Self-control is the biggest test that leaders face in improving their leadership. Every move of the leader will convey certain information to the employees. Therefore, leaders should be cautious. Words of praise, humility or anger can strengthen or weaken the influence of leaders. Employees will examine the leader's every move. Whether they are willing to follow the leadership will also be influenced by the leadership behavior. People may ignore their own behavior and its influence. However, leaders cannot ignore the influence of their words and deeds on others.
According to the classic best-selling textbook "Leadership must be 12", in order to establish a good relationship with employees, leaders must have strong self-knowledge. Employees will respond according to the leader's behavior. Therefore, leaders must clearly understand their own behavior, so as to properly influence the behavior of employees. This means that leaders must always check their understanding of behavior. People have some untested misconceptions about how things work. Leaders should minimize misunderstandings. Once such an understanding is discovered, leaders must make every effort to change it. Unfortunately, however, some stubborn views are people's favorite and difficult to change.
We used to serve a factory engaged in heavy industry production. The workers in this factory are uniting and fighting with each other endlessly. The views of the management of both sides are not in line with the facts. We have worked hard to help managers get rid of their opposition to employees and try to get along with employees in a more friendly way. However, the manager told us that this method wouldn't work. They also said that the only thing that workers value is money. Only when they can get more pay will the workers do more work. On the weekend of Labor Day, the factory needs several workers to work overtime voluntarily. The holiday salary is 65438+ 0.5 to 2 times the usual salary. However, among the hundreds of workers in the factory, no one wants to be a volunteer. Nevertheless, the management still insists that money is the only thing that can motivate employees. This deliberate disregard for facts leads to ineffective leadership methods. In fact, leadership is not a series of negotiations on contracts and salaries, and the key to improving leadership is not here.
In order to improve leadership, leaders should always examine their own behaviors, so as to reasonably explain employees' behaviors. In this way, leaders can better understand the behavior of employees. They will soon know that they can influence the behavior of employees to a great extent. In addition, the success or failure of an employee is usually not caused by himself. Leaders can motivate employees to work hard, but they will also dampen their enthusiasm and lead to their failure. Leaders who often reflect on themselves will not believe gossip and flattery. On the contrary, they will stick to the ideas and values of the organization, thus creating a more successful organization.
At the same time, leaders should also understand how employees' behavior will affect their own behavior. Leaders and managers often underestimate the influence of employees. They usually think that leadership means control. Therefore, it is difficult for them to recognize the influence of employees on leadership behavior. Required reading for leaders 12 shows that the performance of employees is closely related to the motivation of leaders. The more incentives a leader has, the better his performance will be.
"Required Reading for Leaders 12" also shows that if employees' behavior can't motivate leaders, then leaders will use punishment more. Many writers have noticed this phenomenon and called it "alternate or default leadership mode". The mutually beneficial relationship between leaders and employees shows that leaders need to explore the best side of employees. Successful employees can create more successful leaders.
Therefore, the behavior of employees can change the behavior of leaders. Leaders cannot completely control their own behavior, nor can they completely control the behavior of others. Like others, leaders will also consider the consequences of their actions in a specific environment. Of course, leaders have certain control ability. They can change the environment, thus strengthening the stimulation of positive and effective behavior. The object people contact is a factor in the environment. Some people around you can bring out your best. However, other people will cause your performance and quality of life to decline at the same time. This is why parents often tell their children to choose their friends carefully. Because leaders often can't choose their own employees wisely, we can only suggest that employees learn how to deal with their colleagues and leaders better.
The truth of game theory is that smart individuals know how to get along and cooperate to achieve their respective goals. This shows that many times, the most successful strategy is to sacrifice your own opportunities to help others succeed. The behavioral principle contained in this is mutual influence, that is, others cooperate, and I also cooperate; When others betray, I betray. Simply put, we encourage cooperative behavior and punish uncooperative behavior. We call it "a clear distinction between praise and criticism". Leaders must ensure that employees get the praise or criticism they deserve. When most employees' efforts are fruitful, they should be encouraged frequently. At the same time, their misconduct must also stop. Leaders who are often introspective can distinguish the success or failure of employees by the frequency of encouragement or punishment. If leaders often resort to punishment and check their behavior, they will soon realize that employees are not actually following them. Next, they will take appropriate measures to correct this situation.
When evaluating your own behavior, we suggest that you follow Benjamin Franklin's example. Franklin wanted to be a morally perfect person. He listed 13 virtues he longed for. Every week he concentrates on improving one aspect. Every night, he will check whether his behavior reflects this virtue, and then record it in his notebook. He soon found that this method did not make him reach the perfect state of his dreams. However, his progress is really visible, and he feels that his moral quality has really improved.
If you only rely on your own impressions and opinions, it is easy to go astray. Casual and biased observers usually ignore some behavior patterns. This situation will hinder learning and progress.
Leadership is not mysterious! Look around you. Leaders can be seen everywhere. If you know what kind of behavior you should pay attention to, then you will find many good behaviors among employees. These behaviors reflect the effective leadership of leaders. Leaders need to know how to learn from their own experiences and people they know. Specifically, leaders should understand behavior theories and be good at using these theories to analyze their own and others' experiences. In Leadership Required Reading 12, the author tries to uncover the mystery of leaders, and at the same time puts forward practical methods to help people find, improve and maintain good leadership behavior. If used properly, these methods will simplify the complex, improve personal leadership and become effective leaders.