How do you develop your influence as a leader?

A story is told about a Chief Operating Officer of a conglomerate of business who wanted to increase her influence as a leader. He tried to project a swashbuckling personality but it failed. He tried to project an image as Mr. Approachable  but it failed again because it was only for show and superficial.   

Do you want to develop and increase your influence as a leader? Of course, you do! Why? For the simple reason that leadership is influence no more no less. The more that you increase your influence as a leader the more that you become an effective leader. But how do you develop and increase your influence as a leader? 

There are three important foundations that you need to have:

Number one is Humility, humility is construed by many as weakness. However, humility is not weakness, in leadership humility is strength.  The humbler we are the more influential we become. Why is humility a driver of influence? Because it has been proven time and again that we love leaders who are humble. We gravitate towards them not away from them.  Humble leaders are always respected and revered by their followers. Think of someone who is arrogant and egotistical as opposed to someone who is humble. To whom would you want to be identified with? Whose command would you follow? Of course, you want to be identified with the humble one. And you would easily follow the command of the humble superior and not the egotistical one. 

Number two, leaders must always lead from the front. Who are these leaders? These are leaders who leads by example and who walk their talk. They lead the way, show the way    and light the way for their followers. This doesn’t mean that the leader is always in front giving orders. Because it defeats the purpose of leadership which is to empower and develop future leaders.  This means that the intellectual and ideological shadow of the leader is pervading in the entire department or organization that he/she leads.   The leader ensures that his followers know what they are doing even if he is not physically present in the organization.

Leaders who lead from the front are always influential and respected by their subordinates. Think here of a person who always see to it that the organization which he leads can effectively and efficiently function even if he is not physically present.  

Number three, a leader who wants to be influential must be knowledgeable. Knowledge is power and influence, this is something that we can all have. We can have this by reading, listening and studying. Nowadays, there is no excuse for a leader who wants to be influential not to be knowledgeable. Why? Because the internet is there to help him/her to gain knowledge. Unlike before when we solely depend on books for knowledge. Now we have the internet to help us gain knowledge, we can simply search on google. We search it and in a few seconds; it is there to feed our curious minds. Imagine, the influence that we can command from our subordinates. If we can teach them and if we can answer and articulate their questions.       

So there, the three (3) important foundations that you need to have in order to develop your leadership influence. Don’t only try it, use it and live it and see for yourself how influential you will become. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Can a job be transformed into a vocation?

Danilo is a tech-savvy young professional who applied for a middle-level managerial job in a technology driven organization. He applied there because of the high salary that it pays. After going through a battery of examinations he was eventually hired. However, after a year he resigned; when he was asked by his superior why he is resigning, he said, “I don’t’ find my purpose in this employment.” 

Do you know the purpose of your employment? Many of us think that the purpose of our employment is to earn a living. This is partly true but to earn a living is not the sole purpose of our employment. Otherwise there would be no resignation of high-salaried employees and executives.

The purpose of our employment is to find meaning and connection in that employment. This simply tells us that we need to look at our jobs as a vocation and not simply a means of livelihood to sustain us everyday. If we treat our jobs as a vocation we surely would find meaning and purpose in that job that we hold or occupy. 

However, this is not the reality on the ground, many of us treat or look at our jobs simply as a means to sustain our everyday needs and that’s it. How can we have the mindset so that we would look at our jobs as a vocation and not simply as a means of livelihood?

The brunt of responsibility rest upon the executives of the organization. How would they craft an idea or a method so that the job would also be a vocation? A job is simply a job its an activity in an organization in exchange for payment. A vocation is very different, this is something that we do because we love to do it: this is a calling and a career. 

So, how would organizational executives transform an ordinary job to a vocation? They have to create a meaningful reason for the employees to do that job. They have to create a deeper connection between the employees and the job that they do.

When the organizational executives are able to discover that meaning and connection. Then and only then would the job morph into a vocation. A vocation that will not only benefit the organization but the employees as well. – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Avoid the blame game

Homer is a newly promoted Chief Operating Officer in a conglomerate of business. Part of his promotion was to head a company owned by the business conglomerate overseas. When he took over the business, he found out that its financial, production and human resource records were in disarray. The company was in near bankruptcy.

He asked himself, what should I do? Should I blame the past administration for this mess? Or should I simply work and try my very best to fix the mess that they’ve created, institute reforms and move forward. Homer chose the latter.

To employ the blame game is the easy way out of this mess. Homer, could have simply washed his hands and said, “This is all caused by the past leadership.” Yet, Homer realized that he was not brought in to point fingers or to put blame on others. Homer perfectly knew that he took over because he has a job to do and he must do it right and to the best of his abilities. So that he can positively guide his organization moving forward.

Are you quick to harness the blame game when your organization is in trouble? Or you avoid using the blame game like a plague and take full responsibility of the task given to you? When you avoid the blame game and simply do your job to the best of your abilities. You are silently telling you bosses and your subordinates that you will solve what needs solving and then move forward.

To blame the past is already useless and futile. Yes, you have to look back not to blame others or to point fingers. You only have to look back to learn the lessons of the past so that you could use it as a springboard for the future.

The future that will serve you well if you do your job to the best of your abilities without employing the blame game. – Marino J. Dasmarinas      

Acknowledgment as a tool of motivation

Are you quick to acknowledge your subordinate’s achievement? For example, good work performance or exceptional sales achievement. Do you immediately compliment such positive behaviors? Or you don’t mind it simply because you see it as ordinary and without meaning?

Words or actions that acknowledge a positive behavior fulfills our need to have a place in an organization. In Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, this is number three in the hierarchy which is the need to belong. When an employee feels that his/her need to belong in an organization is fulfilled. He/she would naturally be motivated to work hard or work even harder.

