Complex Thoughts
Making the Transition from Doer to Leader
You were probably selected by your peers to lead them for a combination of reasons:
- Your past success at completing group tasks.
- Your ability to persuade effectively.
- Your sound judgment.
- Your enthusiasm and commitment to the group’s goals.
- Your ability to make people feel good about themselves when you work with them.
Now, as the leader, you have agreed to a very subtle change in responsibility. You are now responsible for seeing to it that the same work gets done, rather than being responsible for doing the work.
If a leader is not supposed to do the work, just what exactly is a leader supposed to do? In organizations, leadership is recognized as the process of inspiring individual contributions toward a common goal.
VALUABLE USES OF YOUR TIME INCLUDE…
- Assessing the mood of the group members.
- Insuring the smooth running of group meetings.
- Keeping the group aware of and working toward its overall goals.
- Identifying work that needs to be done.
- Delegating responsibility.
- Supervising officers in delegated tasks.
- Maintaining reward systems for members.
- Giving personal feedback to members.
- Educating or training workers.
- Developing next year’s leaders.
As the leader you are in a unique position. Of all the people in the group you alone have access to the information and resources necessary to see The Big Picture. Share The Big Picture with your group.
ADAPTED FROM COUGAR CLUES, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA–MORRIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–STEVENS POINT STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS HANDBOOK.
