Executive Leadership Coaching Tip: Let Your People Lead You 2010-07-29 Leadership is more than just yelling at people and posturing like a Hollywood movie general. Leadership is the ability to have people do what you want them to do, and think that it's their idea. It's not manipulative. It's not tricking people. In fact, real leadership is honest and transparent. So today's executive leadership coaching tip is about how to not lead your people, but get them to want to be led.
LEAD OR DRIVE?
I was at a company team-building function. We were broken up into small teams. The co-ordinator gave a task, and the teams were supposed to co-operate to get it done. One person immediately forward and started directing people to go here and there, and do this and that. Unfortunately, everything she was saying was actually obstructing solving the task. So I asked the co-ordinator if we could use items in the room (because it was obvious the solution to the problem was to use certain items in the room). When she said yes, another person suggested using a cup and a pitcher. Another person asked what the best way to use these would be, and another person offered several possible solutions. We quickly solved the problem in the fastest time.
BUT the interesting thing was at the summary wrap up. The management of the company revealed that this was actually an exercise to identify leaders, and they cited the FIRST person as a "take-charge" person who would make a good leader! Never mind that her direction was truly incorrect. PRACTICAL LEADERSHIP
The little story above demonstrates one of the most important aspects of leadership: people don't want to be led, they want to participate in their own leadership. People who contribute - or who feel that their contribution is respected, even if it isn't used - will follow that leader. People who are yelled at, cajoled, and threatened to follow a person will follwo that person once.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP COACHING TIP
So ask your people for input. The people you are leading are, by definition, competent. If they are not competent, fire them and get competent people in there. So, since you have competent people, they have valuable insight and perspectives.
Ask them for their ideas, their suggestions, their complaints, and their praise. Find out how they do it, and how they suggest it can be done better. Your job as the leader is not to come up with all the ideas, and tell your people what to do. Your job is to take your ideas, and their ideas, synthesize them into goals and plans, and then get your people to move toward those goals. Your other job as a leader is to be the calm one in a crisis, or when plans change, or when circumstances change. To learn how to keep your calm and cool in crisis, look at STRESS JUDO Black Belt stress management. 0 Responses to "Executive Leadership Coaching Tip: Let Your People Lead You"Leave a reply | Author
RICK CARTER - Christian, father, husband, martial arts student, litigator. STRESS JUDO developed to fight stress in fighting arena and courtroom. You too can be as cool and calm as every movie lawyer or action hero you've ever seen. Be envied by everyone who cracks under pressure. You won't.
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