Imagine you’re an employee working on a high-performing team under a beloved boss. You hear your boss is leaving the company, and a new boss has been hired from outside your group or company. Naturally, you want to know everything about this new boss. You might comb the Internet, review the boss’ LinkedIn profile, or reach out to mutual connections to see what you can learn about this unknown leader.
Or perhaps your organization is going through a merger, acquisition, or some other major change. You’re already nervous about what might happen to your job or group, and now there’s a new boss coming in. What will this boss expect of you? What kind of leadership style will the new boss bring? Most importantly, perhaps, how will this change impact your work life (and possibly home life)?
Decades ago, I realized that news of a new boss usually triggered many questions and concerns. I developed a tool to help leaders create their Personal Philosophy of Leadership. These questions help leaders organize and optimize their abilities to work and lead effectively. Sharing these questions and answers with teams and associates can significantly enhance a working relationship and smooth a transition to a new role.
Here are five questions to help you develop your Personal Philosophy of Leadership.
1. What are my style and operating principles?
Every leader has a style and a set of operating principles. Some are intentionally developed, while others might evolve naturally over years of leading people.
As a leader, you have developed typical ways of establishing team goals and objectives, making decisions, managing budgets and schedules, delegating tasks, and so on. You’ve probably also developed some ideas around inclusion, ideal office culture, and transparency.
Take some time to think through your previous work experiences, both successful and unsuccessful. What styles and operating principles are generally positive for you? What do you plan to bring to your new role?
2. What are my values?
We all have a set of values that drive us in our work, home, and community. These values may come from religious backgrounds, philosophical principles, or even trial and error—what has worked and what hasn’t throughout our lives.
Many people never take the time to think about their own personal values or what they value in others. As a leader, it’s worth asking yourself questions about what’s most important to you and how your values drive your leadership philosophy.
Some common values include honesty, trust, loyalty, religious views, self-discipline, and a work ethic. Which of these ring true for you? Which do you value in others? How can someone gain your trust? What behaviors do you admire, and which ones will you not tolerate?
3. What are my preferences?
What would your day, week, and month look like if you could arrange everything in your work environment to meet your preferences? Would you work mostly from home or in person? How would you manage your time and energy or communicate with team members? When would you do your deep work, administrative tasks, or meetings?
Obviously, no work environment is perfect, and your team members will also have their preferences. As a leader, you will likely make some compromises to meet the needs of your organization and team members, and you may need to ask them to make adjustments when working with you.
By thinking through your preferences, you can set some expectations and policies that accommodate your team members, colleagues, and boss—without entirely sacrificing your ideal scenario.
4. What are my pet peeves?
Every leader has pet peeves and annoyances. These are usually different from intolerable behaviors that impact deeply held values; instead, they’re the tiny irritations that pile up and lead to frustration with co-workers or team members.
What behaviors and actions get under your skin? Do you have a low tolerance for high-maintenance people? Do you get frustrated by minor and seemingly trivial interruptions? How do you deal with office gossip or politics?
Some pet peeves seem small, but like a tiny pebble in your shoe, they can irritate you until you lose patience. You can avoid damaging relationships over small frustrations by letting your team know what little irritations will lead to this end result.
5. What do I need from my boss to do my best work?
This question is aimed upward toward your own boss. Your relationship with your boss is one of your four primary relationships at work, and it’s essential to establish some baseline expectations to make this relationship benefit you, your boss, your team, and the organization overall.
Ask yourself what essentials you need from your boss to be effective at work with your team and your colleagues. What behaviors and attitudes would you like to see from your boss? What tools or resources can your boss provide to help you deliver results? How can your boss support your efforts?
We’ve turned these questions into a downloadable tool to help you write your Personal Philosophy of Leadership. If you need more help as you work through these questions, watch episode nine of The Leadership Growth Podcast, where Daniel and Peter discuss how to develop your Personal Philosophy of Leadership.
Whether you are starting a new leadership role or just looking to work better with your existing team, colleagues, and boss, this exercise can help you clarify your approach and philosophy of leadership. Your team members will understand you better and, consequently, be able to respond to you more effectively and efficiently. It dramatically reduces the guesswork that usually accompanies leadership changes, and it will help you deliver business and people results.
SELF-CHECK:
- Have you ever considered what your philosophy of leadership is? Why or why not?
- What are the key values that drive your leadership behaviors and practices?
- Do you think you’ve generally had good relationships with your direct reports? How has your leadership philosophy impacted those relationships?
