Emerging Leaders by HubSpot

HubSpot has an incredibly valuable program called "Emerging Leader". This program was built four years ago to recognize a few talents across the organization every year and empower them to become the next generation of leaders.

I had the privilege to be selected this year and in just one week, I've learned so much that I wanted to share a few eye-opening things with you. 

By the way, thanks to Claire Meenehan & Kim Wulff for organizing the sessions, to Colleen O'Sullivan for sponsoring this program, to Dave Gribben for the incredible insights provided during the session last week, to Dharmesh Shah & Brian Halligan for creating this highly effective work environment we have at HubSpot, to Yamini Rangan for being such a great illustration of leading by example, to Jeetu Mahtani for empowering our Customer Success organization and to Quentin for supporting my case to join this emerging leader program! 

What does it mean to be a leader

"Leader is a decision, not a position" Simon Sinek. 

In the in-depth talk "Why leaders eat last" by Simon, it becomes clear that everyone has every day the choice to become a leader. As soon as we decide to take care of the person next to us, we have already become a leader... which made me think, wait, but what does it really mean to be a leader?

If I had to rephrase it, a leader - to me - is anyone willing to sacrifice time and/or energy to empower someone else. Often, when we think about a leader, we think about someone able to create a safe space where people feel safe enough to be able to move from self-interest to altruism, but to me leadership is more than just the safety side of it. To me we are a leader whenever we expose ourself to bring value to others. 

The reason why taking care of the person next to us is enough to make us a leader is simple: by doing so, we inspire others (beneficiaries and witnesses) to do the same and we end up supporting a high-performing environment for a continuously growing amount of people. These people don't have to worry about struggling on their own, they know someone else got their back, so they can now focus on being creative, taking risks, and thus over-perform.

How does it feel to be a leader?

I love to think about a leader as chief of the family, a loving (not necessary loved) and devoted chief of the family.

As such, a leader is someone who deeply and sincerely cares about building a sense of belonging through common beliefs and values and cares about every single family members' success.

As a leader - similarly to what we would do as a parent with our children - we help our team learn skills, get disciplined if required, build self-confidence, and all the above with consistency, so they can achieve more than we could have ever imagined achieving ourself. 

We see potential & help stretch the person with simple steps: we Listen sincerely, we Care genuinely, we Support infallibly, we Challenge smartly.

Ultimately, as a leader, our only focus/job is to build leaders :-)

What type of leader are you?

In leadership, many style exists and each style has its own benefits and challenges. It would be too easy to say that one is better than another. In reality the efficiency of a leadership style seems to depend mainly on who we are, the context and the people we need to manage.

Now let's put ourself in the shoes of the managed person and ask ourself: "how would I like to be treated by the person leading me"?

Would we think that an autocratic leader is an efficient style to lead us in our modern society? Would we enjoy working for someone who gives us orders, with no interest in hearing about our ideas or in showing us flexibility? Well actually we might, if structure is required in our job. When people lives are engaged in the scope of our work, such as in the military ground or any sector impacting health, clear and direct communication are crucial to ensure doing things as safely as possible, involving a minimal amount of stress on us to let us focus on mastering the task.

In a different environment, the opposite style would be the Laissez-Faire or hands-off leadership style. This kind of leader would delegate many tasks to team members while providing little to no supervision. This style is a good fit for highly experienced members, as long as no one is confused about their leader’s expectations, or need consistent motivation / boundaries to work well. Used in the right context with the right people, this style supports accountability, creativity and a relaxed work environment.

If the team is mixed with experienced and junior people though, the democratic leader style is a good combination of autocratic and hands-off styles. As such, the leader would ask for input and consider feedback from their team before making a decision, which drives discussion and participation. This process supports creativity and innovation when the organization can afford the time and ressources to organize discussions, obtain feedback, discuss possible outcomes before communicating a decision. This style is actually often used in the technology industry.

When faster results are expected, the leader might prefer the pacesetter leadership style. The way to get faster results is to set high standards and hold the team members accountable for hitting their goals. This approach is motivational and helpful in fast-paced environments where members need to be energized. It helps promotes high-energy and dynamic work environments, as long as there is no miscommunications or a lack of clear instructions.

