Leadership in a Down Economy and Using it to Get a new Job

In today’s job market the competition among potential candidates for quality jobs is at an all time high. The day’s of recruiters calling me weekly has come to a screeching halt. The searches on popular job boards return fewer jobs and hiring authorities are receiving unsolicited resumes at a record pace. How can you set yourself up for success and stick out amongst the thousands competing for the few jobs left?

The answer is simple but the execution and comprehension of it may be too difficult for you to swallow because it is a big pill called pride. It is more critical than ever before to re-engineer yourself and ensure that you have the right leadership qualities that will set you apart. Being able to really look yourself in the mirror and commit to learning these leadership skills is not an option but rather a definite goal that must be obtained and executed if you really want to obtain that new career.

Vision

Having vision is a quality that nearly every single “leader” has. Having a clear and vivid picture of where to go and how to get there is a pre-requisite in obtaining that new job or career. But today having a mental picture is not enough. Vision today must also include a seamless plan of action on how to obtain that vision. The picture inside your head must be put on paper in the form of goals and objectives. You must be able to share your vision in simple terms with other. My definition of vision is one of action. Making the picture in your mind of where to go and being able to articulate that vision to others and put a plan in motion to obtain it.

Integrity

What does it mean to have integrity to you? It is one thing to say I have integrity but it is the display of integrity that will show and will enable followers and prospective hiring authorities to trust you. Integrity is 99% action and everyone can see if you have it or not. You can say it 100% of the time but if your actions don’t reveal it, you don’t have it. The action of integrity includes honest dealing with everyone around you and not having an alternative motive. Integrity is controlling your emotions and being professional. You must center yourself in integrity and as a result you will be seen as a person with great integrity and you will never have use the word to describe yourself.

Creativity

The great leaders of today are creative and like integrity this is an action not a descriptive word used in a resume. Having a high level of creativity gives leaders the ability to see things others have not seen which empowers people to follow those leaders. Demonstrating your creativity is imperative to getting people to not only follow you but land that next career or job. Be able to talk about your creativity in a leadership role as you interview for jobs. Creative cost reduction strategies are a great example and when hiring authorities ask for an example; these usually are the top winners.

Openness

A leader that is open demonstrates the ability to change and think differently. We are all conditioned in our careers to particular business models that may be very successful. When you make a transition to another business or industry be open to the change of philosophy, culture and business models. Resistance to change is the opposite of openness. Like the other leadership qualities that are described here, both followers and hiring authorities can see through your actions if you possess this quality. Listen to others and accept their feedback in input.

Assertiveness

When interviewing professionals I find it interesting to ask for examples where they have been assertive. The reason why this is interesting is because it can be opposite of openness and it will usually come out with a line questioning. You will find that being assertive to some leaders is not what hiring authorities are looking for. A leader with assertiveness qualities means that they are action orientated and is assertive in a way that is inclusive of the other leadership qualities. Being assertive is going after that vision with integrity and openness. Assertiveness has to accompany the other leadership qualities to be effective.

Humor

Being able to have fun at work in a professional way is important. Being able to laugh at your own mistakes or at your own expense is important. People want to work for someone who has a sense of humor and makes the work environment fun and motivating. Having humor does not give you the right to be the office clown nor is that what I am insinuating. Having humor has benefits at work like energizing teams and relieving tension.

Planning

All great leaders have a plan. The ability to plan has many different angles and requires discipline. I categorize planning into Strategically Planning, Tactical Planning and Technical Planning. Great leaders are able to effectively plan in each of these categories. Technical planning is the day to day operation of a department or a team. Creating the work schedule at a retail store is an example of technical planning. Tactical Planning is one level up from technical planning and is the process of taking a strategic plan and breaking it into specific short term actions. Strategic planning is the overall department or team plan which is long term and has three or four objectives. These objectives could very well be broken down into the tactical planning models which are shorter term.

Development

The development leadership quality is also a two part attribute. The first is development of yourself every day. Being able to set goals and objectives for your personal development on your own will enable you to better develop your teams. If you are constantly developing yourself you will be providing the model example for your teams and they will want for you to develop them, which is the second leg of this quality. The one thing that I have found is that the “A” player associates usually will demand development as part of their everyday work cycle. They are more demanding and desire more development, which is natural and probably how they became that “A” player.

So now what?:

All of these attributes will set you apart during an interview for a new job. Being able to speak intelligently about each of these and provide specific examples of how you execute each of these leadership qualities is imperative to getting hired. Hiring authorities do not only want to hear about your leadership abilities and attributes but they want to understand how you utilize them on a daily basis within your span of control.

You need to first determine if you have these attributes and if you don’t I would recommend teaching them either through self development by reading books or attending seminars. Your next step will be to come up with specific examples of how you used these attributes in the past. I would highly recommend that if you are interviewing for a position and you are asked if there is anything else you want to say, you bring up these leadership qualities if they have not been discussed during the interview already.