Leadership Lessons

When I was first offered a Director's position with a company that I had worked at for several years my first thought was "how are my co-workers going to accept my promotion?" Well, I did not have to wonder long, right after the announcement was made my co-worker's who were once my "co-working friends" quickly became defiant and unwilling to work as a team. Each of them feeling like the position should have been "theirs". Not knowing what to do, I immediately reached out to my boss for advice. As I sat concerned and unsure of my own leadership skills my boss looked at me and said "It is lonely at the top Tina and as of today you are their leader and they will either fall in-line or be led out the door". Immediately I knew leading people out the door would not be a productive option, so I started with a meeting where I assured my co-workers (now staff) that each of them were valued key contributors to the company and that my goal was to provide support and guidance to each of them. No one bought in....the whole team just looked at me with blank stares. I knew then that being a leader was not something that someone appoints you to be, being a leader is hard, and it takes constant awareness of the needs of the individuals on the team and how they can support the visions and goals of a department...it is a delicate balance.
Over the next few months I practiced many of Mr. Carnegie's leadership principles. I continued to praise and show appreciation for my staff, I shared my mistakes with them when needed, I encouraged them when things were going wrong...... I worked and stood beside them - not on top of them.  Although, I gradually gained my staffs respect and support as their new leader, it was not an easy task!