Human as we are, we feel good when we are recognized or complimented. For example, remember when you were still studying? And when your professor complimented you for correctly answering his question during recitation? How did you feel during that moment? You felt good and you were raring for another session of class recitation. Right? What influenced your positive behavior? It’s the acknowledgment and recognition that was given to you.

In the same vein, acknowledging or complimenting your subordinate’s achievement no matter how small is motivating as well. Therefore, we must not be stingy in giving well deserved compliment and acknowledgment for a job well done. This is for the reason that this gives an employee a purpose and meaning in his existence in the organization. and it fulfills the number three hierarchical need under Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs which is the need to belong.

Hence, we should be quick to acknowledge positive achievements and behaviors and we should do it as often as the opportunity gives us to do so. Try it and see for yourself the motivation that it will give your subordinates.  And the positive impact that it will create in your image. – Marino J. Dasmarinas 

Do you want to be more productive? Begin by trusting your subordinates

Gerry is a department manager in a semiconductor related organization. He is workaholic and a micro manager; he is always first to report for work and last to leave the office. He is very particular with every detail of the work of his subordinates. Therefore, it seems to him that there is not enough time for him to accomplish what he is supposed to accomplish.

Nothing is wrong with Gerry’s being workaholic but being a micro manager? A micro manager is a boss who is a control freak and obsessed with his power.  When a boss has this mentality it strongly signifies his lack of trust towards his subordinates. Lack of trust which constricts his productivity.  

When we throw out of the window our micromanagement styles, we also begin to invite trust to come into our doors. What can trust do to our workplace environment? Trust invites workplace productivity and our employees’ cooperation and engagement. Employees who are trusted are motivated to work hard thus they are productive citizens of the organization.

But how are we going to communicate trust? Is it enough to tell our subordinates that we trust them and that’s it already? Of course not! Among other things, trust is communicated by loosening overly restrictive organizational control mechanism.

By sharing vital but not classified information to our subordinates. This we can best do during staff meetings or even during ordinary workplace conversation. When we share information to our subordinates, we communicate to them that they belong and are close to us. This solidifies the bond amongst the manager and subordinates and it also creates an invisible feeling of responsibility.     

When we bequeath trust to our subordinates, we also eliminate our micromanagement and control freak styles of management. Which are counterproductive to an organization for it stifles productivity and growth. 

But of course, we have to carefully choose the subordinates whom we would bestow trust. We should not trust our subordinates simply because they are close to us. We should trust those who are competent, hard workers and those who have potential for growth. – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

How do you approach motivation?

The story is told about Romy, a forty years old supervisor in an online retail store. He had no negative and derogatory record in his almost twenty years of working. However, his manager noticed his lack of motivation.  He was simply going thru the motions of his work: no drive and no enthusiasm whatsoever.

So, the manager talked to Romy and asked him if he could help him if he has problem in his work or whatever is going on in his life. Romy curtly replied, “Nothing everything is ok.” Another two weeks had passed and his work behavior and performance were still mediocre. Considering that he was paid well and the non-monetary package of benefits was also excellent.The manager was clueless on what was the cause of his demotivation. 

Like the manager, many of us may think that money and benefits are the be all and end all of motivation.  Money and benefits are only a component of the motivational puzzle. Therefore, it’s not the be all and end all of motivation. There’s more to motivation than money and benefits.

Since these two were already out of the question of his demotivation. The manager engaged this former productive employee more often. This he did by talking to him more often, by giving him more responsibilities and giving him voice during staff meetings. Slowly but surely the performance of Romy rose up again and he was even promoted to the next higher rank.

Motivation is a complex thing, it’s not simply about money and benefits. It involves human relations and behavior. It involves employee’s social engagement inside and outside of their work. Motivation is the fusion of efforts and ideas by the employee and manager. Motivation is also about having a safe and conducive work environment and the like.

Motivation is dynamic and not static that’s why effective and good leaders think every now and then how to fuel the motivation of their subordinates.   

How are you as a motivator? – Marino J. Dasmarinas

Do you allow pressure in your workplace to pressure you?

How are you handling pressure in your workplace? Do you allow it to pressure you or you simply let pressure be by itself?

Many managers and leaders allow pressure in the workplace to pressure them. Thus, it creates so many complications in their lives and health. When we allow pressure in the workplace to pressure us, we become stressed. We cannot function properly, why? Because we have allowed the pressure of work to pressure us and it results to stress at work.

Not only that it results to being stressed at work it also complicate our wellbeing. Our blood pressure shoots up, we become anxious. We unintentionally create conflicts with our subordinates and peers and so forth.

Some of us bring this pressure at work to our homes and what is the negative effect of this to our family’s wellbeing? Friction is easily ignited in the family. Sometimes there is shouting match between spouses and sometimes between parents and children. And who is the culprit? Our mishandling of pressure at work for we allowed it to stress us.

So, what is the cure? The cure is not to allow workplace pressure to pressure us. Let us let pressure exist by itself until it passes us. How are we going to go about it? We have to put things at work in its proper order and then simply work hard and leave pressure by itself alone.  

We can do this by concentrating in our work, pressure at work happens for the simple reason that we are not concentrating at work. By not concentrating we allow work to pressure us. For example, when we are given so many tasks by our boss, we become rattled and we already don’t know which work to do first.

So, what are we going to do? We simply have to concentrate on the work given to us according to its importance. Let us not allow it to pressure us otherwise it would create havoc in our wellbeing. We have to remember that we are humans and not machines. Even machines/computers break down when subjected to so much pressure.   

At the end of the day we have to remember that if not handled wisely and properly workplace pressure or stress can kill us anytime. We therefore have to manage pressure in the workplace by not allowing it to pressure us. We simply have to give it our all when we work minus the pressure and that is already enough.  -  Marino J. Dasmarinas