By Freelance Contributor | Strong Female Leaders

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Five Things Top Leaders Do Differently
The major difference that sets leaders and managers apart is how they spend their time.

High-performing leaders focus more on creating vision-oriented and value-generating strategies for at least 12 months ahead, and less on managerial tasks. These strategy-focused activities often include reviewing the team’s top-performing entities, planning for leadership succession, and mitigating risks.

While top leaders do still conduct managerial work, they avoid spending more time on them than what is necessary, and move on quickly to the more important strategic planning.

The strategic work parse into the five categories below, and if diligently practiced, helps top leaders rise above the rest.
1. They focus on the vision.
Top leaders focus on the future, and only the future. Instead of reliving past failures and wins, they focus on the vision, and keep their teams on the road that leads them to achieve that vision.

What top leaders consider important are forward-looking activities, like business planning, leadership succession, risk mitigation, and anything that will create a better future.

They learn quickly from reviews and retrospectives, push forward by applying the lessons learned, and never ever look back.
2. They value high-quality debate.
Great leaders understand the importance of trust within a team, and honor it by fostering a culture of free expression and high-quality debate. They ensure that everyone feels empowered enough to contribute their experience and expertise, and that all team members feel respected by each other and by leadership.

In addition to emotional benefits, a trusting culture also adds the value of executing fully thought out decisions. When everyone’s point of view has been considered, leaders have maximized their resources to make the most optimal decision.
3. They provide clear and concise feedback.
Strong feedback breeds strong performance. Top leaders know to give clear, concise and actionable feed back that leads to executable next steps. They stay away from fluffy praises and futile optimism, and dives right into to what the team should keep doing, stop doing and start doing.

This type of straight shooting helps the team move faster, and also earns leadership both trust and respect.

4. They are present at all times.
Leaders need to be present, because they need to keep team members focused on present matters. They need to be actively listening, thinking on their feet, being acutely aware of everyone’s emotion, and responding intelligently on demand.

Having such intense presence is a practiced proficiency and incredibly exhausting. However, it is a necessary skill because: if leaders are distracted, then so is the team.
5. They make tough decisions.
When it’s time to make tough calls, leaders step up. Making a commitment is taking responsibility. They are holding themselves accountable to see things through, absorbing the heat when plans go sideways, and are fully prepared to take one for the team.

If you ever wonder where their confidence comes from, realize this: top leaders made the decision to lead, a long time ago. What sacrifices they make for the team right now is merely carrying out the promise that they've already made to themselves.

[ End of Article ]

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By Nan Nan Liu | Strong Female Leaders

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New Job? How to thrive in a completely different culture.
The unspoken influence of culture is as important to work as it is to a country. If you are new on the job, understanding your new workplace's culture helps initial interactions go smoothly. Otherwise, you risk tripping over unexpected fault lines and having to do damage control. Effective positioning early on starts you on a high, and enables you to thrive.

So how can you thrive in a completely different culture? Here are ways to get started:
1. Ask the right questions.
Talking with actual team members is a good start. The briefings you received from leadership, the hiring committee or HR provide a general view. The truth, however, can only be offered by actual employees. Conversations with team members can lead you to behind-the-scenes dynamics such as who are feuding and who the real political influence is.

The objectives are to identify possible pitfalls, find potential allies, and face a brand new political climate with confidence.

To ease into such conversations, ask open-ended questions such as "what are we doing well on?”, "how can we improve?", and "what are our impediments?". With luck, you and your new team will share the same vision. At a minimum, you understand the risks.
2. Find a "cultural mentor" immediately.
After spending time with your new team, you should identify a cultural mentor. Look beyond the title, and dig deep for real influence.

Preferably, this person understands your needs, values relationships, knows the organizational terrain, and has a respectful reputation. Positioning yourself with a highly regarded person can enhance your own social value.
3. Move slowly, at first.
All new hires want to start with a bang. Some were even directed to do so during their hiring process. Then, they move too fast, and focus solely on fixing surface issues without exploring the underlying causes and complexities. This “hit the ground running” attitude may offend team members and result in rebel actions like passive-aggressive compliance or back-channel complaints to higher leadership.

If you’ve already done this, it’s okay. Simply point out your lack of cultural knowledge. Then, continue to move towards your goals, but slowly this time. You can do so by making small increments, opening up a feedback loop, and continuing to connect with your team.

4. Watch what you say and how you say it.
Before entering a new workplace culture, expect that it will be significantly different than your previous place, and that you will make mistakes. To certain individuals, your tone will sound too harsh, your standards will be too high, and your team will complain about you at some point, and especially early on.

To continue to make progress, prime yourself for sticky situations with prepared apologies and visualized exit strategies. Keep it short, sweet and task-focused; and NEVER EVER COMPLAIN.
5. Give yourself a break.
A few mishaps should not tarnish your reputation as long as you handle it quickly and professionally. Misunderstandings happen all the time. Leverage each experience to build your conflict resolution skills. Over time, your positivity will shine through.
[ End of Article ]

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