Do you want to become a better leader? Adam Marsland from our Lean Six Sigma Team sits down with Kieran Holdcroft of Cushman and Wakefield to discuss his ultimate guide to improving your leadership skills.
The full conversation can be found in the video below, but we’ve also summarised the key points in less than a five minute read.
Introduction
Leadership skills are crucial for success within the legal industry, but this truth applies equally to any other walk of life. Whether you’re a managing partner, senior associate, or a paralegal, strong leadership skills can set you apart from your peers and competitors.
Kieran is currently the Head of Client Finance at Cushman and Wakefield, a global real estate company with over 50,000 employees and a turnover of around $8 billion. Our featured video explores what it takes to be an effective leader, Kieran’s 3 non-negotiables and how these skills can help you succeed in your career.
Leadership is a reflection of yourself.
1. Work harder than ever before.
This should not be interpreted as meaning you have to work every hour of the day. Intensity of work is almost always more important than the length of time worked. Focusing on productivity and quality during the time you are working will not only increase the efficiency of the team, but also decrease the time commitment required to manage them. Long hours do not guarantee success, rather it’s the level of focus, effort, and energy put into each task that counts.
A useful application of this principle is to encourage your team to take regular breaks and implement a genuine culture of self-care. This in turn makes it less likely that your team will burn-out and generally lowers the levels of stress they are working under. A refreshed and eager team will be better equipped to prioritize important tasks, minimize distractions, and avoid wasting time.
Give your team the right tools and training then make sure that they’re in an environment where they can win.
2. Exist to serve.
A common purpose can be the driving force behind a team’s success. It unites team members and gives them a clear understanding of what they’re working towards, which makes it easier for a leader to guide them towards their goal. When everyone has a shared understanding of what they’re trying to achieve, it minimizes confusion and streamlines communication.
It also helps to keep everyone motivated, as it creates a target driven environment where it is easy to quantify how individual efforts contribute to an overarching goal. Ultimately, a common purpose is essential for building a cohesive and productive team because it provides something greater to strive towards. Without meaning, does work have value?
First ask, why are we doing it? Then ask, where are we going?
3. The team above the individual.
Prioritizing the team over individuals is essential for creating a positive and productive work environment. While it may be tempting to focus on individual strengths, a team-first approach ensures that everyone works together towards a common goal. This is especially important when individuals may be extremely talented but disruptive. In these situations, a leader must be able to balance individual strengths with the needs of the team, even if this means calling out the highest performer for having an ego.
By focusing on the team, leaders can foster a sense of collaboration. This underpins the first two points because you can only really work hard towards a common goal if you are willing to work together. A disruptive individual undermines this because they will in-turn breed resentment and conflict, which is not usually conducive to high performance. By contrast, a unified team environment encourages it’s members to challenge and communicate openly with their leader. True leadership is not about controlling those working under you, but empowering them to think independently.
Protect them when things are tough, then get out of the way when they are praised.
Conclusion
These three leadership skills go hand in hand with authenticity. Authentic leaders possess the ability to not only inspire and motivate their team, because their actions and instructions are a reflection of themselves. When this reflection is positive, it is much easier to build a productive working environment for your team.
For further information, please contact:
Henry Hilton, Pinsent Masons
henry.hilton@pinsentmasons.com
