Grow team members to be leaders

We just returned from a very nice team building where, next to the classical events, activities and yes, drinks….., we had a Leadership training.

Most where surprised to hear about a Leadership training, especially people that do not want to follow a managerial path. But, is leadership all about managing and coordinating people?

One of the leadership definition that I love the most is this one “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less” –John Maxwell. And is not at all about managing people, is about making them want to follow because you add value to them, no matter if you are a manager or not.

During the training, I defined Leadership through mathematics because we are all IT people and IT works with math. Math is precise, palpable and everyone uses it, especially simple formulas. In the leadership formulas I had: communication, trust, expertize, care, prioritization, character, etc., all put in simple formulas just to underline that Leadership can be learnt and grown.

Are these specific to managers or coordinators? I think not. I think that a valuable team member, no matter the position, must have a nice Character, build Trust among colleagues, grow Expertise, have a good Communication, Prioritize work and Care about the others, and more.

If you have such team members then you are on the right path of being really successful because these people will grow your team. If you don’t have them, grow them. This is what we are trying to do at Whyttest and one way to do it is to make Leadership trainings to everyone…at Team Buildings…having drinks….and pancakes.