My question today is "Would you like to be managed by you?"
I recall from my years as a BBC producer that some of my friends progressed to leadership roles quite quickly and found themselves at the age of 30 managing large teams of even less experienced producers than themselves.
Alongside this transition came a transition of personality from a friendly, considerate, patient style to a snide, dismissive and intimidatory style. I found that sad.
I suppose the thinking was that, if this is what other producers and editors did, then it must be the best way to lead. And if you managed to survive and even thrive under such leadership then so would real talent under you.
I never ascribed to this philosophy. I believed (and still do) that leadership isn't about power-play and manipulation but about guiding, developing and nurturing talent. I don't believe you get the best out of people by making it hard for them to succeed. I believe you get the best out of people by enabling them to do their best work.
That's why I come back to the initial question - Would you like to be managed by you?
Think carefully about the answer. I can certainly think about things I do when I manage other people that I wouldn't appreciate. I am too talkative and probably waste people's time. And I am not always as direct as I could be so people may be confused by my motivations (this is something I am working on though and recently some people might have experienced a more "conclusive" style from me!).
However, if you discover that you are basically emulating a style of leadership you experienced when you were just starting out which regularly left you feeling insecure, worthless, lacking in talent, boring, confused, disengaged or any other range of negative emotions, ask yourself whether this is because you have chosen this style or just fallen in to it because you have nothing better.
Leadership is a skill which requires practise. Read articles about leadership, read books, go to lectures, watch those around you and see how effective (or ineffective) their approach is, experiment, learn from your mistakes and understand your strengths.
Become sophisticated...as sophisticated as you are at your "day job" whether that be as a salesperson, a marketing expert, a lawyer or even a BBC producer.
And, by the way, treat youngsters on your staff with some respect. They are only ever going to be as good as you allow them to be.