Leadership‿ in the workplace

My name‿ is Tina. I have led‿ a team‿ of six for two years,│ and‿ I have concluded that leadership consists principally in the management‿ of‿ information‿ and‿ accountability,│ and‿ only incidentally in the exercise‿ of‿ authority.

My firs(t) month failed‿ in‿ a particular manner:│ I sought consensus‿ on‿ every question,│ with the resul(t) that decisions were never taken│ an(d) nobody could be held‿ accountable for‿ anything,│ everything having nominally been‿ agreed by everybody. Charisma,│ which‿ is what‿ organisations habitually reward,│ is largely irrelevant;│ people follow a leader│ who is transparent‿ about the criteria far more readily than one│ who is‿ entertaining. I now delegate‿ almost‿ everything‿ an(d) reserve the final call‿ on‿ a small number‿ of matters,│ and‿ I state‿ explicitly│ which‿ is│ which.

The most‿ exacting‿ element‿ is feedback,│ which requires‿ a nuance that‿ authority cannot supply. I praise publicly an(d) correc(t) privately,│ and‿ I never‿ apportion blame‿ in the presence‿ of‿ others. When‿ I promoted the wrong person las(t) year,│ I explained the error to the whole team‿ an(d) revised the criteria,│ which did more for my credibility than‿ any speech could have done. A leader│ who cannot be seen to be wrong will be surrounded by people│ who never take‿ an‿ initiative;│ a team that takes no initiatives‿ is merely a group‿ of‿ individuals‿ awaiting‿ instruction,│ and‿ it will be instructed by somebody else‿ in due course.