Leadership / Leadership Development
Before Leadership
How do you get there?
When we talk about leadership and becoming a leader, we often begin with attributes, skills, and styles. Those are definitely important but there are some things that need to happen before you start on those. I don’t recall ever reading an article about this so I decided I’d better write it!
You think you might want to be in a leadership position someday? Here’s a list of things to work on to put you in line to lead.
Demonstrate technical competence
Know your job. Know the in’s and out’s, what makes it go right, what makes it go wrong. Know the inputs, the outputs, the weaknesses, the strengths, what impacts it, what doesn’t — gain the proficiency that makes you an expert.
If you’re stocking shelves at Walmart, then learn when the store takes delivery, how to drive a forklift, how to fix a forklift (within reason), where everything goes in the store. Figure out what you can do to make it better for the cleaning crew, for the warehouse staff, for the cashiers and customers. Don’t put price tags over the bar codes and nutritional information because cashiers have to scan them and customers want to read them.
