The Unspoken Secret to Leadership Success

When it comes to building a successful career performance matters. That goes without saying. Possibly even more than that, you can't drive the performance without being a great leader. I asked ChatGPT how many articles have been written over the years about what it takes to become a great leader. It told me tens of millions. Yet, not even one of them points to one of the most effective and hidden secrets to being a successful leader and delivering incredible performance.

Harvard Business Review lists it's 3 top traits of successful leaders as being:

• Authenticity
• Curiosity and
• Analytical Prowess

The Center for Creative Leadership adds that in order to these, you must have these 3 leadership traits:

• Self-awareness
• Respect
• Compassion

And Cochran, Cochran and Yale finish this out by adding that there are 3 elite characteristics leaders display. They are:

• They are motivators
• The hold themselves accountable
• They are good communicators

These are all important, and fantastic (and the themes of Season 4's episodes of Liftoff Enterprises TV show and podcast). But there is one overlooked key to success that you might not be aware of. Success is easier, better and faster is you align yourself with a "Work Wingman."

What is a Work Wingman?

A Work Wingman is a person who is by your side during key professional moments, supporting your personal brand in ways you might not natively do. It's like the Bert to your Ernie, your wonder twin, that best friend from your childhood that would always be there for you. In some cases it is a peer or colleague, in other cases it is a spouse and in some cases it is someone not aligned to your work life at all, but a great addition to a meeting.

I've been observing this for while. And every strong and successful leader has a trusted wingman by them to quietly help them succeed. A good work wingman is not someone who works for you, an EA, a chief of staff or even an intern. A good work wingman is someone who has the following traits:

• They understand your strengths and weaknesses and show up at meetings, networking, events and other business events in a way that compliments you.
• They have your personal best interests in mind always and you can trust them.
• They can own a conversation on their own, but if it your your event or agenda, they can play the supporting role in a compelling way.
• They provide the critical feedback you need when you inaccurately assess a situation to keep you on track.
• They give you the courage to "get the job done" or "go the extra mile."

Plus, it's more fun to be able to share successes and overcome failure when you have a wingman by your side.

As I have been exploring this topic, I haven't found a successful leader yet who doesn't have a work wingman in their life. We are all led to believe we need mentors (and we do) but until today I'm not sure many (if any) have talked about the need to a work wingman in your life. This could be the unspoken secret to leadership success.

So, if you know who your work wingman is, give them a shout out here. If you don't, what are you waiting for? Go find one!