One of the Greatest Rules of Leadership

One of the Greatest Rules of Leadership

Do you remember the childhood game, “Follow the Leader?” Now if you remember and if you will agree and admit you enjoyed the game ONLY IF you were the Leader that everyone followed, that was perhaps the birth of your destiny to become a Leader…

Indeed, the first indication that you have leadership qualities and characteristics surfaces very early.  As schools start back, I’m sure seasoned teachers in the classroom can and will readily identify the leaders and the followers within the first few weeks of school.  There is no right or wrong, good or bad distinction between the two…remember all tribes must have Chiefs and Indians to be a healthy, productive tribe who live in harmony. Right?

My experience on the road to Leadership has been colored with exceptional people and a variety of experiences that have paved the broken road to success.  One of the greatest lessons I learned was a bit painful, a bit embarrassing, a bit of a blow to my ego…yet the growth after accepting and acknowledging the lesson learned was life changing!

This law of leadership is simple, not easy.

Once you hire correctly and have the right members in the right position for your tribe, you just need to get the heck out of the way to allow them to grow, enrich and develop the business objective you seek to accomplish!  More simply, when you hire competent talent, get OUT OF THEIR WAY and LET THEM DO THEIR JOB.

Boom!  Period! 

Simple, yet not easy….

Here are 3 essential steps to keep in mind as you move out of the way and onward to greater success in leadership:

I.  Embrace Change

1. The first change is to accept that things will NOT be done the way you would do them.  Now we all know that our way is not necessarily the only way, yet it is certainly the BEST way of accomplishing any task. Right?  WRONG!
   • Others may do things differently
   • Other may do things better
2. Allow leverage to be your Friend and allow you to complete either income producing task, or pleasure producing task.  Getting out of your way allows you to do more, better.
3. Tell your EGO to take a hike.  It will be done differently, it will be done better.  That’s okay. Really…it is.

I recently had a Coaching Client upon return of an extended vacation state to me…” You know, while I was gone, I delegated (leveraged) several tasks to my Assistant and she did an amazing job. It was so great to realize that she is trained, competent and able to handle her job duties and perhaps a bit more.  Now I’m looking around trying to figure out what else I can give her that I will not take back.”

Now folks, this is leadership growth in action.  The key takeaway for me and where I see the greatest stride to masterful leadership, delegation and leverage?  The closing phrase…” What else can I give her…that I WILL NOT TAKE BACK.”   He totally gets it.  It’s about letting go and letting it happen.  Not only get out of the way, yet stay out of the way!!!!!

II.  Double-Line Rule:

As an old-school accountant (when our only technology or computer was a 10-key adding machine with a tape), you will remember the “double-line” rule.  That was how you validated that all accounts were in balance.  If your debits and credits were in balance at the end of the report, you always drew double lines under each column to indicate…” All good, we are in balance”.  To check for completion, you simply looked at the bottom of each report.

1. Others may do things differently.  That’s okay. For the transition of power to effectively and efficiently happen as you get out of the way, it’s imperative to have systems, procedures and processes in place.
   • Other will do things differently, yet as long as protocol or procedures are followed and you can “double-line” each project upon completion—it’s great!
   • Change occurs when fresh eyes take ownership of a task and offer opportunities to improve, modify, simplify, deconstruct and reconstruct to improve the outcome.  If you can “double-line” the result to meet your objective, accept the change and stay out of the way.
2. Others may do things better.  So, what if fresh eyes see ways to improve what you are doing?  What if there is technology to replace your way and allow a stream-lined more accurate way of meeting your objective?
   • Listen and allow the owner of the project to offer suggestions, vet solutions and improve the way you are doing business.
   • Beware of seeing change as a threat and challenge to your authority.  My philosophy has always been to hire people much more skilled and knowledgeable that me.  Trust me, it has NEVER been a problem. When you find that talent…empower them to be the best they can be.  Allow them to serve well and OWN not only the project, yet also the results, the credit.  “Double-line” their success with gratitude, acknowledgement and celebration.

III.  As a leader, be prepared to experience:

1. Growth beyond expectation.
   Production, confidence, profitability
2. The benefits of leverage
   • Understanding the power of delegation
   • Getting more done fueled by getting out of the way
3. Explosive results
   • Improved effectiveness and efficiency as an organization
   • Ways to do more with less

There is huge opportunity when you can get out of the way of others and empower the next generation of leadership to learn, grow and have ownership.  Let it begin with you.  The feeling is liberating and the results are astounding.

Lead by example…be a resource, not a sales pitch.