Now if communication is key in your organization and the ethics of the company are more valuable than being overly focused on achieving goals, then transformational leader style - or coaching leader style for a focus in employee’s individual goals, instead of a commitment to organizational objectives - would be perfect. These approaches focus on clear communication, goal-setting and employee motivation. They are time-intensive but highly boost company morale and retention.

This list is not an exhaustive one, but if you want to know more about your personal leadership style, here's a quick test you can do!

Are you the alpha leader in the room?

The value of a group living is higher than an individual leaving. Together we are stronger (cf. Spartans in the movie 300) so we evolve on hierarchical animals, judging each other who is dominant, who is the alpha? 

Being an alpha has benefits, people will voluntarily step back to let us get the best meat and mates, but it also comes with costs. In front of the danger, people expect the best feed and the strongest alpha in the room to protect them. 

Side trick: When we don't know who's the alpha in the room, it's always the less nervous person meeting the other ones.

The interesting fact is that what defines an alpha varies depending on the group. In the army, the alpha is the most courageous, as an artist, the alpha is the more creative or talented, etc. So, the good news is that - to become an alpha if ever this becomes a goal - all it takes is to select the right environment for the identified skill and keep growing it to become/ remain the dominant in that field, or change field and try again ;-) 

What do authentic leaders have in common?

According to Bill George - one of the most renowned authors on the topic of Authentic Leadership - and to Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayerthere, there are a few skills that authentic leaders all have in common.

Here are a few skills to develop in order to grow our authentic leadership:

* Learn from our life story * 

John Barth - American writer - said: "the story of your life is not your life. It is your story." 

The facts of our life don't matter, the narrative does. We need to frame our stories in ways that make us see ourself as someone able to develop from our experience, not as a victim.  

* Know our authentic self *

We feel safer around people who are self-aware, they know their qualities as well as what annoys us from them, so we don't need to be protective around them.

Being self-aware helps people feel safer around us and helps us develop our authentic self. How? By knowing how to request and receive feedback!

* Practice our values and principles *

It's easy to list our values, but these values only become solid when tested under fire. These same values are the one enabling us to develop the principles we will use in leading.

Once our inner values and principles are clear, it's all about letting ourselves be driven by them, at least as much as by the desire for external rewards or recognition.

* Stay grounded *

In order to sustain our authenticity and stay grounded, we need to live a balanced life. The first key element for that is to be the same person in each environment of our life (work, family, friends, community). The second key element is to build a strong support team to provide affirmation, advice, perspective, and calls for course corrections when needed.

* Empower people to lead *

The bottom line for leaders is to achieve superior long-term results.

Authentic leadership is not about our own success or having loyal subordinates; it is about empowering people at all levels for them to become leaders at their turn.

What's your best authentic leadership?

This is the one billion question! 

But actually finding the answer to that question is relatively simple: We just need to ask ourself: "who inspires us and why"? 

Answers to these questions tell us whom we want to become, in other words, what does the best version of our authentic self look like. 

In my case I am inspired by 5 key people: 

Tony Robbins

He helps people unlock mental doors and thus change radically the course of their life, only by asking the right questions with care and empathy.

Adeline Wattellier

She manages her team like a chief of family would do, investing time and energy, exposing herself to support their growth with love and devotion.

Marc Rougier

He makes people feel important in every way, which builds their self-confidence, autonomy and raises their ambitions and impact. His secret, be fully present and always supportive.

Karen Caroll

Her resilience and strategic mindset have build bridges between worlds no one even know existed. She is a people connector and a door opener, nothing can stop her.

Mounira Hamdi

She is one of the most committed, humble & driven individuals I've ever met. She never fears investing fully in the projects and people she believes in, driving incredible impact.

This is not an exhaustive list of learning around leadership and we still have 3 weeks of training to go, but if you have any insight on the topic, please feel free to comment below!

In the meantime, if you want to know more about leadership, here are a few lessons on leadership from HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah. I've enjoyed them, I hope you will too!

Additional resources: 

• Book or Podcast Dare to lead by Brene Brown
• Book or Podcast Simon Senik
• The High Performance Podcast from Jake Humphrey: ex with Matthew McConaughey (actor & producer) or Jonny Wilkinson (rugby union player) or Toto Wolff (Mercedes CEO) 
• Royal college of science free course science of health and happiness