What causes people to be 40% MORE productive?

Does it matter if you choose to lead people or choose to manage people? Absolutely! What's the difference? Listen to the 17 part series above to find out!

People follow others for one of two reasons:

1. They “have to.”
2. They “want to.”

It’s really that simple.

We don’t want to be low impact leaders that others have to follow.

We should strive to be more than simply the boss, the mom, or the dad. We should seek to build strong relationships and become high impact leaders that others want to follow.

I remember something John Maxwell said in a lesson I heard him teach some time ago. He said, “There is a 40% increase in productivity when comparing those who want to follow the leader with those who have to follow the leader.”

Wow! A 40% increase in productivity is amazing. I’ve witnessed plenty of this in my career and think the difference may actually be greater than 40%.

I led one team that increased their productivity by 376% in just one week! When I arrived on Monday as a Lean Manufacturing consultant to help them improve an inefficient process, they were following me because they had to. They didn't even know me.

When I left on Friday, they were following me because they wanted to! They had gotten to know me, had begun to trust me, and appreciated me being there to help them.

Pause and consider your work history and what you know about your friends and family members.

• Do most people report to someone they have to follow or someone they want to follow?
• Do you hear others primarily praising their boss or complaining about their boss?

A more important question to consider is, “Would you rather report to someone you have to follow or someone you want to follow?”

If your in a formal position of authority, consider each individual who reports to you:

• Do you feel they are following you because they have to or because they want to?
• Does your relationship with them support your answer?
• Does their performance support your answer?

If you have multiple people reporting to you, your relationship with each of them will be different. If you don’t have a great relationship with them, they likely follow you only because they have to; you’re the boss.

If you do have a great relationship with them, they want to follow you, not because you’re the boss, but because you have taken the time to build a solid relationship with them.

"You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere, if only out of curiosity." ~ Colin Powell

I believe people who love going to work and enjoy being with the people they work with and report to will be 40% more productive if not more.

What I do know is this: People who follow someone only because they have to tend to only do what they have to do. You may have heard them saying something along these lines:

• “I’m just here to get a check.”
• “They don’t pay me to think.”
• “It’s not my job.”

When you hear these comments, you can be confident those people are following someone because they have to.

• What are they leaving on the table?
• How is poor leadership impacting their career? Their future? Their families? Their health?

You can also rest assured their boss is likely paying them the least amount possible to keep them on the job. Likewise, those making the comments are doing the least amount of work to keep their job.

Everyone is losing!

However, when you hear someone say, “How can I help?” or, “I know you only asked for this, but I thought it might be helpful if I went ahead and did a few more things too.” or, “Whatever it takes, I’ll make it happen. You can count on me.” you know there is a strong and well developed leader/follower relationship that serves as the foundation for the actions and thoughts of this person.

These people are following because they want to. They are also highly engaged team members.

Over the past several decades, the focus has shifted from management to leadership to team leadership.

To understand the difference, you must understand we must manage things and processes. Things and processes do not think and feel.

However, we should always lead people because they do think and feel. They do have an opinion, and they do want to express it and be heard. And most importantly, they want to feel like their opinions and ideas matter. They truly want to feel they are part of the team.

As a leader, you're responsible for developing yourself and your team.

What are you leaving on the table?

“The guy who puts the ball through the hoop has ten hands.” ~ John Wooden

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