Leadership for New Managers: Book Two

By Monte R. Anderson

For young leaders, their task is a challenge. For many, the art of leadership is not ease. There is much to know and even more to do. The expectations are high. As an Army officer for twenty-two years and as a manager for over fifteen years, I know the challenge. In Leadership for New Managers: Book Two, I try to share some of my experiences with new leaders to help them learn how to handle the challenge.

This e-book is an overview of leadership traits and theories from which new leaders can determine the future areas of study. I have attached a self-assessment that I developed. If new managers use this self-assessment honestly, it will help them determine their weak areas and help them develop a plan of study. This e-book contains the sort of information that I wish someone had given me when I first started leading people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Monte R. Anderson
• Release date: Mar 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301378920

Monte R. Anderson

Monte R. Anderson is the published author of several e-books and one novel published on demand. He is a Vietnam veteran and retired career Army officer. After working for several years as a facility manager in the healthcare industry, he retired in 2011. He has a BS from the Military Academy at West Point and a MS from Indiana University at Bloomington. Monte resides in Elmira, New York with his wife, Kathryn and their two rescued greyhounds. Between Monte and Kathryn, they have six children and seven grandchildren. Monte is the author of 8 e-books & a novel POD. Monte is a Vietnam vet & retired Army officer. He has a BS from West Point & a MS from Indiana U. He resides in Elmira, NY w/ his wife, Kathryn.

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LEADERSHIP FOR NEW MANAGER: BOOK TWO

By

Monte R. Anderson

Published by Monte R. Anderson at Smashwords.

Copyright 2013 Monte R. Anderson

Discover other works by Monte R. Anderson at

Leadership for New Managers

Angels and Gargoyles

Archimedes of Syracuse: Leonardo da Vinci’s Mentor

The Clone Murders,

This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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FOREWORD

This e-book is the sequel to my e-book, Leadership for New Managers. In this e-book, we will continue to explore the art of leadership. In some instances, I have drawn upon my military experiences for lesson learned in leadership. I make no apology for serving my country in peace and in war. I am not a psychologist, I have not done any research, and I have not conducted any surveys. What I am offering is my experience as a leader in the military for twenty-two years. I also draw on my fifteen plus years of experience as a manager. I share my experience as one who has actually practiced leadership. I wrote this e-book for new managers who want to become better leaders or older managers who want to expand on their knowledge of leadership.

In doing the research for this e-book, I discovered the Army Regulation 600-100, Army Leadership. It is excellent, and I will use it as my primary source. I served in Vietnam as a young officer from August of 1969 to August of 1970. It was a different Army at that time; Vietnam was an unpopular war and there was a draft in effect. Casualties were very high (57,000+) for a modern war. The Army did prepare me for a leadership position, but it was not enough. At that time, the Army told us that the life expectance of a lieutenant in a combat situation was 30 seconds. I do not know how they came up with that, but I believed it. The Army pushed to get young officers commissioned and into the war as replacements for those killed. Some officers came through commissioning systems in which they hoped to avoid the war but eventually the war sucked them into it. As a result, some officers were very poor leaders. The enlisted ranks solved the problem by fragging or friendly fire.

During the Vietnam war and afterwards, no one asked me about leadership issues; my training, what worked, what did not work. By the time Desert Storm, Iraq, and Afghanistan occurred, the situation was completely different. The Army is now a volunteer Army. The military has time to study leadership and to put forth excellent training. The educational systems are much more selective and the Army can more easily remove bad leaders from the service. On top of that, young officers use the social media to communicate with each other on lessons learned in combat. All of this contributed to the publication of an excellent leadership manual. Very little fragging is going on today.

The Army Leadership Regulation is designed to prepare young leaders for combat. It also addresses Army civilians but not non-military people. While I have drawn upon it, I have certainly civilianized it. Very few leadership issues outside of the military (except for police forces, fire fighters, etc.) are life and death situations. Civilian leaders do not usually care for their associates 24/7. However, there is much to be learned from the leadership experiences of the military.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1—Fundamentals of Leadership

Chapter 2—Leadership in Action

Chapter 3—Leaders of Character and Presence

Chapter 4—Values and Beliefs

Chapter 5—Leaders of Intellect

Chapter 6—Leading Others

Chapter 7—Oral Communication

Chapter 8—Written Communication

Chapter 9—Listening

Chapter 10—Developing the Environment

Chapter 11—Self-Development

Chapter 12—Solving Problems

Chapter 13—Counseling, Coaching, and Mentoring

Chapter 14— Improving the Organization

Appendix—Self—Assessment tool

Glossary

Other Publications

About the Author

Connect with the Author

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INTRODUCTION

Not all managers are leaders. It is possible to be a manager without subordinates. This e-book is for mangers who lead or who hope to lead associates someday. To avoid confusion, I have coined the term leader/manager to designate those managers who are leaders by virtue of having subordinates. In my first e-book, Leadership for New Managers, I explained how to use tasks to achieve objectives and to achieve objectives to accomplish goals. Accomplishing goals should lead to achieving the organization’s vision or mission. For simplification, I will just use the word goals to mean tasks, objectives, or goals.

