So, I have been working at a company that is small but old (around 25 employees). Basically, the company was founded many years ago and got stuck in a niche market. But there is a new product that we started selling and it has a huge potential (it has patents and clients are impressed). There are two groups in the company, one that my boss is part of and consists of some old folks from this first generation and they are pretty much "settled" - they have been working for the company for many years, never got good raises or mentorship and at the same time they were never asked for goals either, so they just work for a paycheck. Some people even started businesses on the side. The second group is the new folks who are younger, motivated and we are pushing this new product really well. I'm working very close to the product manager and he really likes my work. I'm not junior but I'm not also a manager, but I really wanted to demonstrate leadership as I already know more than my boss (he is sort of a marketing manager / general manager). He has a good relationship with me and I don't to screw that up, but at the same time he doesn't care much about my development and he gives me work to do that should be done by interns (like filling documents or making updates on the website). The product manager already wants me on his team to work full-time as a product designer / front-end developer. I also developed respect from other developers, I have this unique skill in the company which is the understanding of front-end, design, and human behavior. Everybody likes me, but I don't want to be seen as the "nice guy", sometimes I actually think I'm too nice. The owner is true decision-maker and he has a good relationship with my boss who has been working at the company for 10 years. So, I'm basically thinking on ways that I can demonstrate leadership to expose me to the owner, such as doing hackathons, or special projects like something for business intelligence, but I really don't know what would have the highest impact. On the other side, I can do things such as changing design process, usability studies, and a lot of things that will improve my knowledge, but might not get exposure and that might never lead me to management. I understand that from a business perspective what makes employees valuable is what kind of value that they bring to the company, so I'm thinking how I can do something that it will truly expose me as a leader? Note: we are not data driven, so many things are decided on feeling. Unfortunately, I don't have natural leadership skills mostly because of my disability - I have ADHD and I struggle with oral communication). I'm also not an English native speaker, but I improved a lot recently because I was coached by a previous manager at another company that I worked for. I also started taking medication which improved my speech glitches a lot (I used to forget words all the time and get nervous), now it's much better, but I still have some baggage - years of low self-confidence behaviors that shaped my personality.
I think you used the word leadership just fine. In most professional settings, leadership is a de facto title for those in management roles. Unfortunately most management roles go to people with experience in the company not leadership in the company necessarily. You seem to be playing on the spectrum of servant leadership where people know you are capable, you are liked and given opportunities to shine. What you need to do is become limited. If possible refrain from always saying yes, ask for certain deliverables and based on that decide if you want to say yes or no. If something is too time consuming I would say no if i have other work at hand. Work with others if you do take a responsibility and ask for help even if you don't need it. As you get others to help you find ways to share insights with others so that little by little you become an expert contributor in your office thus growing in value.
The thing about leadership is that people don't know what it means. When I interview, i ask, those who say they want to be leaders in our organization, what do you mean? Most don't have a clue. Leadership is like gravity, we use it to explain why an apple falls to the ground is just what we call it..it doesnt explain the mechanics, the why or how...
When you think of leadership don't think of it as the all supreme magical authority of everything. Focus on a niche, what are you good at, what does the department need help in? You can be a leader in a project or a leader in mathematics in a school or a group.
See it this way:
Leadership in _______ = Expert known for and trusted in _________ (this is the path to management in or out that company)
Truth be told is that we always think we deserve that one up job, we deserve more pay, etc. Sometimes is true sometimes is not, but the fact that you want to move up the ladder is all that you need. If you see no potential for growth take your skillsets to another company.
Answered 8 years ago
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