By dint of having more years of experience than many of my colleagues I get to be a leader, not as a formal position, but as an inevitable fact of humans in groups. I've been thinking about this for a while and I wonder about what a leader from within should be aware of in order to support those around about. These questions capture some of the things that I try to notice about my co-workers.
- What do they fear most, or what makes them insecure in their work?
- What would this person like to do better?
- Of the things that need to be done what do they most enjoy?
- What do they find most disappointing?
- Should I or could I do what I've recommended that they do?
- What grabs the attention of this person and what do they miss or ignore?
- What factors or environment surround their best work, (collaborators, location, tools, time)?
- What do they think is their best work?
- What things most regularly slow this person down?
There's another angle to good leadership and that's to model good practices and behaviour. So I think asking myself these questions would be a good way to spend some time this weekend.
Thinking about some things my personal trainer in the gym has been asking I probably need to help him answer similar questions about me as my leader in that context.