This e-book is an overview of leadership. I have endeavored to keep it short and low cost. It is not the end all to becoming a better leader, just a beginning. I have researched the internet and books to summarize how to become a better leader. It is a good start for new leader/managers. To continue to improve, leaders/managers need to continue to study and practice.

To save space, I have not defined every new term but have explained them in a glossary with hyperlinks. Even so, I have endeavored to keep the glossary to a minimum. The politically correct term for employees currently is to call them associates. I think it is a good idea and I will refer to employees as associates. Keep in mind that not all followers need to be associates or employees.

Studies show that people remember stories better than pure narrative. Therefore, I have included some personal war stories to illustrate my points.

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Chapter 1—Foundations of Leadership

A. Leadership Defined

Leadership is a long-term process of getting people to accomplish goals by providing purpose, direction, and motivation. Kouzes and Posner in their book, The Challenge of Leadership, describe leadership as a relationship. It is a relationship between followers and their leader. All managers and associates must understand what leadership is and does. Effective leadership development requires mutual recognition and acceptance of leader and associate roles. Leadership is a reciprocal relationship between leaders and followers. There cannot be one without the other.

1. Providing Purpose

Purpose is the reason to achieve a desired goal. Associates expect and deserve leader/managers to provide clear purpose. To do this, leaders must understand the goals of the organization or they will work at cross-purposes. Leaders should frequently communicate the goals of the organization to their associates so they can start the process with the end in mind. So often, associates do not understand the direction and purpose but do what they are asked without question. In such cases, initiative is stifled.

Kouzes and Posner conducted a survey with over 75,000 people to determine what traits they look for in their leaders. Seventy-one percent selected Forward Looking. in other words, providing purpose. Leaders determine the course of action necessary to reach goals and communicate instructions, orders, and directives to associates. They must ensure that associates understand and accept direction.

2. Providing Direction

Providing clear direction involves communicating what to do to accomplish a goal: prioritizing tasks, assigning responsibility for completion, and ensuring associates understand the standard. Although associates want and need direction, they expect challenging tasks, quality training, and adequate resources. They should have appropriate freedom of action to achieve goals. Providing clear direction allows associates to adapt to changing circumstances through modifying plans and orders. That does not mean micro-management. Associates do not always need guidance on the details. Leader/managers need to learn when to provide detailed guidance and when to focus only on direction. It is a difficult balance best learned through experience.

Leader/managers match their teams or associates to the work required. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) or job tasks define most work. As new work develops and priorities change, assignments will differ. In higher-level positions, upper management and directors have a staff to help perform these assignment and prioritization functions. Middle managers may not.

Leader/managers should provide direction from both near-term and long-term perspectives. Critical actions that must be accomplished immediately require a near-term focus. However, organizational goals tend to be long-term. Near-term tasks and crisis can consume inexperienced leader/managers and cause them to fail to achieve long-term goals. Some tasks can become so routine and repetitive to the point of numbing the brain and killing a leader’s innovation and initiative.

When tasks are difficult, adaptive leader/managers identify and account for the capabilities of the team. Some tasks will be routine and require little clarification, while others will present new challenges for the team. Often there is a tendency to assign the same task to an associate that is knowledgeable on the task. When leaders do that, it removes any challenge and hinders development and learning. Leaders should challenge their associates with new and exciting tasks from time to time.

Good direction depends on understanding how tasks are progressing so the leader knows if and when to provide clarification. Most workers have a desire to demonstrate competence in their work, so leader/managers need to be careful that they do not reduce this drive.

3. Aligning Goals

Leader/managers should try to align associates’ goals with organizational goals. Two examples from my experience as a company commander stationed in Germany come to mind. I had one soldier who would not cooperate with his squad leader to the point that the squad leader was very frustrated. I sat the young man down and asked him about his life goals. He said he wanted start his own landscaping business. I made him the unit beautification manager. I gave him all the resources (top soil, plants, bushes, fertilizer, grass seed, etc.) that he needed to care for the area around the barracks. He became as happy camper and we won a prize that year for barracks appearance.

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