1.

The Current Approach to Leadership

Important
Leadership influences people through emotions, since it fulfills a mobilizing
function.
Sometimes when we refer to the leader we try to point out their ability to plan,
foresee and have great ideas with an outstanding rigor in their knowledge, but the
reality points to the fact that they are people who know how to manage the
emotions of their teams and the different stakeholders with whom they
interact.
The organizations have changed and evolved, going from being vertical to
horizontal, matrix, helical, amoeba... more and more interconnected and where
the role of the leader has the role of facilitator, optimizer… where the
management of direct and indirect interpersonal relationships are at the center
of their responsibility.
The leader develops an influential role on different levels:
 To the bosses (upwards)
 To the colleagues (sideways)
 To the collaborators (downwards)
This type of influence is produced by trying to influence someone who has a
position of greater responsibility in the hierarchy chain.
The tools from which influence is managed in these three contexts are the same,
what varies is the application of those tools. If you lead a team, it expects a
number of things from you, your colleagues expect others, and your boss will
expect different ones.

Interesting link
Before going deeper into the subject, we recommend that you read the following
article: “Sin humildad, el éxito no llega”.
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2. Leadership Diagnosis
In order to improve our influence management, it is advisable to analyze past
situations in which we have tried to persuade someone to do something in
favor of our objectives: How did we do it, did we achieve our goal? Etc.
To analyze a situation of past influence, it is necessary to elaborate a diagnosis,
in which we will ask ourselves many questions about what has happened: what,
how, why, what for.
As far as the "how" is concerned, we must reflect on the act of
communication that has been carried out. In this sense, we must bear in mind
that, normally, in the interaction of human beings to say obvious things, or things
only of common sense does not usually work as a model of conviction.
Example
Imagine that you are a committed and hard-working person and your boss told
you: ¨Here we have come to work.” Surely that phrase would generate the
opposite effect in you, to the one intended. Of course you already know that we
have come to work, you don't need them to remind you or clarify it.
Important
In order to manage our influence as effectively as possible, before doing or
saying anything, we must think about how we are going to do it: who we are
going to meet (detect their reality), with what objectives, at what time, etc.
In short, once the objectives of our actions have been established, it is necessary
to make a diagnosis that will give us the necessary keys to guarantee its success.
It is difficult to see things clearly if we analyze them from the inside. In this
sense, it is fundamental to have an analysis of the situations that is as external
as possible.
In addition, the human and social factor is important. Therefore, when
developing our leadership we must also take into account the stakeholders and,
of course, the management of oneself.

Internal
3. Leave Our Comfort Zone
There are many contexts in which we want to exert an influence over other
people. For example, one of the most important moments in which we must use
our capacity of influence is when we try to implement a change with respect to
the current situation, which can mean taking the other person out of
the comfort zone in which they find themselves. This presents a clear added
complexity, because when faced with new situations, our brain tends to use the
action framework it had previously established.
Therefore, breaking the status quo implies making a much greater effort to
change the system. The less time we have to make that change happen, the
more energy we will have to spend on it.
Staying too long in the comfort zone prevents us from progressing. Usually,
when we try to leave that area, without knowing exactly why, we are first
overcome by a certain uneasiness and then by a deeper fear.
When we manage to get out of it, even for a short time, after an initial
restlessness our comfort zone shows a remarkable property: it widens and reaches
us again. It grows with us. Once enlarged, it allows us to be comfortable in new
and different situations, with which we did not dare before.
From a business and management point of view, the comfort zone does not help
in the development of talent and motivation. Remaining in this area for long
periods of time leads to mediocrity, stagnation, and lack of growth. That is why it
is necessary to take risks and go into the learning zone.

Definition
The learning zone is the space between the comfort zone and the zone we
consider to be dangerous. This is where the limits of existing skills and
experiences are pushed, where learning is real and where growth takes place.
The learning zone is where the magic happens, where leadership and influence
are developed, where success is built and goals are achieved. Also where greater
self-motivation is achieved. Only by giving up the safe and familiar are
opportunities created and new skills developed.
People who take risks and enter into their learning zone are those who achieve
success. In this way they also expand their influence management capacity and
are able to take on ever greater challenges.

Internal
Important
Motivation is the engine to get out of the comfort zone. Therefore, as leaders, we
will strive to know the group and individual motivation, which mobilizes
people to find an intention as the main factor of change in behavior towards
the learning zone.
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4. The Leader's Habitat

The main task of a leader is to create the ideal conditions for his team members to get
the best out of themselves and to develop. With the entry into the world of work of the
previous generations, the parameters established around leadership have changed very
clearly.
New generations understand and share less hierarchical leadership and organizations tend
to adopt more and more horizontal and flat structures. Leadership has to change its skin in
order to continue achieving results, abandon the structural rigidity of the hierarchy and
become more oriented towards influence and the ability to generate trust.
What should an ideal leader be like?
Flip
According to a recent Hays survey, the ideal leader should be a mentor (51% of
respondents), a reference who is capable of encouraging and inspiring (47%), and offering
support in professional growth (47%). Honesty (44%) and experience (42%) are other
required values, as well as the ability to listen and provide feedback without affecting
decision-making autonomy.

