Transcript
How do you lead and lead well?
Now, to answer that question, we first need to define what we mean by lead or leadership. You see, there’s a lot of confusion about leadership today and what it means. People call it all sorts of things, and a lot of those things aren’t accurate.
One of the big confusions is that people think leadership is a position. And yes, there are leadership positions, but it’s a position where someone should be leading. It doesn’t mean they are leading or leading well or even know how to.
First, what is leadership?
So really what is leadership? Leadership is the process of guiding people toward the accomplishment of a goal through influence. That’s it. You are guiding people somewhere through influence.
So to really understand how to lead, let’s look at that definition a little more. First, it’s a process. What you do may change over time. The principles are the same, but what you do may change.
You are guiding people towards somewhere. Guiding means you’re not forcing people or using a taser or whatever it may be. You’re not using your position or authority. People are willingly following you.
Influence
And influence. Influence simply is the respect and relationship you have with people that causes them to act with and for you. Influence is just a relationship and respect you have with others that causes them to act with and for you.
That influence is why you don’t have to have a position to lead. You just build that relationships, trust with people, help others win, whatever it may be. You build that influence and then people are more likely to follow you when you have a direction that you’re going.
Leadership isn’t about you, and it’s hard work
So let’s say you have that direction and you have that influence with people. So how then do you lead people to that direction? Well, well first leadership isn’t glamorous. It’s hard work.
Sometimes when people think of leadership and the positions, they think of the rank, the respect, the reward, the perks, what they get out of it. But that’s not, again, what leadership is. It’s about guiding people somewhere.
So leadership isn’t about you. It’s about you doing what’s needed to help your team or your people accomplish the mission. So leadership is about service and doing the hard work of leadership to get people where you’re going.
If you’re leading people on a difficult hike, people who’ve never been there before, you’re not just going to stand up there, sit in your golden chair, and just tell people, “Keep going guys, you got this.”
No, you’re going to do the work to get people to make sure everyone gets to the end. Same in the job or whatever it is, you’re there to serve and help people so that you all get to and accomplish the mission.
That’s one of the biggest things about leadership. You need to make sure you get right, that mentality. Because if you have the wrong motive, if you see leadership about you versus serving, then it’s going to hurt you as a leader and you just won’t lead well.
So now that we got a lot of the foundation down, what else do you need to know to lead well? Do you need to know your leadership style so you can do it well? Well, no. In fact, ignore most of what you’ve heard about leadership styles, but what you need to focus on is the principles of leadership or the behaviors that make great leaders.
So here are a few principles that you can follow to be a great leader and lead well.
Take ownership
First, great leaders take ownership when things go wrong. You see, as a person, you’re responsible for all your actions and reactions and what have you. As a leader, you’re still responsible for that, but you’re also responsible for your team and the team’s results.
So, when problems happen, mistakes happen, don’t blame or find the scapegoat. Instead, take ownership and work to resolve it.
Be humble and a good listener
Second, leaders are humble, and they listen. Sometimes when people get in a leadership position, they think they know better because they’re in that leadership position. They think they sometimes are better because they’re in that position, but it’s just not true.
Being in a leadership position doesn’t mean you’re better or know better, it just means you’re in a position where you’re leading people now,or supposed to be. Realize that you don’t know everything.
One of the biggest frustrations I know I’ve had at a job is when people didn’t listen. There were so many issues at the job that could be better and resolved, but no one asked, no one listened. But instead, they thought they knew better and would make these new policies and stuff that really didn’t help.
And that happens all over the place. Don’t be that way. Listen well. Ask people how things can be better. Ask for suggestions. Get input.
Now, this is a shocker, but other people may have better ideas than you. But that’s okay because it’s not about you or your idea or what you want. It’s about the mission and the goal and you doing what it takes to get there. It’s about finding the best idea, not just your idea.
So as a leader, be humble and listen and listen well.
Prioritize well
Next, you need to prioritize well. You see, often there’s lots of things that you could be doing, and you can go this way and that way and that tasks, and fires pop up and all these urgent things happen. As a leader, your job is to see the big picture, where you’re going, the mission, the goal, etc., and then focus on the things that get you there.
Sometimes it means cutting out good stuff for the best stuff. As a leader, you need to be able to see what is really important and what isn’t, and help guide your team toward what’s important.
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin in Extreme Ownership call it prioritize and execute. You focus on the most important, you finish it and then jump to the next.
Be trustworthy and trust others
Next is trust. Now, trust is two ways. First, your people need to be able to trust you. You need to be reliable. You need to speak the truth, not talk about people behind their backs, hold confidence as well, and so on.
That’s just a building block of leadership and building influence with people. Because if you don’t have it, then you’re not going to have much influence.
But with that, you also need to trust your team and trust your people. Sometimes leaders feel like they need to control people and make them do what they want them to do. And they sometimes have this compliance mentality of rules and making sure people follow the rules. But that’s not good leadership.
Instead, you want to set clear expectations, what the outcome is supposed to be. Provide support and training. Meet with people. But then allow people, or enable people, empower, release, whatever you call it, for them to just do their jobs.
Set the expectations, give the support, and release them to do their jobs well, to make decisions in their jobs, and trust them with that.
Yes, it doesn’t mean you just blanket, “I’m not paying attention.” Yes, you still check in with them, you talk with them. Having weekly meetings is always a good idea, but you trust your team to get it done.
Be about helping, not finding them doing wrong
When you’re walking around or check on your people, it’s not about finding them doing wrong, or catching them, not following the rules. It’s about you finding ways you can help them. You’re there to help and support them, not trying to get them.
Communicate well
And then there’s communication. As a leader, you’ve got to be able to communicate well. You’ve got to communicate the vision, the direction, what direction you’re going, the tasks, what’s prioritized, what’s going on, and so on.
Sometimes people hold communication or knowledge as power, and they hold onto it. But don’t be that way. Be transparent. Freely give the information. The more knowledge people have of what’s going on and what you’re doing, the better they can do their jobs.
Now, when it comes to communication, an important thing to point out is communication isn’t about trying to sound smart and use big words and do all those silly things people sometimes do when they speak and write.
Instead, it’s about being clear and making it simple. It’s about being understood, not sounding smart.
Resources to learn more
Now, those were some of the principles that make a great leader that helps you lead well. And if you do those things, communicate well and follow those other principles then that will put you on the path to leading well. And if you want to deeper dive into some of the principles and what it takes to be a great leader and to lead well, then I recommend either the book, Essential Leadership, which is my book by the way, but I also recommend like Jocko Willink and Leif Babin’s book, Extreme Ownership, or Jocko Willink’s book, Leadership Strategies and Tactics. And on my website, I have other recommended books that you can read, not from me, that are good books that can help you lead well.
Now, there’s one more important thing to point out, is that leadership is a skill. It’s something that anyone can learn. It’s a set of behaviors that you learn.
You or anyone can become a leader if you want to take the time and effort to do it. It’s a process. It takes time, but it’s worth it.