August Challenge: Are You a Competent Leader?

Competence is defined as: Possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification or capacity; having suitable or sufficient skill, knowledge, experience, etc. for some purpose.

In the global administrative environment, there has been a lot of shop-talk and a surge of interest in competencies - with an emphasis on leadership competencies. In the corporate culture, there is a plethora of ideas about what leadership is and definitions abound. It's often challenging to wrap our arms around leadership because it means different things to different people. Some might debate whether attributes such as energy, humor and passion have a place under the leadership umbrella; while others may see those attributes as visionary (another leadership buzzword!). The true essence of leadership is challenging to capture. We know it when we see it demonstrated (or not demonstrated) by others, but it's often hard to gauge whether we are practicing effective leadership skills.

In my experience, and now as a speaker and career consultant for administrative professionals, I promote the idea that informal leadership is a lifelong learning process. It starts with a mindset that embraces the following key competencies:

• Passion
• An appropriate sense of humor
• Courage to stand by your convictions
• Integrity
• Enthusiasm and energy to get things done
• Fostering teamwork (what I call enjoying the "sandbox experience")
• A solid foundation of values/priorities
• An attitude of creativity.

What do each of these ideas "look" like? This month we start a series of challenges that will focus on breaking each idea down into bite-size chunks and evaluating how you demonstrate them in your daily life as an administrative professional. You will do a personal assessment every month that will help you dig deep and think about your own leadership influence. Leadership is a choice you make, not a place you sit.

At the end of the series, we'll tabulate the results so you get valuable representation of your strength and not-so-strong leadership attributes (I'm not a big fan of the word "weakness"). I'll give you a Competent Leadership Chart so you can put all the challenges together. From there, you can set some individual leadership goals to ensure your success.

So, let's not waste any more time! Let's get started on our first monthly leadership attribute: Passion.

The Challenge:

What is passion anyway? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines it as: emotion; intense, driving or overmastering feeling or conviction; a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object or concept; an emotion that is deeply stirring or ungovernable.

Who do you think of when you think of a passionate person? What does it really mean to be passionate about the work we do? Is it a required skill for leadership? Complete the exercise below to learn more about your personal passion power!

1. In what specific areas of your life (work or personal) are you totally committed to growing in your leadership capabilities?

2. One particular aspect of informal leadership is being a passionate advocate for something that propels your personal mission, or the organization's mission forward. What are you a passionate advocate for?

3. In your view, what exactly is leadership? (There are no right or wrong answers here. It's very important as we move through each attribute over the next few months to establish your personal "baseline" for what leadership looks like. Give this question some thought and be specific in your answer.)

4. What responsibility or position do you see for yourself at your organization? If you could choose any position in your company, what would you aspire to? If you are currently in that position, how do you see yourself expanding your role over the next year?

5. On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your level of passion? (1 being low and 10 being high)

Here are some ideas to get you thinking about identifying and practicing your passion:

• Take the initiative to lead a committee at your organization. Choose something you are interested in (i.e., community outreach, corporate culture activity, sports team, mentoring program, etc.)
• Discuss with your boss the possibility of becoming a mentor to a new admin at your company.
• Submit an article to your corporate newsletter about a passion you have (this can be personal or professional).

Energy flows when we get involved in activities we enjoy. Often in the workplace we are openly opinionated about programs and policies that we just can't seem to buy into, or don't have all the details about so we don't get on board. This is normal. However, in order to practice passion in the workplace, we need to create avenues that provide opportunities to release our passion and energize us - that's where true leadership begins.

Lisa Olsen provides OfficeArrow members with down-to-earth career advice from her extensive experience as a Career Consultant. An author, trainer, speaker and consultant, Lisa’s dedication to building relationship chemistry and helping people power up their potential has been the catalyst for her own success. Learn more about Lisa and her services, including keynote addresses, resume revision, and on-site professional development training here.