Steve Jobs, Maya Angelou, Christian Dior, and Professor Albus Dumbledore.
Never thought you’d read these names in the same sentence, right?
What do they have in common, you ask?
Revolutionary and pathbreaking leadership.
They are the leaders who have inspired, influenced, and successfully developed other leaders, still continue to do so with their wise ways and words. They are those who’ve gone on to conquer their own challenges along this journey.
Although there is plenty to keep in mind when getting your people ready to take on the heavy yet rewarding title of a leader, here are some directionals that have worked for me.
Leading, inspiring, coaching, and developing leaders is definitely not linear, if anything, it is a reflective prism with 3 key aspects – trust, faith, and belief.
Trust their commitment and ownership. Get out of their way, step in only for guidance, direction, mentoring, and coaching. Read the room or people for the case in point; help when or where necessary and also for whom.
Faith in their capability and competence. Keep it simple, a quick reminder on why we hired them, what they excel in, and where they may struggle. Let them know you have faith and their back.
Believe that they are leaders in their own right. Let people play to their strengths, while they develop and grow in areas that they have uncovered as challenges or roadblocks.
To achieve this, we must Let It Go.
And that means being non-judgmental, adaptable, and flexible. This will define the kind of people that surround us. The more rigid we are, the more ‘yes people’ we will accumulate – which we all know is not a good team composition. Be cognizant not to silence our people with our own style.
Here’s the other thing, recognize that there is a huge level of complexity and dynamics when leading leaders. Recalibrate the way you lead, it would be a fail to approach two different situations or two different people the same way.
Lastly, as uncomfortable as it may be, relinquish control, instead empower. Take a step back or two or as many. With the reins in their hands, the leaders become self-sustained and confident in their own abilities, eventually delivering quality results. And we get the space to pursue and tackle our own next milestone or the next new idea.
It is overwhelming, and an achievement to be reckoned with, but we can and must level up!
