I came across a well-crafted post by Steffan Surdek about unleashing the leaders around you. It spoke to me on a few levels, and I thought I would share.
- Steffan's comments really speak to a leader being humble enough to not have to be at the center of everything.
- He pays specific attention to looking at every individual on the team and assess leadership capabilities and developing plans for how they can build those capabilities up.
- There's some aspect of innate leadership capabilities but being a leader that shares those qualities requires consistent and intentional practice.
Being Humble in Leadership
Steffan speaks repeatedly about removing yourself from decisions and empowering people to be confident in their assessments of situations. He talks about doing this in a gradual fashion as your people require.
This takes a level of humility to actively remove yourself from various situations and let others take the lead. Humility is a core component to The Four Fundamental Forces of Leadership umbrella leadership philosophy. It demonstrates love for yourself as well as for those you lead.
I came across a quote by C.S. Lewis recently that states:
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less."
Not only will demonstrating this humility build leaders, it will help you better connect with each member of your team and enliven them to perform at their highest level.
Individualizing Your Approach
Steffan suggests looking at each member of your team and determine which ones have the most leadership potential. He even talks about questioning why you may believe some have little or no potential. I believe he said that because we all exhibit leadership in various situations, just as we follow in others.
Whether or not you have specific leadership efforts directed at each person, setting forth a culture that encourages people to make good decisions and take control of areas where they have expertise will allow those you don't see having potential to exhibit it in their own way. Make certain you acknowledge it when that happens, so that growth can be nurtured.
Consistent and Intentional Practice
Like everything you start doing, you won't be an expert. Leadership is no different. You need to practice concepts, experiment, stick to a plan and assess it regularly.
I've found one of the best ways to help stay on course with these efforts is to lead with Love, Respect, Service and Fun. Employing this philosophy allows you to take your ego out of the equation and see how you can best make others better.
Developing leaders allows you to focus more effectively on the issues that require your attention and to empower others and the organization at the lowest appropriate level.