Week 11: Be The Shadow Hokage

iMprovement Diaries

When it comes to being more influential and effectively lead a group of people that have no reason to follow your lead, you first need to prove that you are more than what meets the eye. Make you hard work undeniable.

Put yourself in a position where they will be coming to you for advice. Which means you need to be the best at doing that task. You need to be seen as the only one that can effectively do it with ease

Chase being that best at each task before trying to teach someone how to do it.

But if you are placed in a position where you must lead before you are the best at what you do, become the shadow hokage. (A title popular in the anime community specifically Naruto community).

4 Things you will need to do to become a shadow hokage:

1.) Lead without leading.

- This line came to me when I got my most recent promotion. I was put in a position where I have the qualifications to be a manager but because the announcement hadn’t been made, I was still seen as a regular employee. This was a very tricky position because on one hand my managers expected me to take charge and coordinate things. They would even tell me things like “you are main man”, “you are like the manager”, “if something is wrong, we will ask you first”. So, they expected me to act like a manger but the crew they wanted me to lead, didn’t see me as one. This put me in a situation where I had to do the tasks of a manager but couldn’t show that I am one. I had to lead without leading.

2.) Small moves. Big impact.

- Being in this situation forced me to change my approach. The way I communicated, the tasks I did, How I’d give instructions, how I’d deal with backlash, etc. I had to give instructions without making is sound like an instruction. I had to start using psychology.

Through this whole transition, I came across a unique strategy that helped me win both sides. Delivering more that what was asked for and making the crew follow my lead. The strategy was, making a person choose to do something without you asking them to. To make this work, there has to be a feeling of guilt and uselessness. Ever find yourself in a space where everyone around you is busy other than you? What did you do in those moments? You found something to do. Did anyone tell you to? No.

The moment I implemented this strategy I felt a relief of pressure from having to do better on both ends.

3.) Let power go where it wants. Focus on your tasks.

- A big mistake I made was thinking I was the main man. I unknowingly out shone the master and if you know Robert Greene you would know that that is that is one of the biggest mistakes you can make regarding your growth. That is something I did to the people that had been in the company before I joined, and it created a hostile environment.

4.) Avoid the spotlight. Be content.

- If you want to go up the ladder without hindering your growth, you need to avoid being in the spotlight. We don’t always choose when you want the attention to be on us, but we can choose how long we want it to be on us.

The loudest in the room is the weakest in the room.

Thank you so much for reading the Diary.

I have been writting for 2 months now and all i can say it that, lessons are being leant.

See you in the next one