If I had to pick one skill for the majority of leaders I work
with to improve, it would be assertiveness. Not because being assertive is such
a wonderful trait in and of itself. Rather, because of its power to magnify so
many other leadership strengths.
Assertiveness gets a bad rap when people equate it with being
pushy and annoying. But that shouldn't stop you from learning to apply it
productively (that is — in service to your strengths). More harm is done when
people aren't assertive enough than by being too assertive. At least you know
what pushy people think, but those who don't assert themselves can be keeping
vital ideas hidden and useless when they don't speak up or speak too softly. So
I'd assert that when you are able to balance this critical skill with your
other leadership abilities, you greatly amplify your power and impact.
Here are some specific ways in which assertiveness
complements a wide range of the critical leadership skills you may already have:
• Creating a culture of innovation: A couple of years ago I conducted a
study to determine the characteristics of the most innovative leaders in one of
the largest companies in the world. One of their most powerful traits, their
peers and direct reports told me, was their ability to push back on the
hierarchy. These leaders were by no means rebels; rather, they were perceived
to be fearless. Coupling assertiveness with their ability to foster innovation
enabled them to take on difficult issues — to fight for resources for new
projects or openly disagree with more senior managers about policy changes that
could have severe unintended consequences. Being challenged required people to
think more deeply to justify a course of action, which frequently produced much
better ideas.
• Being customer focused: We typically think of service
or business development professionals as being good at, and focused on,
building relationships. But the most successful sales professionals, as Matthew
Dixon and Brent Adamson point out in their blog and
their book, The
Challenger Sale, are not the ones who build
relationships. They're the ones who push back, challenging their clients to see
problems they hadn't anticipated. Essentially, Dixon and Adamson's research
finds, assertiveness creates more value for clients than conciliatory relationship
building does.
• Fostering teamwork and collaboration: It might seem like
assertiveness has little to do with the skills you need to be a team player.
But teams thrive when their members are able to express their
not-always-popular points of view. Excellent team players (who generally are
already inclusive and able to defer to others) would improve considerably by
learning when to assert such views. And team leaders who are assertive in
creating a safe environment for less-popular opinions will make their teams all
the stronger by increasing all team members' ability to participate fully.
• Leading change: Constructive change rarely
happens passively. Change requires the leaders to challenge the status quo and
find new ways of doing things to further organizational goals. It's nearly
impossible to lead change without some measure of assertiveness because in most
cases, even when change is generally viewed as positive, some kind of
resistance still needs to be addressed.
• Acting with integrity: There are plenty of highly
principled people who are too timid to speak up in meetings — to question a
decision that appears to violate a corporate value or is otherwise not in the
best interests of the organization. Assertiveness doesn't cause honesty or
vice-versa, but when the two operate together they give people the courage not
only to know what is right but to stand up for it as well.
• Creating a safe environment: This might seem self-evident — there
are times when it's vital to speak up in the face of danger. And yet there are
so many times when people don't, even in cases of life and death. The National
Transportation Safety Board, for instance, has traced the cause of some plane
crashes to co-pilots who were so deferential to their pilot in an emergency
that they made suggestions too subtly. While most of us are not faced with life
or death decisions each day, plenty of leaders are responsible for the safety
of those they lead.
• Communicating effectively: Assertiveness adds power and
conviction to a message and enables a leader's voice to be heard. You can
clearly tell the difference between a message communicated with passion and
vigor as a leader asserts his or her point of view and one that lacks the
energy of conviction. Assertive leaders also tend to communicate more often, as
their passion leads them to capitalize on every opportunity they can find to
deliver a message.
Many leaders (though certainly not all) struggle with being
assertive enough, whether through self-doubt, a lack of confidence, a fear of
not being liked, or a host of other reasons. Most people who know me personally
would probably say that I possess a reasonably strong level of assertiveness.
Yet there are times (like when I'm with people whom I admire or whose opinion
is particularly important to me) that I become relatively timid and less likely
to assert my point of view. Ironically, when I review those situations, I
recognize that they may be some of the most important times for me to speak up.
Founder of Edinger Consulting Group
From: HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
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