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Because everything rises and falls on leadership. If you want to make a positive impact on the world, learning to lead better will help you do it.
How do people get a handle on leadership? For those who are not naturally gifted for it, leadership can be a mystery. For them, leading people is like walking down a dark corridor.
Too often when people think of their journey into leadership, they envision a career path. What they should be thinking about is their own leadership development!
People who make it only to Level 1 may be bosses, but they are never leaders.
Position is the only level that does not require ability and effort to achieve. Anyone can be appointed to a position.
When you like people and treat them like individuals who have value, you begin to develop influence with them.
The agenda for leaders on Level 2 isn’t preserving their position. It’s getting to know their people and figuring out how to get along with them. Leaders find out who their people are. Followers find out who their leaders are. People build solid, lasting relationships.
Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others.
Level 4 leaders change the lives of the people they lead.
Leaders don’t trade one level for another. They add a new level to the previous one. It is a building process.
I may be on a different one of the 5 Levels with each of five different people at my job.
The Higher You Go, the More Time and Commitment Is Required to Win a Level
The better the leaders are in an organization, the better everyone in the organization becomes.
If people rely only on experience without intentionally learning and preparing for the next level, they won’t progress as leaders. On the other hand, if they only prepare mentally yet obtain no experience through risk and reward, and trial and error, then they still won’t progress. It takes both—plus some amount of talent. But you have no control over how much talent you possess.
If you possess a natural gift for leadership, you probably have a passion for growth. You like to see things build. It’s part of your wiring. Go with it. If you have a more modest amount of talent, don’t lose hope. You can make up for a lot by becoming a highly intentional student of leadership, thereby making the most of every opportunity. Either way, remember that success at any level helps you to be successful at every level. So work hard to win the level you’re on now. It will prepare you for the future.
Good leaders do not lead everyone the same way. Why? Because every person is different, and you’re not on the same level of leadership with every person.
Position gives you a chance, but it usually carries with it very little real power, except in systems where the penalties for not following are dire.
When a person receives a leadership position, it’s usually because someone in authority saw talent and potential in that person.
The best leaders promote people into leadership based on leadership potential, not on politics, seniority, credentials, or convenience.
“Don’t tell me what you’re going to do, show me what you’re going to do!”
Your initial goal should be to show your leader and your team that you deserve the position you have received.
“No man is a leader until his appointment is ratified in the minds and the hearts of his men.”
The only way to improve an organization is to grow and improve the leaders. If you want to make an impact, start with yourself.
Make the most of this opportunity in leadership by making growth your goal. And strive to keep growing. Good leaders are always good learners. To be an effective leader, you must believe that the leadership position you receive is merely an invitation to grow. If you do that and become a lifetime learner, you will continually increase your influence over time.
Your values are the soul of your leadership, and they drive your behavior.
an invitation to lead people is an invitation to make a difference.
Leadership is action, not position.
“John, all the letters before or after a name are like the tail on a pig. It has nothing to do with the quality of the bacon.”
I have come to embrace leadership as action,
the number one challenge in developing countries is introducing the idea of leadership as action instead of position. Leaders in these countries often possess an “I’ve arrived” mind-set. We want them to understand one of the most important characteristics of leadership: leaders are always taking people somewhere. They aren’t static. If there is no journey, there is no leadership.
Leaders Who Rely on Position to Lead Often Devalue People
Opposite of servant leadership
Inevitably, positional leaders who rely on their rights develop a sense of entitlement. They expect their people to serve them, rather than looking for ways to serve their people.
Just because you have the right to do something as a leader doesn’t mean that it is the right thing to do.
if I gave the good potential leaders little or nothing, they still succeeded and became good leaders. In contrast, when I gave mediocre leaders everything I had, they still didn’t succeed and couldn’t establish themselves as good leaders. The position does not make the leader—the leader makes the position.
Good leaders leave an organization when they have to follow bad leaders.
“If you don’t invest very much, then defeat doesn’t hurt very much and winning is not very exciting.” That is a pretty good description of a Level 1 leadership environment.
All leaders can learn to lead differently and move up the levels of leadership if they’re willing to change the way they lead on Level 1.
When I have a person whom I feel is ready to lead, I assign them a challenge that involves sacrifice, courage, and humbleness. I need to make sure before a title is given that this person experiences what it is like to be a leader. The choice to lead needs to be theirs and I need them to see that it is not always as glamorous as it appears. So I give them responsibility without the title and I do not tell others that this person will be leading them. The new leader has to figure out how to improve the performance of his or her teammates without having a title or positional authority.
Brilliant...great for people like Rod that aspires to lead!
At first it is very difficult for them. They often come back to me with frustrations, asking, “How can I tell them what to do when they don’t have to follow me?” This creates perfect teaching moments. It allows me to question their approach. I say, “Why are you telling them what to do? A leader finds ways to influence action. Have you asked them how you can help them? Ask them about the challenges they have in their position. Maybe there is a way you can work together as a team and make things more efficient for one another. Form a relationship with this person and show interest in them.”
Over time it is so exhilarating to see this process take place. What amazes me is what happens after I give these new leaders their title. Their teammates whom they were leading are usually thrilled when the person receives a leadership position. And their attitude of excitement is felt throughout the department. All this happens because the new leader has begun to learn that leadership isn’t about...
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Most people respond very poorly to positional leadership.
if you have to tell people that you’re the leader, you’re not.
Niccolò Machiavelli wrote, “It is not the titles that honor men, but men that honor titles.”
Leadership isn’t a right. It’s a privilege.
It must be continually earned.
Forget about your leadership rights. Focus on your responsibility to make a difference in the lives of the people you lead.
If you want to grow as a leader, be prepared to be uncomfortable. But know this: the risks are well worth the rewards.
Every person has a lid on his or her leadership potential. We are not all gifted equally. The challenge we all face is growing and developing to our full leadership potential, thereby raising the lid on our actual leadership ability.
Frightening concept knowing that we are limited. However, our abilities are God gifted for a reason / purpose.
A leadership position can be received in a day, but leadership development is a lifelong process.
Leadership is meant to be active and dynamic. Its purpose is to create positive change.