Internal
 Flip
Without abandoning it, we move from an approach aimed at competence and technique, to
a greater appreciation of qualities ("soft skills") such as empathy and
personal communication, which allow us to influence others and make them converge
towards common results and objectives.
This type of leadership does not necessarily require position power, or better said, it is
broader than position power. Influential people combine other types of power with their
skills to gain status in a group and be able to exert even more influence and leadership. The
best leaders possess traits such as reliability and communication skills, and complement
them with legitimate and self-recognized authority, which transforms managers into
leaders.
“Leaders who want to build a healthy team environment
must learn to control less and influence more.".
Andrés Raya
Did you know that...?
To learn how to manage the influence we exert on others, first we must learn how to
manage ourselves.
As we see in the diagram, the deepest of the stages is that of self-leadership. Although it
looks like the smallest area, it is the one we are going to spend the most time and energy
on. It is the one we will work and manage for the longest time, usually throughout our
entire lifetime.
To the extent that we work on one of the inner spheres we get a better version of ourselves
in managing the next. Ultimately, only if we are able to lead ourselves will we be able to
manage our influence on others.
Recommended reading
Next, we recommend you read the following article by Peter Drucker: “Managing oneself".

5. Aptitude vs. Attitude

“The energy needed to go from utter incompetence to
mediocrity is much greater than that needed to turn a
mediocre performance into excellent."
Peter Drucker
It is clear that if there is no minimum base of aptitude you will not achieve the objectives
you set, even if you have a great attitude. However, although it is true that each person is
born with more developed aptitudes than others, all of them can be worked on: if not to
reach excellence, at least to reach a reasonable point where it does not pose a problem
for the development of any function.

Internal
If you work on your strengths you will go far. But this does not mean that you should not
work on your areas of improvement to try to improve them as much as possible (even if
some of these skills are not going to become your strengths).
Detect our area of improvement

Important
If we analyze our experiences of success at work, we will realize that what makes the
difference, often, is not so much the context in which we find ourselves or our technical
capacity, but rather the way in which we deal with the situation to solve it in a positive
way. Attitude is already worth more than skill.
Technical competence is still very important, but it can be learned and improved through
practice. What really makes the difference is our possession of talents and attitudes, the
mental predisposition towards an activity, which makes us what we are and which
companies and the market will dispute.
As Spencer & Spencer said, one of the pioneers in the study of professional skills: “You
can teach a turkey to climb a tree, but it's easier to hire a squirrel."
We have to find the right balance between these two types of resources, which must be
cultivated and developed in parallel. It is fundamental, therefore, to be aware of our
personal combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes and personal qualities which make
us different from others.
Interesting link
We encourage you to read the following article to deepen your understanding on this issue:
“Moving from the Swiss Army Knife of Skills to Attitude."

6. Self-Management
Following the same line, self-management is intrinsically related to the
knowledge of oneself (with its strengths and weaknesses). In order to direct and
lead others, it is first necessary to know oneself.
In this sense, we must also see that our weaknesses are part of us, but they should
not necessarily have a negative nuance: we will call them areas of
improvement.
Self-management also has to do with a person's own will to improve, their
desire to evolve.
Reflect
Who are you? Are you solely what you believe yourself to be or the vision others
have of you?
Normally we are both: the idea we have about ourselves and the idea the
people around us have about us.
Johari's window

Internal
In the work environment (and also in the personal) it is essential to
receive feedback (from those in charge or those around you). This feedback
must be effective in contributing to the possibility of improving the functions,
being able to align personal interests with the objectives of the company and
creating a team and an environment that retains talent and promotes
development.
In addition, receiving constructive feedback allows us to learn how to handle
the criticism we receive from others. In this way, we can respond with
flexibility to the different problematic situations that we will encounter
throughout our lives.
In general, we are interested in self-management to achieve better results. Faced
with a tremendously demanding environment, it is necessary to adapt to new
requirements and, to do so, it is necessary to work on our strengths and our
areas of improvement.
It is necessary to have a willingness to improve, to change. For that improvement
to take place, it is fundamental to have knowledge not only of yourself, but also
of the people around you. We must gather information about the interests,
motivations, concerns or circumstances of the people around us.
All of this will allow you to also establish strategies and to approach those
people with whom you are interested in creating deeper and more productive
relationships.
We all have strengths and areas for improvement

"Any information you obtain about yourself and

others will be useful.”
Andrés Raya

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