Leading in the Trenches

According to John West in his book Leading in the Trenches, here are 5 things to consider as you build your leadership.

1. Seeing the big(ger) picture

One of the most common traits that employees lack at the beginning of their careers (and sometimes later on, too) is perspective. Most of us are confronted each day with more things to do than time to do them. A key to your success—and the success of your entire team—is recognizing which things are important enough to take priority and actually get done. In order to do this you've got to be able to see the bigger picture.

Try to understand how what you are working on right now fits in to the picture at least two levels up from you. You might “just” be working on a piece of software to write out the new output file format, but if you know that piece of software is needed before the product ships, and if you realize that this product is supposed to turn your company's fourth quarter revenues around, you will be totally focused on getting that work done.

2. Understand what could be better today

A trait most often desired in strong leaders is vision: the ability to look around and see how things could be, not just how they are. Developing a vision that is powerful enough to inspire others while remaining concrete enough to actually accomplish takes practice. You can start getting that practice right now.

Look around at your work environment, tools, and processes: how could things be better? What one change could you envision that would make you more productive? Or more relevant to the company? How about for your whole team, or division?

You want to be careful here, especially at first.

You might get fired up about some of your ideas and want to run straight to your boss and fill him in on all the great stuff he should be doing. There are often reasons, and sometimes good reasons, that things are the way they are, and you or your boss may not be able to change those things right now.

The key is to take the time to do the thinking. Then, as time goes on, look for appropriate opportunities to share your ideas with those around and get their feedback. Then, when you're at that staff meeting and out of the blue the boss says “How can we make things better?” you'll be ready.

3. Responsibility

Take responsibility for your own actions. For example, when someone compliments you for a job well done, accept their thanks or congratulations humbly.

By the same token when you make a mistake, don't make excuses or try to avoid the blame. Admit your error, learn from it, and don't fail in the same way again. And if you want extra credit, go find the people you inconvenienced and apologize.

4. Recognition and reward

We all like to be recognized for our contributions. But this recognition doesn't just have to come from the boss.

When a coworker meets a milestone or stays all night to pull the team out of a jam, say “thanks” or give a word of congratulations. It doesn't have to be fancy or formal.

This is a great habit to form early in your career, and giving this kind of peer support also provides a low penalty learning environment to discover what kinds of praise and recognition people respond best to.

5. Mentorship

One of the most valuable aspects of leadership is the strong desire to develop others so that they can reach their full potential. But, again, you don't have to wait until you are the boss to start doing this.

As you learn and develop, look for opportunities to pass your skills on to others. Helping others develop is immensely fulfilling, but its also great for your team and can help establish you as a trusted expert with your peers and a valuable leader to your boss. Just don't spend so much time helping others that you don't get your own job done!