How to improve my leadership skills?
November 30, 2015 6:59 PM   Subscribe

I am 3 years into my career as an actuary. I was recently one of the final two candidates for a promotion at work. I ended up not getting the role and the feedback I received was that it was very close, but the other candidate was stronger for their leadership experience. So, my question is twofold. 1) Are there any books you can recommend that might help me improve my leadership abilities. 2) Given that opportunities to demonstrate my leadership abilities might be somewhat limited by the kinds of work my leader gives me, are there things I can be doing in and out of the workplace to improve my skills?
posted by Proginoskes to Work & Money (7 answers total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
Leadership looks different in every company, based on what the company values. For example, in some companies a leader is somebody who has their hands in everything (and who often takes the credit for every success, while magically disappearing or passing the buck on failures) while in other companies a leader is someone who helps mentor and bring together teammates to collaboratively get projects done. Or in some companies, leaders are seen as people who are the first in the office every morning and the last to leave every night, while in other companies a leader is someone who serves as a model of work-life balance and making the most of the amount of time you have in the office.

Now is a good time to meet with you manager and find out what your company values in a leader. There really isn't a universal answer here.

As for books, I really like Marcus Buckingham's StandOut strengths-based assessment. It is a test you take that determines what your strengths are, and the accompanying book explains how to use your strengths to be a leader. My company uses this as a team-building exercise and it has really done a lot for me to understand how to seek out work that I will actually enjoy, how to communicate with my peers effectively, and how to be successful within a diverse fast-moving team.
posted by joan_holloway at 7:51 PM on November 30, 2015 [4 favorites]


This is what has worked for me.

Leadership is...

Encouraging positive action in others
I send thank you emails when someone does something awesome to that someone, her boss, and sometimes her boss's boss.

Being a source of information on happenings throughout the org
I send out a monthly newsletter detailing things that different groups in the organization are doing, showing that I am involved and also making me more involved when people want to share through my channel.

Picking up important items that others aren't doing
In the beginning you ask for work from places you see as interesting or important. Eventually people start coming to you.

Gracefully handing off work to others
Eventually you do less of the work yourself and start figuring out how to delegate to others before you officially have someone to delegate to. Maybe it's through asking favors, or through making sure that whoever does work you ask them to do looks really good. SO they feel good about doing work for you.

With that last step, you've become a leader. And it's usually noticeable. And depending on who you are and how serious you take this challenge, it takes 3-6 months to begin to notice significant change.

One warning: For some people this process is a lot of fun! Some people hate it. There's nothing wrong with that.
posted by jander03 at 8:56 PM on November 30, 2015 [9 favorites]


I'll have to dig through my bookshelf to suggest books but the Havard Business Review has a good mix of leadership/org theory and business related articles.

For opportunities to show your leadership skills there are two key steps you can take. First is to set up 1:1s with your manager and at least two other leaders (one should be outside your direct org and one should be a skip level manager). Let them know you're interested in developing as a leader and feel their experience/insight would be helpful. Depending on your existing relationship with these people you'll want to have a more specific reason you want to use their time (if you know them well enough you can be more vague about wanting to develop as a leader but otherwise have a problem/topic related to your company/department to focus on which is tied to learning about leadership). This will help you in a few ways:
-it signals to others that you're serious about developing leadership and that you're able to take a first step on your own
-you get more time and exposure to leaders which creates the idea that you are a leader (this this into a form of self fulfilling prophecies but with your social/work group - maybe it's confirmation bias but in this case it works for you)
-the first two bullets lead to your name coming up in discussion of potential leaders.

Second thing is to request a key role on a project or propose some project/improvement that you could lead. Even if you don't get an opportunity right away your 1:1 people will begin to recommend you when these opportunities come up. As you take these opportunities discuss them with your 1:1 folks - they'll want you to do well, having taken an interest in your development. They'll have pointers on what you can improve on but will also highlight your strengths.

I could probably go on but these two things will get the ball rolling.
posted by toomanycurls at 10:00 PM on November 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


"Leadership Skills" for an actuary, who is not supervising others, is a pretty nebulous thing. Another thing to bear in mind is that often when trying to let someone down after promoting another person, employers will cite something, anything, that seems pertinent, when all they really want to say is, "Joe, just seemed a better fit."

I would schedule a short meeting with your manager to discuss things you could do to make you more promotable in the future. Open by saying, "I'd like to improve my skill-set over-all so that I'll be better equipped the next time an opportunity for promotion arises, what do you recommend?"

There are probably a lot of books on leadership, many of them written by people who might actually have led someone, somewhere. But leadership isn't really something you can read about and do. It's more of a state of being. Most companies have a training department, so look into some classes that address leadership, if you're really interested.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 5:52 AM on December 1, 2015


opportunities to demonstrate my leadership abilities might be somewhat limited by the kinds of work my leader gives me

Have a conversation with your leader. Let them know you want to develop your leadership skills, and talk to them about how you could take on more responsibilities of that kind. (Being confident enough to have those conversations with your superiors is itself evidence of leadership qualities.)
posted by robcorr at 3:49 PM on December 1, 2015


If there are any soft skills/leadership training courses near you, consider taking one of them. Bonus if you can get a certificate from it, it looks good on a resume.

I took a project management certificate program through a local technical college, and the first three units were all about team building and leadership/ soft skills. It was the most valuable part of that course and most helpful in my career so far (manufacturing production manager). A lot of emphasis on emotional intelligence, active listening, communication styles, and filters.

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and The Leadership Secrets of Colin Powell were pretty much the Bible as far as my instructors were concerned. There's some good information in there, but they're also a bit cringeworthy in some places. Anything involving Lean Principles as well, it's mostly geared towards increasing productivity/efficiency and decreasing waste but the techniques they teach about getting buy-in from employees/management are applicable for any team situation.

Also, if you can (time/opportunity permitting), volunteering is a great way to develop leadership skills.
posted by brain.eat.brain at 7:06 PM on December 1, 2015


Talking to your manager and asking for more leadership/teamwork oriented roles is a good idea. You can also look for projects other departments are working on, see if you can help out in any way, and extend your services.

If you can't find any opportunities at work, there are other options you can choose from to improve your leadership skills:
1. Take a course. You can take one online or join a local college but look for courses that offer certifications so you can show them off on your resume.
2. Start freelancing or consulting. This way you can work on projects that require you to take the role of a leader or consultant and enhance your experience in your field at the same time.
3. Volunteer. Volunteering is a great way to polish your leadership skills. You can look for volunteer opportunities that ask for your unique skill-set or even take part in general volunteer activities in which case you can initiate activities and events.

If you don't see yourself doing any of that, then another good way to polish your leadership skills is to initiate a group project yourself. Get some of your colleagues and friends together, brainstorm an idea, and start working on it.

If you have any questions, please PM me. I’d be more than happy to look over whatever you’re struggling with.
posted by CareerTuners at 4:24 AM on December 2, 2015


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