How to Lead a Team of Independent Thinkers

Everyone should think and act like me, right? Early in life, many of us assumed that people thought the same way that we did—and if they didn’t, they were wrong. My way seemed the best, and everyone should want to operate like me. Thankfully, somewhere along the way, my worldview evolved to realize that others were just wired differently.

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Learning This Lesson Under Pressure

I had begun to learn this in college, but as a young fighter pilot I was in a group that was highly confident, loved competition, and possessed the attitude that you were the best among the best.

Later in the POW camps when we were isolated and tortured, we became more humble. And then as we fighter pilots and aircrew were placed in large cells with 40-60 POWs, our humble growth in understanding differences continued. Locked up in a cell for a couple of years together, the similarities were obvious, but the wildly varying perspectives and talents also became apparent.

Those different talents helped us build an incredibly strong team that could accomplish almost any goal. Some were naturally gifted at secret communications, while others were gifted at memorizing data and messages. Some were good at teaching math while others at teaching music or a language like French or Spanish (we had no books, but our minds brought back much of what we had learned in the past). Some could walk on their hands back and forth in the large cell covering as much as 100 feet, and some could remember a movie and share it with the group on Saturday night. Some were talkers and some were listeners. Some loved to argue, and some avoided it like the plague.

The main point is that we learned about ourselves and how to recognize, appreciate, and value our differences.

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This coaching clip expands on this idea. Please watch, and then continue reading the blog below –

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Honorable Leaders Value Differences

Here’s this month’s coaching point for you as a leader -

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"Honorable leaders recognize that people have different talents, and they learn to adapt their interactive behaviors to make the other person feel accepted and valued." [Tweet This]

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In July while speaking at the annual EAA AirVenture (Experimental Aircraft Association), I had the great privilege to meet General Jackie Van Ovost USAF, an Air Force pilot and now commander of the U.S. Transportation Command. In her decorated career, she is recognized as a great leader and pilot. (Sidenote: as a teenager, she got her pilot’s license before she got a driver’s license.)

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In one of her past interviews, she talked about how important it was for leaders to adapt to communicate and relate to people based on their unique talents. For example, when someone is highly introverted, they may not want to speak up in the meeting, especially to share a different perspective. So, she recognized that and reached out to them in private to gain their insights and make them feel heard and valued.

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This principle of adapting to others is highlighted in the following -?

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"The Platinum Rule says, 'Do unto others as they would like to be done unto.'” [Tweet This]

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Please read that again and reflect on it for a few seconds.

The Platinum Rule may sound like a conflict with the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would like to be done unto”), but they complement one another. The Golden Rule is talking about valuing, appreciating, and respecting. To capitalize on each person’s unique talents, leaders must make others feel valued and important by interacting with people the way that they want to be treated. The Platinum Rule is exactly what Gen. Van Ovost was doing to connect with her people.

Here are just three examples of how people have different talents –

• Reflective and focused vs. Expressive and adaptive
• Fast Paced and challenging vs. Patient and harmonious
• Spontaneous and general vs. Planned and specific

You can see these talents are very different, which requires adapting your behavior to connect with the person on each side.

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It’s crucial for leaders to coach themselves to observe people and uniquely connect based on their talents. Whether it’s at work or at home, adapting the way that you interact with people is one of the most powerful ways to gain respect and influence with others. As a complimentary gift, download a free chapter from my book, Engage with Honor, titled “Connect: Know Yourself—Know Your People”.

Try it for the next few weeks, and then post your comments below on how it works for your leadership. ?

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