BA Brew Insights: Leadership for BAs

This is the second in a new series of BA Blogs inspired by past BA Brews. The following insights on Leadership are from BA Brew Episode 12 – The Leadership Lowdown, featuring guest Tazeem Wafa.

What is Leadership?

In essence, Leadership is about instilling a sense of purpose and building a team that can work towards that purpose, where they are all on the same page and aligned and keen to go in that direction. Leadership is the work involved to pull all that together.

Leadership is about role modelling, having that clear vision of what you want from the team. Empowering people and helping them achieve their long-term ambitions.

John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model is a useful reference. It works on the premise that the Task can only be performed by the team; the Team can only achieve in the Task if all individuals are developed; and the Individual needs the Task to challenge and motivate them.

What makes a good leader?

Servant Leadership is a powerful and effective approach to leadership. A Servant Leader is there to serve, inspire and support their team whilst understanding the purpose of the task. To be a Servant Leader you need to have a great deal of self-awareness and to be willing and understand what works for you and for your team. It’s about ‘walking the walk’.

The best leaders don’t just use the buzz words, they understand their team, help their team members to lead, and have the drive and passion to help the team achieve the purpose.

With genuine leaders the passion comes through. People want to rally behind them. Leaders need to have empathy, to understand the pressure their team is under. They need to be able to pick up on issues and care about team members’ wellbeing.

How can a leader empower their team?

In strong teams, all team members trust each other to perform their respective roles and are open and transparent. As a leader you need to be able to put your hand up and say ‘I don’t know’, or admit to a mistake. By doing this yourself, you give your team permission to be honest, acknowledge uncertainty and ask others for help.

When people are not expected to be perfect it is easier for them to work together to meet goals and take calculated risks, without pretending they are certain about the outcome.

When a leader empowers their team, leadership can come from within that team driven by shared values and a passion to achieve the best outcome.

Trust is necessary for an empowered team. A leader has to let the team know what is going on, or that trust disappears.

What is different about being a team leader compared to being a team member?

A good team leader takes ultimate responsibility. You must put your head ‘above the parapet’ and live your values – doing things the right way with the right intention. That is what inspires a team.

Team leaders are responsible for taking a view of the bigger picture, using their analytical skills, zoom in and zoom out and build alignment and cohesion in the team.

Not everyone can walk into a leadership role. It’s about having that self-awareness and understanding of what leadership involves. The best team leaders ask themselves what they need to do to become a better leader, and what training do they and their team need.

If you enjoyed this blog on Leadership you may be interested in the following articles, courses and BA Brews.

ARTICLES

COURSES

Team Leadership (A three day live, virtual classroom course)
Effective Leadership is a FREE course – find out about AssistKD’s free courses here.

BA BREWS