Leadership Advice I Give Students
If you met me at a party, there is zero chance you’d think I’m a natural leader. And, even though I’ve been lucky to have had many leadership positions in my career, I haven’t cracked a new leadership code or developed some trick to allow me to drop into any situation and take over.
So, what makes me think I can give leadership advice?
Well, over the years, I have paid attention to leadership and have managed a lot of people early in their careers.
There are plenty of great sources for leadership advice. Here are three from me that I give to students.
First, you don’t need a formal position to show leadership.
I never had a way to express this until I heard a great podcast from Randall Stutman, a leadership guru and coach.
He defines leadership as making situations or people better.
He points out that this definition works no matter what your title is. I love it because people young in their careers don’t realize they can be leaders without a formal title. No matter where you are in the organization, you can make situations and people better.
Of course, you won’t always get recognized for doing this. Occasionally, you’ll make things worse despite your intentions. But if your intentions are to make situations and people better, you’ll get better at it and get noticed.
Second, you have to want leadership roles.
This advice comes from my friend Larry Wyche, a retired Lieutenant General who led an organization of 120,000 people.
In his book and interviews, he mentions wanting a leadership role is important. It is easy to see the positives of leadership roles: the prestige, the money, and being in control. He points out that wanting a leadership role also means that you want to take responsibility, be accountable for the actions of others, and make painful decisions.
I give similar advice to students who want to get a Ph.D. I tell them that they have to want it because it can be a lonely path, and the desire to get it can keep you going. The same is true for leadership. It can be lonely (and painful and hard)— wanting that can help you through it. Before you take these roles, it can be hard to imagine the difficult parts.
Funny, though, I sometimes change this advice for technical people. Technical people often tell me they never want leadership (or management) roles. They enjoy the technical work.
I’ve watched enough young people progress in their careers to tell them that they will likely want more leadership roles as they progress. In this case, they should pay attention to the first piece of advice and practice leadership so they can do it when they are ready.
Third, getting a leadership role doesn’t magically change you- work on your strengths.
Early in my career, I talked with my brother-in-law about his recent annual performance review. My brother-in-law is about ten years older than me and has assumed increasingly important leadership positions in his organization.
I was curious about what was said in annual reviews at his leadership level.
He brushed it off, saying, “Everything I’ve always been weak at, I’m still weak at, and the things that have always been my strengths are still strengths.”
This stuck with me. We don’t change much. And subsequent reading and experience showed me that I could slightly improve my weaknesses but could really improve my strengths.
So, early in your career, work hard to improve your strengths and be aware of your weaknesses. As you take on more leadership responsibilities, make sure you have leaders around you who cover your weaknesses.