Pescatore Leadership - Come with me

Does this sound familiar…..I have an opening and need someone, the right person quickly.? You have resumes, interested candidates lined up and ready to interview.? You finish meeting with all your candidates and quickly turn to asking yourself important questions.? Who is best qualified, who brings all the skills necessary, and most important who will get the job done, for me.? The last two words are often unspoken but very real.? It’s hard to believe but those words define your leadership style and not in the best way.??

Your mindset as a leader is your foundation.? For me vs. for you, that is the question?

‘For me’ leadership is as much defined by time as by anything else.? Today we value leaders that get the job done, report winning results and are hard drivers right now.? It’s a win at all cost equation that many are beginning to question not only for the mental well being of employees but leaders as well.? Unfortunately, 75% of employees said the most stressful part of their job was their immediate boss (1). ? What is often forgotten is that focus on the short term destroys long term value.? The ‘for me’ leaders skills are rewarded and the organization can become top heavy with these types of leaders.? In fact, companies fail to choose the right talent for management positions 82 percent of the time (2).????

‘For me’ leaders are skeptical of others, they build competition with anyone and everyone and build teams to maximize their value.? It’s a never ending cycle.? You know you might have a top heavy ‘for me’ leader organization when internal competition is more consuming than external competition.? Imagine a meeting where all leaders finish reporting what their team is doing.? Then there is a moment where someone suggests a look at outside competitor data and how to work together to win in the market and the meeting goes quiet.? Is the organization as a whole winning in a ‘for me’ environment???

‘For you’ leaders approach leadership differently.? Come with me is their mindset and forms the foundation upon which every decision is made.? Remember that interview scenario.? What if the leader approached it a different way and asked questions like, what are your motivations and goals in life, what type of team do you like to be a part of, what are you looking for in a leader.? How can I help you achieve this and make the most of your work? Of? course for you to succeed it will take a lot of hard work.? The main difference is your mindset.? ‘For you’ leaders are looking to build a team not just for today but for the future.? They realize that a human mind and body has exponential growth opportunities and they respect all for their unique gifts and talents.

The greatest example of ‘for you’ leadership has endured for over 2,000 years from those simple words of, ‘come follow me’.? It endures today because the foundation was built on the needs of those that answered the call to follow.? It provides real hope and inspires those to serve the greater good and go beyond what was even thought to be possible.?

So you may ask yourself,? if I ask different interview questions will my leadership skills improve?? No, because the mindset determines your interactions and choices all the time, not just one time.? I was once told by a very well respected mentor of mine, congratulations you are now in an important leadership role.? You should spend 70% of your time focused on helping your team grow as people and employees.? Huh?? I have experienced successful leaders spending that amount of time responding to their boss, understanding what they want, managing upward, saying the right things, staying in alignment and ready to go at a moment's notice.? Why the big discrepancy between one leader to another?

We need to step back a little.? We can learn from the greatest leader of all time, Jesus Christ.? He left us with enduring lessons in leadership, transcending insight in how to get the best from people and a light that can drown out the darkness with a ‘for you’ mindset. Jesus spent the majority of his days with his disciples, you may say 90-95% teaching and helping them grow so they can be fishers of people long after he was gone from earth.? He got to know his disciples, he knew their strengths and weaknesses and helped them become enduring leaders far beyond their own expectations.? He was patient and kind and taught them to be ‘for you’ leaders and it paid off as the disciples left him. They grew beyond what anyone would have imagined in a time where reaching the world wasn’t as easy as it is today.? Why did he spend so much time cultivating ordinary people vs. just managing upward and approaching the leaders of the world??

Wouldn’t it have been easier, faster and more effective to get Caesar Augustus on board with the plan??

Jesus knew lasting change would only come from focusing on building up people, not just pacifying the rulers.

Pescatore leaders exhibit a ‘for you’ leadership style as fishers of people.??

What does success look like in a ‘for you’ leadership world???

• Leaders serve the organization because of their vast experience, knowledge,? patience and ability to drive a ‘for you’ culture .??
• They set strong foundations for their people to grow and thrive as not only employees but people too.??
• The organization changes because everyone is driving change and are enthused by evolving the company and organically your employees become fishers of people.? They spread the mission of the company and care about the organization as it serves as a light in the community, a force for change and a symbiotic relationship where both the company and employee receive the fruit of its labor. ? You never have ‘want’ because your people take care of the organization long after you are gone.??

Leaders create leaders not followers.

The ‘for you’ mindset eventually evolves to ‘for us’ and your company can tackle any challenge and face any adversity.? It all starts with recognizing and filling the organization with Pescatore Leaders.??

1. Mary Abbajay, “What to do when you have a bad boss,” Harvard Business Review, September 7, 2018, hbr.org

???2. Randall Beck and James Harter, “Why great managers are so rare,” Business Journal, gallup.com.