how can an employee prepare herself/himself for a leadership role?

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MAHENDRA CHAPAGAI, ROLL NO.-17, NEPAL
Course Module- Human Resource Development (HRD)
Individual Exercise
Question
In your opinion, how can an employee prepare herself/himself for a leadership role?
Answer
“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.”
--- John C. Maxwell
Leader” is a person who leads or commands a group, organization or country. A leader is
someone who has a certain amount of expertise in whatever organization or role they are in,
and they are willing and do share their insights with those around them through writing, speaking
and taking action. They are good at not only sharing their lessons learned, expertise and
insights, but also at teaching others how to apply that so they don’t make the same mistakes. A
leader is trusted, holds authority and is viewed as a credible source by those who follow. They
deliver consistent value with integrity and passion, they learn to take responsibility for their
actions, and they’re always willing to go the extra mile.
An effective leader is a person who creates an inspiring vision of the future and motivates as
well as inspires people to engage with that vision. A leader also coaches and builds a team so
that it is more effective at achieving the vision or objectives. Leadership brings together the skills
needed to do these things.
“Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things
right.” ----- Professor Warren G. Bennis
The action of leading a group of people or an organization, or the ability to do this is called the
leadership. It is about mapping out where we need to go to "win" as a team or an organization;
and it is dynamic, exciting, and inspiring. Effective leadership is providing the vision
and motivation to a team so they work together toward the same goal, and then understanding
the talents and temperaments of each individual and effectively motivating each person to
contribute individually their best toward achieving the group goal.
“Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done
because he wants to do it.” -----Dwight D. Eisenhower
Leaders are not born, they are made. To become a leader following skills is necessary.
 Excellent communication skills
 Emotional intelligence
 Motivating skills (self-motivation too)
 Team working skills
 Positive attitude
 Time management

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MAHENDRA CHAPAGAI, ROLL NO.-17, NEPAL
 Decision making
 Problem solving
 Risk management
 Strategic thinking
 Organizing skills
 A good memory
In the modern era, become a leader and perform leadership role is a very difficult task. It is a
challenging work for any organization. Those who don’t have vision and lack of those skills, he/she
cannot perform a leadership role. Those people who have those skills but the working
environment is not good in the organization, he/she cannot perform effective leadership role. Well
human resource planning and development is necessary in every organization. Because some
people do not get chance to perform in the organization.
Preparing for a leadership role
In my opinion, the following points are necessary for preparing for a leadership role.
Deliver Results through Others
The role of the leader is to deliver work through others, not to deliver the work themselves. A
difficult transition in leadership can be letting go of areas of expertise/specialism and enabling
others to deliver results.
 Understand that job is to achieve objectives through others not do their work for them.
 Ensure you are clear about your expectations of others and provide regular feedback on
how well they are doing to meet them.
 Seek to understand the reasons underpinning poor performance and deal with it quickly.
 When people do a good job, tell them.
 Don't take your all your employee's 'monkeys' onto your own back, support them in solving
their issues, rather than you doing it for them (even though you think you will do it quicker,
easier and better).
Trust your people
Effective leaders have confidence in their team to deliver on what is being asked of them. They
give them the freedom and support to realize their potential.
 Support your people to do their best and trust them to do their jobs.
 Try to empower people to take ownership rather then referring upwards.
 See the best in people.

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MAHENDRA CHAPAGAI, ROLL NO.-17, NEPAL
Be Authentic
Trying to be something you’re not will make your leadership journey difficult. Sure, you will have
to moderate certain behaviours to be effective during your career however, not being authentic to
yourself will just be perceived as insincerity.
 I think that to be a leader always be genuine to be yourself.
 Be genuine and honest about what you do and how you present yourself. People can
easily see a facade.
 Be yourself, relax and enjoy….simple but pretty effective.
 Know yourself - not in respect of your technical skills which won't be in question since you
are moving into a leadership role but who you really are, your values, your preferred ways
of working, your leadership strengths and weaknesses and continue to challenge your
boundaries. Your leadership will then come across as being genuine, more engaging and
inspiring to the people around you.
 Trust yourself and back you instincts. In turn, this will enable you to be able to trust others.
 Be confident in your values
Seek to understand and learn
An effective leader doesn’t have all the answers but they do make good decisions (most of the
time) based on input and information from others. Asking questions, listening, and taking the time
to explore possibilities is important in relation to this. The more senior the role, the more complex
the situation, and the greater the impact of judgments will be.
 Realize you don’t have to have all the answers, acknowledge this and seek input from your
team and others.
 Accept you will make mistakes and learn from these. Admit them. Don’t repeat them.
 Ensure you are seen to be open to the ideas of others.
 If you disagree with others, communicate the reasons why.
 If others disagree with you, don’t take it personally.
 Listen twice as much as you speak.
 Knowing the right question is usually more important than knowing the right answer.
 Never assume
 Sit back, observe, think, observe some more, ask questions and then maybe, after about
three months, make a change.
 Reinforce not jumping to conclusions.
 Don't be afraid to ask the same questions in different ways to improve your understanding.

