What's the Exchange Rate of your Influence?
An exchange rate represents the relative price of two currencies. For example, the dollar–euro exchange rate implies the relative price of the euro in terms of dollars. If the dollar–euro exchange rate is $0.95, it means that you need $0.95 to buy €1. Basically, the exchange rate states how many units of one currency you need to buy one unit of another currency.
What if there were a formula to establish a leadership/followership exchange rate. What would yours be?
Why do some leaders create cultures that attract the best talent and others rouse us to talk negatively behind their backs and hope that another “career opportunity†might surface, and soon?
Maximizing Your Exchange Rate of Influence
At GiANT Worldwide, we have a definition for leaders worth following. We call them Liberators. A Liberating Leader is disciplined to calibrate strong support and desirable challenge in a way that creates workplace cultures that all seek. Think of a Liberator like the best coach or teacher that you ever had. They fully encourage, equip, and empower others and delight in seeing potential fulfilled.
A Liberator fights for the highest possible good in the lives of those they lead.
50 Point Question: Who's a leader fighting for your highest possible good right now? How do they lead in a way that is both supportive and challenging to you?
100 Point Question: Are you fighting for the highest possible good of those you lead? Are you liberating others or dominating them? Are you a leader worth following or one who people grumble about at home, at night, or around the dinner table?
Let’s assume we all have some work to do in the Liberation Department. Here are some healthy tips to maximize your exchange rate of influence.
- Fist Lead Self - The biggest issue in the workplace is leadership fraud. When the "leader" tells others to behave in a way that is inconsistent with his/her own. This is pure hypocrisy, and that inconsistency leads to a lack of trust and an increase in drama. Leading yourself means becoming self-aware -- it's learning to look for and see the broccoli in your teeth before pointing it out to others.
- Know Thy Tendencies - Liberating Leaders know how to calibrate high support and high challenge. Most of us are good at one but not the other. I’m naturally good at supporting, but struggle to bring commensurate challenge. This reality can lead to passive-aggressive and protective behaviors if not corrected. Know your tendencies and calibrate them appropriately.
- Tighten the Bolt of Consistency - I am convinced that one of the keys to great leadership is consistency. The inconsistent leader wreaks havoc upon their organization by preventing a regular rhythm of reliability and dependability for their teams. This lack of consistency results in others looking for workarounds, gossip, and rolled eyes. Learn how to communicate consistently, train, share ideas and perform as a Highly Reliable Organization.
- Be Present and Productive - In our recent book, 5 Gears, we help leaders learn how to be both present and productive at home, work, and community. Yup, it can be done. The secret is to learn to be in the right gear at the right time. The secret is in knowing what gear you should be in and shifting up or down appropriately depending on the situation.
- Be Intentional and Directional - Accidental leadership is reactive. Intentional leadership is proactive, but still not enough. Directional leadership is accountable to execute upon intentions. Leaders Worth Following are those who think ahead. Positive change, growth and winning influence doesn’t happen when you are accidental. It’s easy to abdicate. Great leaders know that being directional builds credibility and influence.
- Focus on Security - Think about the damage that insecure leaders bring to teams. Weak leaders are forever self-preserving. These are the leaders ruled by fear of losing or are the ones trying to hide vulnerability. Insecure leaders breed weak cultures characterized by drama, gossip, and distrust. Secure leaders have nothing to prove, nothing to hide and nothing to lose. They are comfortable with who they are and are open to sharing their weaknesses without fear of retribution.
- Balance Confidence - Some leaders are under-confident and some over-confident. Genuine influencers are balanced in the natural strength they offer as well as an accurate self-assessment of weakness. When a leader is confident, the team is confident. Under or over confident people suck the productive life out of organizations. If you want to become a Leader Worth Following, it is crucial to deal appropriately with any insecurities that cause you to try to prove yourself to others or protect your turf. We call this self-preservation. Nothing to lose. Nothing to hide. Nothing to prove.
- Humble Thyself - In a global marketplace where problems are increasingly complex, no one person will ever have all the answers. That’s why humility is one of the most fundamental virtues prospected by leading companies. Without humility, teams are unable to learn. When teams cease to learn, they fail to progress. Humility is the posture of a learning leader.
- Know Thy Team - Everyone wants to be known. The magic happens when leaders grow from self-awareness (point #1) to social awareness. GiANT's 5 Voices tool and assessment will assist your team's migration from self-knowledge to team focus. 5 Voices is a game changer for every sector wanting to transform the culture of their organization 100X.
- Keep you Sense of Humor - Leaders come from a mix of more than 31 flavors. I wish I could tell you that every CEO or executive I've known has had a killer sense of humor, but the vast majority of the successful ones certainly do. I'm not sure why that is, but I suspect it has something to do with a combination of enjoying life, loving what you do for a living, and not taking yourself too seriously. In leaders, humor and humility seem to go hand in hand. They're like a counterbalance for self-confidence, something that keeps their feet on the ground and their egos in check.
Some final thoughts from Dr. Joe:
I can help you Become Worth Following and Build Teams Worth Following. I'd love to hear from you!
- Email me at joseph.hill@giantworldwide.com or visit my website.
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- Become a Leader Worth Following
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