Category: Leadership

Something interesting about leadership is that the higher you go up an organization, to be promoted, you must let go of the very thing that got you there. Here’s a statement about this transition from Harvard Business School‘s Executive Education Program:

Most managers achieve success in the early phases of their careers through increased specialization—continually refining their expertise in a single functional area. At some point in their careers, however, the best of these specialists face a difficult challenge: to re-create themselves as generalists. Almost overnight, they must develop new skills and adopt a business wide perspective to become effective strategists, organization builders, and leaders.

Suppose you were an engineer and had a Ph.D. in engineering. Or perhaps you have a background in finance or IT. In your first position, or perhaps even your second position, you would be hired because of your expertise in engineering, finance, or IT. However, in your third promotion or beyond, you would most likely have been promoted for reasons that had nothing to do with engineering, finance, or IT. You may have gone from being an engineer, to head of an engineering unit, to head of a division, to becoming a VP, and then into the C-suite. The further you go up this chain, the further you are from that first specialization/first job.

What will get you promoted? The most clear answer is that it has nothing to do with your speciality. So you do not get promoted by being an excellent engineer, though that may be the very reason they hired you in the first place. At this point something else is required, leadership. What do leaders know that others do not know? What do they practice to get that promotion or raise? The most obvious first step is that they have to give up what they are good at to become a leader in their organization. This is a hard thing to do. Can you give up the very thing that you excel at? Can you give up the years of education, training, and mindset that you have put into your specialization? If not, you may be an excellent engineer or finance whiz but it’s very unlikely you’ll truly become a high level leader in your organization.

If you are a leader and want to grow as a leader, then feedback from others is a very crucial component to your growth. However, the higher you go up your organization’s leadership chart you will find that few people are willing to give you feedback. It’s one thing to give feedback to a peer or to someone who works for you, but it’s not easy to give feedback to a superior. If the feedback is positive, it comes devalued as flattery. If the feedback is negative, then there is fear the feedback could get you fired. This is why leaders need feedback from others to grow since they rarely get this kind of constructive and honest feedback from those who work for them.

So the key question is, who is giving you feedback? If the only feedback you are receiving is from superiors then you are not really getting all the feedback that is so crucial to your growth as a leader. It’s not easy to let go of one’s ego and tell someone in a lower position than you to give you honest feedback. Feedback that will help you grow. Of course this can only be done in an environment where there is much trust. And of course there can only be trust if the relationship has been developed and built up to a degree. There lies the key.

Do you have enough trust in your employees/juniors/lower ranks to ask them to give you feedback?

Invisible is an option, of course. You can lay low, not speak up and make no difference to anyone. That’s sort of like dividing by zero, though. You’ll get no criticism, but no delight either. – Seth Godin

Some qualities of being invisible:

– It’s safe. No one can hurt you because no one can see you.
– It’s easy. Laying low means never putting anything out there.
– It’s quiet. If you speak up, people may know where you are so to be truly invisible is to be quiet.
– It’s comfortable. You’re accountable to nobody, just yourself. Most of us are usually easy on ourselves.

Safe. Easy. Quiet. Comfortable. If you want to be a difference maker, in particular a leader who makes a difference in this world, then these four qualities are probably the qualities you most want to avoid. However, if you want to be a difference maker in this world then we need to be visible. How? Simply look at the qualities of being invisible and consider when you need to be the opposite of safe, easy, quiet, and comfortable.

How can you be more visible in your life today?