How do I stand out (in a good way) to management/for leadership position?

How do I stand out (in a good way) to management for a leadership position?

Hi, I’m Janet Granger, answering the question: “How do I stand out, in a positive way, for a future management or a leadership position?”

I love this question because it underscores the fact that it’s up to you to do this, and that just “doing your your job” – doing the work – doing it well – isn’t necessarily enough. There’s more than  just getting the work done. 

I have about five different ideas that I’m going to share with you. 

The first one is – one way you can stand out, really well, is to always be positive. I know sometimes people who are too positive can grate on your nerves. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the fact that – to get into a management or leadership position – sometimes it’s important to acknowledge things that are going poorly, and then put a positive spin on this. 

For example, “the best way for us to deal with this is for us to do 1, 2, 3.” And to leave people feeling good and positive is a really important attribute of management, of leadership. Because part of your job is to motivate people and to help people put things in perspective and feel good and feel positive. 

Lots of people can “spin out” in fear. A great example of this is something that I’ve done a few times with my kids, when they were younger. If something went wrong, I would try to put a positive spin on it so they didn’t freak out and get upset. If we were on a family trip and things started to go horribly wrong (which can happen when you travel with children), I would say, “Oh, look! We’re having an adventure. Think of this as an adventure you’ll always remember – them not having our hotel room, or the train being stopped for three hours.”

It’s important for those around you to feel like you’re positive – that’s a leadership, a management role. And, let’s face it, it’s always nice to be around people who are positive because they keep us “up.”

The second is to “always be human.” I know that may sound weird, but there are some managers and leaders who seem to think that they’re human but nobody else. Everyone else is just a robot or an automaton. And we’re all human. We all have issues that come up. We all have problems. 

I like this quote by Maya Angelou, the poet. She said “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  Acknowledge and remember that everyone is human, including yourself, and allow people their humanity, if they screw up – or if something goes horribly wrong in their lives – and they need some time off (or  an afternoon off, or to not come in to work).

They should feel supported and respected and appreciated. That’s everything. If you want to stand out, it’s important that you acknowledge your humanness – and everyone else’s humanness. 

The third thing is to be consistent. If you want management to acknowledge you, or leadership to see you, then you need to always be consistent.It’s really important that you show up – you don’t “ghost” or disappear. You answer, and if you are not going to be able to answer you let people know, “I’m busy right now, I’ll get back to you in an hour” or “I’ll get back to you tomorrow.” Always be consistent in how you show up – because those who are not don’t get considered. And if they do stand out, it’s not in a good way. Be consistent. 

The fourth thing is to communicate. In fact, over communicate. If something happens, communicate it. If something went wrong, communicate. If there’s a change, communicate it. 

A lot of becoming a leader and a manager is about understanding how to communicate messages that have come down to you from senior leadership – that you have to tell your people. 

If you’re going to err on any side, over communicate. It’s better to have people say to you, “You know what? I don’t need to know every hour what’s going on.” That’s great – that means that you’re communicating – you may be over communicating and you can bring it back. It’s critical that you stand out as being someone who’s always communicating about what’s going on your progress – what’s finished – what you’re doing next. 

The fifth thing – and everyone who’s ever worked for me knows this because I say it all the time –  is don’t bring your leadership problems, bring them solutions. Things go wrong – all the time. That’s one of the constants at work; things will go wrong. Instead of running to your leadership and saying, “Oh no! Something went wrong, what do I do?” Stop. Think. And come up with one, two, maybe three possible solutions. 

Research them. Then go to your leadership and say, “Hey, look: this happened – not good. And here’s what I see as the solution”  or “the two options” or “the three options. My favorite is this one, but also these two.” 

You will definitely stand out to management and leadership if you don’t bring problems, you bring solutions. If you see a better way to do something – raise your hand, offer it up, and then a good leader will say, “That’s a great idea! Now you’re in charge. Take that ball and run with it.” 

That’s how you can stand out – when it comes to looking like management material, leadership material, etc. 

I’m Janet Granger, answering the question: “How do I stand out, in a good way, to management, or for a management or leadership role?”