How Do You Transform from Being a Technician to Being a Leader?
How Do You Transform from Being a Technician to Being a Leader?
Hey, Start-Up Business Owner! We see you!
We get what it’s like to go from absolutely loving and being great at what you do to being the leader of your business. Your business has grown, and you’ve hired team members. And now they’re looking to you to lead them.
But, until now, you’ve had very little experience in this area. Maybe, like, none. And you’re sweating bullets. Now what?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with sage advice from Dr. Boomer Brown.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the first steps to being a good leader is understanding what you’re good at and what you’re not.
You can take Gallup’s Strengths Finder test or High 5 test to discover more about yourself.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential as a leader because then you can work with what you have and find ways to apply that knowledge in your role as a leader.
Fix Your Weaknesses...
Let’s put this myth to rest. Too many of us spend a lot of time, money, and resources trying to fix what’s “wrong” with us, to fix our weaknesses. You don’t want to ignore them, but, when you’re a leader, you’re better off sticking with what you’re great at.
Instead, build a team around you that are strong in the areas that you’re weak. Doing this will allow you to grow your business more easily and quicker than spending time in the muck and mire trying to change something that will take a lot of time—and hold back business growth.
For the Tasks You Can’t Delegate, Use Simple Processes
You may find that there are some tasks you don’t perform well, but you can’t delegate them either. What do you do? Find a way to simplify the task with clear, actionable, steps. Condensing it to three steps is ideal.
For example, let’s say you prefer to avoid confrontation, which makes it difficult for you to give negative feedback.
Here’s one way to handle this:
- Ensure the team member clearly understands the requirements of their job. This means you’ve sat down with them and shown them the preferred outcome they’re aiming for. You provide as much detail as needed to paint a vision. You’ve asked them to explain it back to you to ensure they understand what they’re aiming for, and they agree to that outcome.
Following this first step alone can help reduce the need to provide negative feedback in the future because they’ll understand what’s required of them and what a good job looks like.
- Check in. Don’t think that your job is done because you’ve spoken with them once. It’s not. You need to regularly check in to confirm whether they’re reaching the preferred outcome that you both agreed to. Just the simple act of checking in can also help reduce having to provide negative feedback because it may motivate the team member to do a good job.
- Hold the team member accountable. If you find that when you check in and the team member isn’t reaching the preferred outcome, then it’s time to ask, “What are you doing?” The goal here is to ensure they’re able to articulate back the preferred outcome that you both agreed to. If they can’t explain it, then return to step 1.
One More Recommendation
If you love to read and want more information on how to become a great leader, Dr. Brown recommends two awesome books:
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
Read and lead the way!
How Do You Transform from Being a Technician to Being a Leader?
How Do You Transform from Being a Technician to Being a Leader?
Hey, Start-Up Business Owner! We see you!
We get what it’s like to go from absolutely loving and being great at what you do to being the leader of your business. Your business has grown, and you’ve hired team members. And now they’re looking to you to lead them.
But, until now, you’ve had very little experience in this area. Maybe, like, none. And you’re sweating bullets. Now what?
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with sage advice from Dr. Boomer Brown.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the first steps to being a good leader is understanding what you’re good at and what you’re not.
You can take Gallup’s Strengths Finder test or High 5 test to discover more about yourself.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses is essential as a leader because then you can work with what you have and find ways to apply that knowledge in your role as a leader.
Fix Your Weaknesses...
Let’s put this myth to rest. Too many of us spend a lot of time, money, and resources trying to fix what’s “wrong” with us, to fix our weaknesses. You don’t want to ignore them, but, when you’re a leader, you’re better off sticking with what you’re great at.
Instead, build a team around you that are strong in the areas that you’re weak. Doing this will allow you to grow your business more easily and quicker than spending time in the muck and mire trying to change something that will take a lot of time—and hold back business growth.
For the Tasks You Can’t Delegate, Use Simple Processes
You may find that there are some tasks you don’t perform well, but you can’t delegate them either. What do you do? Find a way to simplify the task with clear, actionable, steps. Condensing it to three steps is ideal.
For example, let’s say you prefer to avoid confrontation, which makes it difficult for you to give negative feedback.
Here’s one way to handle this:
- Ensure the team member clearly understands the requirements of their job. This means you’ve sat down with them and shown them the preferred outcome they’re aiming for. You provide as much detail as needed to paint a vision. You’ve asked them to explain it back to you to ensure they understand what they’re aiming for, and they agree to that outcome.
Following this first step alone can help reduce the need to provide negative feedback in the future because they’ll understand what’s required of them and what a good job looks like.
- Check in. Don’t think that your job is done because you’ve spoken with them once. It’s not. You need to regularly check in to confirm whether they’re reaching the preferred outcome that you both agreed to. Just the simple act of checking in can also help reduce having to provide negative feedback because it may motivate the team member to do a good job.
- Hold the team member accountable. If you find that when you check in and the team member isn’t reaching the preferred outcome, then it’s time to ask, “What are you doing?” The goal here is to ensure they’re able to articulate back the preferred outcome that you both agreed to. If they can’t explain it, then return to step 1.
One More Recommendation
If you love to read and want more information on how to become a great leader, Dr. Brown recommends two awesome books:
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
- The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard
Read and lead the way!
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