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MAHENDRA CHAPAGAI, ROLL NO.-17, NEPAL
Take Action and Accept Responsibility
As a leader you are ultimately responsible for the performance of your team. If the team is not
performing, the first place to look at is yourself.
 Tap into the in-depth specialist advice of others, but ensure you 'do the doing' yourself
when it comes to delivering the hard management decisions.
 Make decisions and accept responsibility for the results of those decisions.
 Take the initiative. Make things happen
Lead Visibly
You have control over how your leadership is perceived by the way you behave. You cannot hide
as a leader, even your absence will be noted. Be aware that others will model their behaviour on
what you say and do.
 Be aware of the fact that others are always watching and listening and will extract meaning
from what you do and say and that they may model their own behaviour on what you do
(so be a good role model).
 Be a leader, not just a manager.
 You have to be passionate. Presentation is critical. If you have a strong message but can’t
get it across then you may as well be talking about a load of rubbish.
 “Small things” are important. Everyday behaviours that you exhibit are all part of being a
leader.
Treat others with Fairness and Respect
Leaders who treat others with consistency, fairness, and respect create loyalty, commitment and
high productivity. Those who don’t, create high turnover and low productivity. Treating others with
fairness and respect does not equate to being soft. It is part of your job to set expectations for
others to deliver and to address situations where your expectations have not been met.
 Treat each member of your team fairly and with respect - neither bully, nor show undue
favouritism.
 Demonstrate basic human skills e.g. learn and use people’s names, sincerely enquire
about others’ ideas and activities, don't betray confidences, take a genuine interest in (and
remember about) people’s lives.
 Realize not everyone is the same and therefore they need to be treated as individuals.
 Be consistent in your treatment of others.

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MAHENDRA CHAPAGAI, ROLL NO.-17, NEPAL
Represent the Organization
As a leader, you represent the organisation to others. There is no ‘them,’ only ‘us.’
 Understand you and your team are one part of a larger organisation and that the reason
you exist is to contribute to the organisations’ success.
 Understand that you are the representative of the organisation, both internally and
externally.
 Don't blame or undermine other parts of the organisation in front of your team. You're a
leader, act like one.
Miscellaneous
 Seek to build a team with diversity (gender, race, age, backgrounds etc.) - a bunch of
clones like you will not necessarily be as effective as a team with a range of different ideas,
skills, and perspectives.
 Balance the time you put into work and the other aspects of your life, and expect your team
to do likewise.
 Encourage your team to give your insight about what they want and need from you as a
leader, and feedback about what they observe in you.
 Select yourself a “good” mentor (or mentors) and listen to their advice when making your
leadership progressions.
Firstly, it should be better to clear on our own vision. What we are going to do and what is our
want. Not everyone aspires to a leadership role and people respect that decision. But if we do
have ambitions to become a leader, do some homework. Try to find out from a range of people
what is required, what has worked for them, and what the challenges are and how we can prepare
ourselves to meet them. Understand the skills, abilities and experience that will help us to be an
effective leader, and plan how we can develop these. Be good at what we do, and deliver. It
should be better to make good relationship with those people who have influence, or who have
skills from where we can learn something. Then go for it, and make your future happen for
yourself. In most cases, there are some barriers, but find the way round them to solve the
problems and go ahead. Don't complain, and wait for others to open the doors for you.