Why the most effective leaders start by managing themselves
Academic leaders are faced with so many day-to-day complex challenges that the idea of taking time out to understand yourself better can feel like an unnecessary luxury. And yet, the most effective leadership comes from within. When we take time to understand ourselves and the factors that have shaped our leadership style, we are better placed to develop the skills and behaviors to lead others more effectively.
This subject is explored by leadership expert, educator and renowned author Margaret Andrews in her bestselling book, Manage Yourself to Lead Others. Based on her popular graduate-level course (the most popular professional development program at Harvard), Margaret focuses on helping participants to identify the kind of leader they want to be, understand the behavioral patterns that can help or block you, and develop the capabilities to succeed.
We were thrilled to welcome Margaret as a special webinar guest to explore the theme in more detail, and we’ve captured some of the highlights here.
Why does great leadership come from within?
Tackling leadership challenges goes beyond strategy or expertise. Great leaders understand how their behaviors and values show up under pressure and influence the people around them. We can’t change others, but we can change ourselves. When we truly understand our unique strengths, we can think about the kind of leader we want to become. This understanding can underpin how we develop our leadership capability.
Why self-understanding matters in academic leadership
Higher education is a unique environment. Many academic leaders are “accidental leaders” who may have set out to be researchers or educators and been rewarded with leadership positions based on deep expertise.
Leadership is much more than an intellectual challenge. Intelligence and technical expertise matter, of course. However, to become a great leader we need to look beyond the things that got us to our current position, and explore what lies within.
What made your “best boss” a great leader?
One of the most illuminating moments in the webinar was Margaret’s “best boss” exercise. In just a few minutes, this simple exercise can increase your understanding of effective leadership.
Try it yourself. Think of the best boss you’ve ever had. What traits, attributes and behaviors made that person so great? Try and note at least eight things. Now go back and choose the top three. The top three almost always fall into these three buckets:
Intelligence
Technical or functional skills
Interpersonal skills
Across decades of data, an incredible 85% of the reasons people choose their best boss fall into the third category of interpersonal skills. When most of us think about our best boss, we think about things like empathy, trust, listening, respect, and humanity. Intelligence and technical skills matter, but they’re baseline expectations. What makes leaders really effective (and truly memorable) is how they make people feel.
The S-curve of success
When it comes to developing leadership capability, progress is not linear. Instead, our progress usually looks more like an S-curve. At first, improvement is slow. Then, typically, things start to come together. We start to improve more quickly. Then we reach the stage where we have pretty much mastered a new skill or behavior. Any further improvement will be marginal. To continue growing, we need to develop new capabilities. This calls for new S-curves.
If we normalize discomfort and recognize that we may get worse before we get better, we open ourselves up to new growth opportunities. In the world of academia, many high achievers are uncomfortable with this concept. We want to get it right the first time. However, if we allow ourselves to experiment and make mistakes, we will develop greater self-understanding and grow as leaders.
Managing yourself is a kindness to yourself and to others
One idea that particularly resonated with our webinar audience was Margaret’s framing of self-understanding as a kindness. Leadership is often framed as service to others. However, to look after others we also need to look after ourselves. Taking time to do this is not an indulgence. As leaders, we don’t stop evolving. We have a choice to evolve by accident or to evolve by intention. Through self-understanding, we can grow more purposefully.
When you manage yourself well, you can:
become more resilient
make better decisions under pressure
adapt your style to suit different people
have a positive, energizing impact on the people around you.
How coaching helps us manage ourselves
To build self-understanding, most of us need a little help. This is particularly true if you are under pressure or stepping into a new leadership role. A skilled coach creates the space for structured reflection, helps you surface patterns you may be blind to, and supports you to experiment safely with new behaviors as you move along those inevitable S-curves of leadership development.
For many leaders, especially in higher education, where formal leadership development is often limited, coaching is a vital tool for understanding your strengths and growing leadership capability.
Let’s improve leadership just a little bit
We closed our webinar by asking Margaret about her greatest hope for her book and her wider work. Her response? “I’d like to improve leadership just a little bit.” We spend a huge amount of our lives at work. Even when we’re not at work, we’re often thinking about work. We all know that a great leader can have a positive and energising impact on our life, just as a “bad boss” can have a corrosive effect. Just think: if we could see just a small uptick in leadership capability, the world would be a better place. The place to start? Self-understanding.
Discover more
If you missed this webinar and would like to watch a recording, please get in touch and we’ll send you a link.
Interested in exploring how coaching can build your self-understanding and help you manage yourself more effectively? Discover how Jumpstart Coaching can help you understand and build your strengths, at speed.