Corporate Staffing CEO Perminus Wainaina On What It Takes To Transition From Employee Into A Leadership Position

Corporate Staffing CEO Perminus Wainaina On What It Takes To Transition From Employee Into A Leadership Position

By Lilian Wamaitha
“Leadership is like beauty; hard to define but you know when you see it”
What makes for a great leader?
Is leadership something you are born with or something that you pick up along the way?
Corporate Staffing Services on June 9th 2018 held a leadership training with the theme “What it takes to take the lead.”
What It Takes To Transition From An Employee To A Leader In Your Organization
The training was facilitated by Executive Lead Career Coach, Corporate Trainer & C.E.O of Corporate Staffing Services, Perminus Wainaina who has trained and coached over 300 professionals.
The audience consisted of a wide range of professionals from marketing, procurement, administration, accounting, IT, Finance to Medical practitioners who all want to assume positions of leadership in their organizations or have been promoted and wanted to know how to make that transition.
He started by saying that no one is born a leader.  It is society and circumstances that shape people into leaders. It’s just a skill like any other.
“You might have the background of a leader but if you don’t work on being one, you can never be a leader,” he said.
Leadership is not about doing a good job. You might be the best employee but lack leadership qualities while that other person who everyone thinks is a joker makes it to a leadership position.
So what is leadership?
It’s an attitude and not about a position.
It’s something that you get to experience and above everything else; it’s about one life influencing another.
Perminus insisted that a majority of people confuse leadership with management. Leadership according to him is not about ensuring that staff delivers and performs but it’s all about inspiring and catering for the needs of those you lead. It about working towards a common goal while keeping in the loop those who report to you.
Leaders are felt, managers are seen; that’s the difference.
What does it take to make it into leadership and what can you start doing as of today?
Look around you. Things have changed. Unlike in the past where leaders only used to be older people, there are general managers as young as 28 and 30s today.
Organizations are beginning to realize the need for young blood in these positions of leadership so there is no reason why you should not strive for such a position in your organization.
“What you need to bear in mind is that the path to leadership is never an easy one. You have to have high standards and expect the best from the very beginning. Be also ready to sacrifice your time and resources for the greater good and live with your choices.  Have the courage to also take risks and surround yourself with people who have better skills than you,” he said.
1. Understand the CEO agenda
What keeps CEOs awake at night? If you want to make it into a leadership position in your organization, you must understand what it is that those you answer to are expecting.
The reason you need to understand this is to know that will be expected of you and what you will be working towards if you were given a leadership position.
Because let’s face it,  it is things like increased productivity, revenue, shareholder value, market share and the likes of driving costs down that pay you at the end of the day.
2. Critical thinking
According to Perminus, leaders are expected to be critical thinkers. This is the ability to analyze facts, generate and organize ideas and defend opinions.
To think critically you must have the ability to recognize assumptions, evaluate arguments and draw conclusions.
3. Emotional intelligence
When you think “emotional intelligence” what comes to your mind?
Emotional intelligence or “EQ” simply means being aware of your emotions and those of others.
And once you know this, it’s all about your ability to control your emotions and motivate yourself to be the best you can possibly be.
You will notice that the people who succeed in their personal lives, family and especially in their careers are those who have a high EQ.
You will be required to have high EQ levels if you are to make it to a leadership position.
4. Master the ability to influence
This is the ability to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of someone or something or the effect itself.
We influence through logic, personal appeal, networking, bargaining, assertiveness or potential trap.
When you think about influence according to Perminus, here are a few things to keep in mind;

  • People do things for their own reasons not yours.
  • If you don’t explicitly ask for what you want, you probably won’t get it
  • Influencing happens one person a time; there is nothing like influencing a group of people.
  • Learn to build relationships while getting results; in other words, don’t burn bridges just to get what you want.
  • And lastly, learn to take responsibility for your impact on others; rejection will happen, don’t take it personal but learn to do better next time

6. Conduct a thorough stakeholder analysis
When you are thinking about climbing the career ladder to a leadership position, think about who has vested interested in a project or something.
What you need to ask yourself is, if they would be invested at all, what’s in it for them, how you stay connected and that’s the person you want to influence.
In the end a stakeholder either has interest or power and this is what you need to tap into.
6. Leadership and personal branding
How do you see yourself? How do others see you?
Personal brand is what differentiates you from others. You will not manage your brand in a day but it’s a continuous process.
Therefore, you need to always be on the lookout. The impression you create lasts and human beings are bound to remember that time you erupted in anger and forget what you have done that is commendable.
What you need to remember is that we all have a personal brand either by default or design. You need to understand what yours is and how you can improve it to influence others.
And as far as personal brand goes, if you are looking for promotion to a higher office, remember to dress for the job you want not the one you have. It’s all about what you are working towards and what others will remember when they see you.
7. The art of self-promotion
This is where you publicize your achievements.
According to Perminus, if you don’t promote yourself no one else will.
We have been condition to fear self-promotion because we think we will look desperate and instead opt to do a good job and get noticed that way.
In reality, you may work every hard but if nobody knows what you have achieved, you are not getting that position you are eyeing.
Why don’t you let people know your worth by publically publicizing it?
At the end of the day, as long as you are sharing your work with other people (the right people) you are already marketing yourself. That is how head hunters get candidates.
And while at it, do right by your CV because it’s one of the best ways you can brand yourself for the job you want.
In the end
A leader is a change agent. They influence the organizational change through their actions and influencing the actions of others. They are the backbone of successful change in the organization and this is something anyone striving for a leadership position needs to understand.
What do you do then from now?
Start with yourself. Build alliances with stakeholders and work out what might help others to change. Create that energy for change and last but not least don’t be a martyr. Don’t do things that might be the end of your career just because you want that promotion so bad.
Enroll Now >>> C.S.S Leadership Development Course
Lilian is a Communications Officer at Career Point Kenya. Reach out through lilian@www.careerpointkenya.co.ke

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