMARY

It is recommended that you keep these steps of developing leadership within easy reading distance. Review and use them often. They will help you positively change the organizational culture of your department. Developing and maintaining a positive, caring work environment is an important way to motivate and build better people. They, in turn, will produce a return on the investment that you placed in them a hundredfold. Your potential is almost unlimited. You already have in you some of every quality of success needed to be whatever you want to be, to do whatever you want to do, and to have whatever you want to have. All you need to do now is to make the decision to refine/reinforce your qualities to move closer toward your goal of becoming a successful leader.

You can sit back, complain about how unfair life is, make excuses and watch the world pass you by. Or you can stand up, step forward, boldly take on each challenge that comes your way, and do whatever it takes to become the best you can be. It?s your choice.