Lead Up
This week my friend Dr. Neal Anderson is taking over The Data Daily emails. He’s the Founder of CARTO Leadership, a leadership development and coaching firm. This week he’s writing about leadership. Read his email from Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday
What does it mean to lead up? Why is it important to lead up? If there was ever a prime soft skill to develop in leadership, I believe it’s this one.
Leading up is the art and science of building influence amongst the leaders you report to and beyond.
Are you interested in developing this crucial leadership skill?
There are five basic principles to leading up. Individually, these are no-brainers. However, most clients I work with struggle to embrace all five as a collective approach.
1. UNDERSTANDING CULTURE
I have found that this first step is the most frequently missed step. Do you ever feel like you keep getting affirmation from your peers about your ideas, insights, and proposals for your organization, but they keep falling flat with your supervisor?
You might be lacking in your organizational cultural awareness.
2. ADDING VALUE
Your job isn't your job description.
Your job is to help your organization win by accomplishing its purpose. Meeting job performance expectations is the baseline. Adding value goes much further.
Adding Value = Your job description + looking beyond bullet points and seeing the spaces and opportunities for extra input and effort.
Show up to work and look for ways to create and add value. Doing the job well is a given. Doing the job in a way that adds value is leadership.
3. SOLVING PROBLEMS
Being able to see problems is not a special gift.
Leading up is about bringing solutions. If you see a problem, no one sees, great, bring it to your supervisor, but be sure you have a solution to accompany it.
Learn to solve the problems your supervisor experiences. Figure out how to help your organization thrive by finding a creative solution to a recurring issue. The more you see yourself as a problem solver, the more opportunity you will have for a seat at the table where decisions are made.
4. DISCERNING TIMING
Timing is everything.
Learn to read the signs of the times, both organizationally and departmentally. Consider the budget season you're in, the broader cultural context, the recent hires or fires that have taken place, and think about how you’re leading up in the midst of it all. You may have accurately understood the culture and added value, and now are looking to propose a creative solution to an ongoing problem, but the timing is wrong.
5. FOLLOWING WELL
Contrary to intuition, leading is directly connected to following. Author Ira Chaleff writes, “We are a society in love with leadership and uncomfortable with followership, though the subjects are inseparable.”
Here’s how they relate: Following well is about understanding how your performance and follow-through support your leader and leads to their success. Great followers are invaluable!
Interested in more?
CARTO Leadership created a mini-course called LEAD UP to help.
Neal Anderson, PhD
