Speaking of Leadership®, Vol. 2, No. 7
Phil Holberton

Most of us start out in the business world performing specific, functional activities. It may be as an engineer, a salesperson, an accountant, in operations, in manufacturing, etc.  We get an assignment in our area of training or expertise. You get the drift. Sometimes we are lucky and become employed because someone who interviewed us saw some further potential in us. We are smart, aggressive, and we make an immediate impact in our predefined area. Many of us are quick to observe activities in other functional areas and may not be hesitant to make our observations known (for good or bad). We begin to spread our wings. Full of confidence, we start to make our points-of-view known to others. Management takes notice and determines if we have the capability to succeed in a supervisory role. This is our entry point into management. We have arrived!

For many, we accept these challenges without necessarily going into the assignment with our eyes wide open. We are so grateful to have been “promoted” that we give little thought as to what it all means. We bound ahead, without much thought as to what we need to accomplish from our assignment. Unfortunately, some of us look two positions ahead and do not focus on the immediate experience. The example of the Pittsburgh Steelers looking past the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl comes to mind. In our immediate projects, we must work hard to get the job done without overanalyzing each task and questioning whether it will directly enhance our career development. Not every project in our middle management career will challenge us fully or develop new skills. We must accept this as part of our work. As we travel up the stairway of management development, we should always be cognizant of the specific projects that need to be accomplished. It never hurts to look at the bigger picture, but the smaller pieces must come together before that bigger goal can be realized.

This is a good time to seek out a mentor or coach to assist you in determining which elements of the leadership toolbox are being developed and tested—and to warn us if we are solely working for company objectives at our own professional cost. As is true with all we do in life, we can study the books, go to seminars, and learn the theoretical aspects of our job, but there is no substitute for experiencing and practicing these skills every day.

While we complete our specific tasks, we do, however, need to step back and establish our own growth goals—those goals that will add to our managerial toolbox and our leadership self-confidence. As we begin to define them, much like establishing our business goals during annual planning season, they become a significant part of our objectives. Earlier in our careers, we probably had to put the company initiatives, no matter how mundane, first on our priority list. In this stage, we must equate the importance of our own personal development goals with the company goals. By following our personal goals, we increase the likelihood of achieving the business goal(s).  Just think about it. When we are growing and experiencing new and exciting challenges, are not we usually more motivated and excited about achieving our objectives? We focus like a laser beam right into our ‘to do' list, knocking down all doors to achieve our objectives.

As you climb your stairway of professional development, put your goals and objectives side-by-side with those of the company. Moreover, be sure you incorporate physical and spiritual development goals as well. After all, when we complete the climb, we want to be a whole person, not just a highly revered executive. It is the feeling of being a whole person that will give us much satisfaction that the journey was worth the time and effort.

Now ask yourself... Am I a Leader?