Lessons on Leadership

I’ve been in leadership roles for more than 20 years and have had many great mentors and colleagues who helped guide me on my journey. Leadership is not a solo path, and while study and reading are important, not all leadership can be learned from a book or a class. Leaders emerge from years of winning, making mistakes, and remembering the lessons from both along the way.

Enabling others to succeed results in great teams

Leadership has evolved from a command-and-control, authoritative style of leading to a far more collaborative team sport. And that’s a good thing.

I believe in leading by curiosity — you can lead by asking questions. It took me a long time to learn that. When you can get past the need to teach everything to everyone who works for you, you reach a new level of leadership.

Early on, I tried to make everyone under me do things my way. I thought that since I had been successful with the way I do things, my team would be too. So, I tried to turn everyone into a mini-me. And my goodness, if that had worked, it would have been a mess.

We are each unique. What works for me on my journey won’t necessarily work for anyone else on theirs.

Leading with curiosity allows leaders to guide without over-guiding. It enables people to develop and strengthen their talents — and their own leadership styles.

The caveat to all this is that there always comes a time when a leader needs to make a decision and take a firm stand.

Beware of over-correcting

Early in my career, I let one negative comment derail my leadership journey — and it took time to recover and get back on track. In an overall very positive review, I received one minor comment about using humor too often at work. It was like a gut punch, and it was the only thing I took away from that meeting. I became hyper-aware of myself, and instead of toning it down, I stopped using humor altogether.

I made a mistake that leaders often make: I overcompensated.

I’m sure no one enjoyed working with me for a while. I eventually figured things out, but it was an important lesson: In all things, we must avoid over-correction and be true to who we are. I enjoy humor! It’s part of who I am.

Of course, that wasn’t the only lesson I learned over the years. Like everyone else, I’ve had my share of missteps. But the great thing is, if you have a strong team, they’ll help you get back on track.

Leadership still requires a definitive posture

Although listening is probably the best skill a future leader can hone, leadership still requires a definitive posture and the ability to be succinct. There’s a balance to maintain, and I’ll never say it’s easy. You have to know when to be more authoritative and when you need to ease up and listen.

Ineffective leaders allow indecision and hesitation to put the brakes on progress. Effective leaders know when to apply a more authoritative approach to ensure the team progresses.

If leaders go too hard, they throttle or cap the potential of their teams by making them feel like they have to fall in line with what they think their leader wants, rather than considering what they can give their leader to help them make a more informed decision.

Leadership is all about balance. You need to empower your team to be creative, to come up with solutions on their own, to innovate, and to grow — but it doesn’t absolve a leader from also needing to lead.

What I wish I’d learned sooner

It would have been great if I could have read a book when I was young and learned these concepts. It could have prevented me from making a lot of my mistakes, but that’s not how life works. Mistakes are how you learn. But I do wish I had learned a few things sooner:

·??????Having everyone do things the way I do is not useful and stifles creativity.

·??????You have to delegate, trust and let go.

·??????Being cc’d on everything can be a waste of time and inhibit your team.

·??????The job of a leader is to seek and develop other leaders.

·??????You should constantly prepare the business for the future.

·??????Leaders should be available to guide, but not watch over shoulders.

Leaders must empower, must mentor, and must always be guiding and championing the leaders of the future. But good leaders also won’t hesitate to take a stand, make tough decisions, and ensure the business is sustainable for the people it serves.

To hear more about my thoughts on leadership, checkout my appearance on the Cisco Leadership Podcast.