It could be that one of the main reasons you are a successful business leader is that you really know how to talk. You’ve been rewarded in your career for being able to talk your way into (or out of) anything. You’ve been successful in convincing people, inspiring people, and getting your way because of your ability to talk. But, like most things in life, too much of a good thing can turn a strength into a weakness.
A leader may hold the title, but it’s the person who leads who excels at coaching and getting the most from his or her employees. If you’re on a leadership team, which person are you?
Although many leaders understand that coaching their employees is a large part of their job, few profess to excel at leading, managing, and creating accountability (LMA™). And I’ve never had a business owner tell me that the reason they started their business was because they loved to manage people. It’s no surprise then that “people issues” are one of the common frustrations of leaders, owners, and managers.
“I’m not sure I’m the right person to run this company.”
As I started the EOS® process with a marketing agency, the CEO told his leadership team that he wasn’t sure that he was the right person to run the business. He gave everyone full permission to speak up at any time during their exercise if they thought he wasn’t the right person.
It was clear that he was anxious. He wanted to do the right thing for the team and the business, and he didn’t want any elephants in the room.
This CEO was unusual—not because of his doubts, but because of his honesty.
Carl Jung famously said, “You are what you do, not what you say you’ll do.”
As clear and simple as that statement is, I’ve seen hundreds of otherwise successful leaders behave as though it doesn’t apply. If you want to quickly kill your company’s culture, consider making that mistake yourself.
This is part two of a two-part series exploring what it means to develop leaders throughout your entire organization. See part one here.
You’ve begun to produce a leadership legacy when your leaders are producing other leaders. If you’ve guided your leaders on your own team well, they will do this independently of you – if they still need your help guiding their team, your work isn’t done yet.
When you start to see that third-generation leader rise, you know you’re almost there. You’ve created a leader equal to or better than yourself who has created a leader who is in turn equal to or better than they are. This allows everyone to rise as the company wins.
If you own a business or are on the leadership team of a business, you’re tasked with strategically defining what the future of your business will look like. Who will lead it into the future as you and your leadership team think of future transitions? How will you grow? The answer to these questions begins with developing others and eventually working yourself out of a job.
