Great Leaders Change The World - Yours, Mine, and The Teams They Lead

Leading others is a privilege that comes with important responsibilities,

...and we know that the best leaders care the most.

Great leaders show they care by holding and guiding important conversations.

The Journey Back To Leadership

When I decided to work at Movemedical, I went from leading a team to being my own sole proprietor (no employees, nobody to lead beside myself), to back to managing people in a team.

I didn’t do the transition very well.

I thought, “Okay I’m going to delegate. I’m going to let people do their thing, and I’m not going to micro-manage.” That’s one of the worst things you can be as a leader: a micro-manager.

After a few months, the President of the company took me for a walk, and he said:

“You’re not coaching. You’re not training. You’re not leading the people the way they need to be led. They have problems and you’re not helping them solve them.”

I’m like:

“Yeah, because I want them to solve them on their own, and then I’ll give guidance when they ask for it.”

And he said:

“You’re not a reactive leader. That’s not why you’re on this team.” 

The truth hurts.

I had to be told where I was falling short, and that’s actually what good leaders do. They have candor. They’re radically transparent, and they let the people they are leading know when they’re not performing, as well as when they are performing well. The best leaders are saying, “That’s not who you really are, so I would need you to live and act like who you really are.”

So that was a big eye-opener --- massive for me really. I realized, all this stuff I knew, learned, remembered, and talked about myself - I was forgetting it, I wasn’t doing it. 

That "awakening moment" is when I decided: "I have to be more active in the lives of the people I’m supposed to lead."

I can’t just be there physically. I have to be there with my whole self, actually engage my mind and heart, helping them overcome their problems, not just waiting for them to come to me.

Leadership Is Thinking of Others The Right Way

When you get so focused on your actual tasks, you stop thinking about other people. There was a time when I didn’t think about other people the right way, I was thinking more about myself and what I had to get done, and not necessarily aligning my vision and values with that of the team. 

I didn't help others feel important.

We know the best leaders make us feel important.

That’s ultimately the goal, to help others take action and feel important.

People who feel important will do anything for you.

Leadership is Conversation

It’s conversations, and that’s all leadership really is. It’s different types of conversations, and those conversations can come in a variety of forms. It can be through text or email, it can be one-on-one, it can be one-to-many.

Leaders Learn About Their People

Different people have different needs, wants, and desires. You have to find a way to meet those needs and give them what they want in the type of conversations they need.

Leaders should build tremendous rapport, yet be flexible as well. You need to get to know people better, and then you can really get down to business. Other people, just want to get the work done because they’re so focused. And if you spend time having the wrong type of conversations, they’re going to shut off.

It just takes time to get to know the people. And so really, if you take the time to get to know someone, you’ll figure out how they need to be led. And as long as you can remember that – that comes from not thinking about yourself, it comes from thinking about them. And you remember how they need to be led, you can change your behavior to match what they need. Then once you give them what they want, you can then help them become whom they need to become.

Leaders Think About Others First

If you’re thinking about yourself and how you’re feeling, most of the time you’re going to be wrong.

Because, as a leader, it’s not about you.

There’s a difference between leading yourself - which is very important - and leading others. If your role is to lead others, if you’re thinking about yourself, you’re approaching it wrong.

Leaders Provide Encouragement That Is Aligned To The Vision

As we try our best to accomplish our goals (personal and team), we need to be guided the right way. We need to show courage in doing the right things at the right time.

Leaders who provide proper encouragement that is aligned to the goals always have better teams. Leaders who encourage drive performance.

The only way to encourage properly is to have important conversations, to listen, to learn about your team and to align everyone's individual actions to personal and team goals.

Leadership Is Changing and Improving The World

If you want to change the world, the way you do things cannot just be better, they need to be drastically different.

Change your actions and the world will change.

You are stronger than you think. Keep going.

**Your Turn: How do you encourage others?

*This story first appeared on Heather's Younger's Podcast here.