Leading Effectively Amongst Your Peers

Lead equally with authority

There is an art to leading your peers.  Think about it, you have to take into consideration not only the ideas, but egos involved in the project you are to facilitate. Your peers may be from departments that are use to running “the ship” their way! They may be reluctant to take orders from you or averse to adapting their known winning approach to your unknown leadership style. Whether that style be visionary, value based, or ‘lead by example’, you may need to use all of these styles equally with authority to effectively take control of your team and the work that will be produced by the team.

When you lack control over the team, you will not have the ability to direct its performance.  However, as leader you will be held accountable for the performance and reaching the ultimate goal of the projected work…  The question remains, how do you get this done, and done right? First as a leader, you must communicate effectively.  Learn to say what you mean, and mean what you say.  You must also be able to motivate your team, facilitate work to be done, and direct by whom and when work is expected to be accomplished.   You must hold each team member accountable for their assignments and track the status of each task.

Effective leaders are trusted by the team and have confidence in the team.  They also know that no matter how good the project team, there will always be challenges and conflicts that a leader is ultimately responsible for resolving.  Conflict resolution must be an embodied skill, but many leaders lack the proper knowledge of how to resolve issues when they arise.  Often times, leaders add to the conflict by mishandling the situation.  How do you do this? Here are a few tips.

·        Form a team charter that defines overall goals of the project and how to reach these goals.

·        Lead discussions and mediate when needed, as you know your groups various personalities, and move the focus of the project along when and if it begins to go off course.

·        Actively listen and encourage team members to engage in discussions and value their input.

·        Lastly, don’t rush to take any side of the conflict.  Know the facts and assumptions leading up to the conflict and logically analyze and handle each one that is hindering the projects progression and the team’s performance.