The #1 Thing Great Leaders Do
One of my favorite exercises when I get approached to mentor others is to ask two fundamental questions....
Tell me about the best leader you have ever worked for or who you admire. What traits or things did they do that made them THE BEST?
Now... tell me about why YOU want to be a leader?
Over the years the responses to these two questions have opened doors to a lot of amazing conversations. No one person answers these the same way which is what makes the journey that much richer.
What I will say...is that almost every case...where we begin the dialogue is never where we end. Here are a few observations/common starting points as answers to the questions:
Describing THE BEST Leader
Authentic
Trust Worthy
Inspiring
Caring
Had My Back
Created a Sense of Belonging
Why YOU Want to Be a Leader
I Want My Voice to be Heard
Compared to Other Leaders, I KNOW I Could be Better
I Have Strong Leadership Values
I've Put my Time in...It's MY Time
I KNOW the Job and The Team
The two lists never match and that's ok. I'm not sure that they should or they could. I also believe that it is this mismatch where the conversation begins.
The #1 Thing Great Leaders Do
In ALL cases...I don't think anyone...including myself when originally asked...ever hits the #1 thing that great leaders do. We eventually get to it in the conversation but it takes a while to get there.
Great Leaders Grow Other Leaders
I would argue that when you take a leadership position...it is no longer all about YOU but about YOUR team. Making them better...helping them grow... building their strengths and helping them overcome their blind spots that may be holding them back.
So...let's go back to describing the best leader you've ever known and ask ourselves a few questions...
How many leaders have you worked for with the traits listed above that made YOU feel good about working for them....yet when they left or took another role their was no "heir apparent"? Did you HOPE it was YOU or did the leader ensure YOU were ready?
Beyond being good at what they did, what investment in time, energy and actions did the leader do to grow more leaders?
Did you find the team was very loyal to the leader and stuck with them in their current roles OR did you find that they were so good a creating other leaders that almost everyone on their team... who strived to be in a leadership position... were in high demand and got to move up the ladder?
What Can WE Do to Grow More Leaders?
I wish I had it all figured out but as with most things in life and our journey...it is complicated and it depends. Having said that...here are a few tips to get us started...
Talk About it! Set aside time with your teammates to talk about their career goals. Not just once a year but regularly. Not everyone will want to be in leadership and that's ok! For those that do aspire to lead a team talk about why they feel they want that compared to the role they do today. They need to know that the conversations and road won't be easy...it will require personal growth and change...it may push them outside of their comfort zone but it guarantees to be rewarding and worth the effort.
Invest in THEM and Help Them Plan. Everyone says that only YOU can lead and drive YOUR career plan. I agree with that but your teammates need some support and guidance....maybe even some investment. If they could have done it all on their own they would have already. This can come in many forms including...but not limited to... helping them find a mentor (not YOU) or executive coach, doing a 360 to get feedback on strengths and areas to work on, personality profiling to understand who they are and how they approach things may be derailing them, and identifying projects to lead that would give them exposure/visibility within the organization.
Real Time Coaching/Feedback. Let them know that YOU are there to help them but you can't do it for them. This also means providing feedback and coaching that may at times seem blunt and tough to hear. More often than not no one has ever told them "the truth" about the behaviors that are holding them back (whether the teammate feels is it "fair" or "unfair"). That is because these teammates are great performers and it isn't typical "performance improvement feedback" but rather "what got you here won't get you there" coaching. It is more like tough love to help them soar and grow into the leader they are meant to be.
Shout Their Name from the Mountain Top...Enlist Other Leaders to Shout it Out too! As a leader, keep reminding yourself that promoting the accomplishments of your proteges doesn't take anything away from YOU. We often forget to purposely and proactively tout the accomplishments and capabilities of our upcoming leaders. It's easy to get busy and think that "everyone knows" and sees how you are growing the next generation of leaders. DON'T TAKE THIS FOR GRANTED. It is not until YOU move to your next role or when the company is calibrating for promotions that you realize that YOUR teammate is the "best kept secret" and NOT the next in line even if YOU think they are ready. It's not only about what YOU think about them... it's about what other leaders in the room know and say about them too.
In Closing...
It's NOT enough for you to just be a good leader... it's about being a GREAT leader....paying it forward...and creating the next generation of leaders. I often think about it in terms of professional sports and coaching staff. Coaches get the best out of their athletes, help them identify their strengths, work on their areas of improvement, put them in situations to stretch their capabilities and give them real time feedback to do better next time they take the field. I also like that in the case of baseball, there are farm teams where the players get to build up their skills before coming up to "the show". When they reach the majors they are more ready to meet the challenge and step into the spotlight.
Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU:
How would YOU answer the two questions above? What was your "A-HA" moment from thinking about leadership this way?
What do YOU think the #1 Thing Great Leaders DO? Is it growing more leaders or do you think it is something else?
Do YOU agree with the steps or tips to grow great leaders above? What would you add or say differently?
How many leaders are YOU growing and if you can't think of any...what's stopping YOU from starting?
Thanks for reading….and remember…YOU make a difference!
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