Defining your leadership philosophy

The entire focus of our leadership style should be to create new leaders. I aim to help the people I work with reach their potential. I teach them skills planning and experimentation. I shatter their expectations by introducing them to radical transparency, safety of opinions and action, self-management and the multiplication of their opportunities. I show them that by taking care of people and the company, we create an environment where we can develop ourselves, reach our goals, while loving what we do. I help them become fully-realized, happy, creative, highly-motivated experts who wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

When you have such awesome people with you, all they need is the what is the goal and the why. They will figure out the how. They will find new, cool ways to reach the what that fit even better the why then what you first had. The more you focus on creating an awesome team, the farther this team will get you. It means that you create an organization that isn’t constrained by your own limitations, but by the collective creativity, ingenuity and drive.

At times we had to engage in ‘grunt work', and I always did such tasks along side my men. How can I ask them to do what I am unwilling to do with any authority or credibility? A common philosophy in the military is “Mission, Men, Self". This means that your primary focus is the mission, or task assigned to you in the civilian workforce. Your men come second, and you are the final consideration.

I have found this philosophy to be slightly incorrect. If you take care of your men, they will complete the mission and make sure you get back alive. You cannot complete a team-oriented task without a functional team; so, making that team your first priority ensures that they are both willing and able to follow you through completing your assigned tasks. I was always first in the stack and out of the bird, and the last to exfil: lead from the front. Trust is a critical component of unit cohesion.

And if your men cannot trust that you will take a round for them, they probably won't be willing to take a round for you. As a leader, your team is your primary focus. Their wellbeing and survive is paramount. So, you do whatever is necessary to ensure that they all return to the board the same way they left it, and they will do the same for you.

Hire great people, give them the tools they need to succeed, and then stay out of their way. It’s so simple. It’s virtually impossible to build a great company without a great team of people around you. So you should focus on hiring a great team. Just try leading a group of mediocre people. Go ahead, I double-dare you. Your results are going to be, well, mediocre. I worked for two CEOs that were very similar in the same industry. The team around one was primarily A class players. Everywhere you looked there was talent that makes your job pretty simple.

Great leaders focus on making their teams successful. That’s why hiring great people is the most important part of being a great leader. Then, give them the tools and resources they need to be successful. Finally, just stay out of their way. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t stay involved in what’s going on. You have to manage the organization. I am saying you should delegate the responsibility to your team. Your job is to coach, advise and facilitate success.

Leaders have to be adapted to their time, perhaps more than others, because of their responsibility to respond to new situations. But it is also true that the fundamental characteristics that are recognized leaders have hardly changed throughout history, from the classic authors who already spoke about leadership to our current gurus, it is curious to note that the essence is the same. Cheers!