How to be a leader that people love to follow (Part 3: Strategic Empowerment)

Introduction

So far in this series we've explored the foundational elements that make a #leader someone that people love to follow: #character (#humility , #integrity & #EQ ) and #purpose (#mission , #vision & #values ). Once these are established, you're ready to enter into the meat of #planning and #execution , guiding the team in the real work required to achieve the vision that you've set. In this article, we'll focus on how to get the most out of your team by strategically #empowering them through #settingbiggoals that align with your vision and #enabling them through #autonomy to work passionately and proficiently toward the #achievement of those #goals .

Set Big Goals

Push your team out of their comfort zone

“To be outstanding – get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” - Alrik Koudenburg

To do great things you need to aim high. Once you have a crystal clear vision (which we discussed in part 2 ), then set big, scary goals in support of that vision. It's going to be uncomfortable and that's OK. Very little can be accomplished from within your comfort zone, both individually and corporately. It's when we step out of our collective comfort zone and challenge our team to do things that may seem impossible that we achieve beyond practical expectations and take meaningful steps toward fulfilling our vision.

Listen to their concerns and plan for them

“Many a man would rather you heard his story than granted his request.” - Phillip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield

It's likely that most of your team is closer to the actual work being performed than you are and, once they fully understand the vision and are presented with the goals, may quickly raise objections as to why they are not possible. The natural tendency is to look at the goals of tomorrow through the lens of how we operate today and, if your goals are aggressive, it's normal for today's bottlenecks to make tomorrow's goals seem impossible, especially for those on the front lines.

As a leader, it's important to not immediately bury these concerns, which can be a common gut response, because many of them may be legitimate roadblocks that need dedicated people, processes or systems to enable them to scale with your vision. It's also important to give your team the freedom to voice these concerns and the validation of fully listening. You'll need to discern which objections are legitimate and justify a tactical response and which ones are driven by the natural desire to avoid the discomfort we discussed above. In either case, it is important to hear your team out, validate their concerns as legitimate and then work with them on a plan forward. Otherwise, concerns that go un-recognized will fester within the team, become self-fulfilling prophecies and, ultimately, turn the affected team members against the leader and the vision.

Celebrate the wins and learn from the failures

"It's fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure." - Bill Gates

When you set big goals and push your team out of their comfort zone, you can achieve incredible things, but it can also setup an environment where the team feels like they are constantly behind and never fully succeeding. For instance, say you set a big goal to 10x sales for a certain product line over the year and it will require incredible ingenuity, drive and growth within the team to achieve it. At the end of the year, the product line grows by 9x, just short of the goal. The team failed. Or did it? Technically, the team didn't achieve the goal, so it failed in one sense, but it still accomplished amazing growth (likely more than most of the team thought possible at the beginning of the year) and had 100s of small victories along the way that enabled that growth. Too much focus on the outcomes of big goals can lead to swings in morale and, ultimately, burnout. Here's some principles to help manage between setting big goals and burning your team out:

1. When you hit your big goals, celebrate BIG
2. Celebrate the small victories along the way to recognize the great work that is being done in support of the goals/vision (major individual contributions, key new hires, new system implementations, new processes, critical KPI improvements, achievement of key sub goals/tasks, clear displays of company values, etc.)
3. When you miss your big goals, don't be heavy handed about the failure, but use it as a #learning opportunity. Look at what went right (celebrate those items) and what could have gone differently to help achieve that goal. Recognize the influence of outside factors and consider how those could have been mitigated. Use it all to inform your #strategicplanning and shape your next set of goals/tactics.

Empower Your Team

Surround yourself with people smarter than you

"The ratio of We’s to I’s is the best indicator of the development of a team." - Lewis B. Ergen

Taking this approach requires a heavy dose of the first element of character that we discussed in part 1 : humility. The leader can't (and shouldn't) be the expert in everything nor have all the answers. With your vision as your guide, determine the ideal structure for your team, including additional levels of leadership, if needed, and then fill those roles with the smartest, most talented people you can find that align with your values, believe in your mission and are excited about your vision. As the leader, don't be intimidated if they are smarter than you...be proud of it. That's what you need to be #successful .

Put them in the best position to succeed

“True productivity is about doing more of what is in your desire zone and less of everything else.”?-?Michael Hyatt

This concept relies heavily on the elements of "genuinely caring" about your team and leveraging EQ that were discussed in part 1 . It involves getting to know your team, observing their #strengths / #weaknesses , understanding how they are wired, discerning their #passions and using that knowledge to put them in the place where they can have the biggest positive #impact . Help them to contribute in areas where they are both #proficient and #passionate , aka. the "desire zone" as author and speaker Michael Hyatt puts it. In this zone we are #energized , more #productive , less distracted and, ultimately, more #effective in working towards the vision.

Enable them through autonomy

"Autonomy leads to empowerment." - Bobby Kotick

Simple in concept, but difficult to do, especially for leaders that have been successful individual contributors for years prior to moving into a leadership role. Once the vision is clear, values are shared, goals are set and team is in-place, set them free to execute. Avoid the temptation to micro-manage. Monitor closely and be ready to step in to help, when needed, but let them navigate the ups and downs, develop strategy, design processes, implement systems and solve problems. This autonomy will #empower the team to #thrive , both individually and collectively, and enable scale that is not possible under the constraints of an over-bearing leader.

Conclusion

Amazing things are accomplished everyday by ordinary people that work together with diligence towards a common vision. Often this is enabled by leadership that strategically builds, motivates and empowers highly effective teams through setting big goals, putting the team in a position to succeed and then setting them free to execute.

However, a leader's work doesn't stop once they've set goals and empowered the team. A leader that people love to follow will be focused on guiding the team through the disciplined execution of the vision by closely measuring progress, intentionally engaging and coaching, and diligently working alongside the team, regardless of what needs to be done. We'll explore the practical aspects of these #leadership roles next week.

References:

1. "Free to Focus " by Michael Hyatt