Anyone in a leadership role knows there’s a limit to what they themselves can accomplish. We have to work with and through others to harness and leverage group resources to produce positive results. And to do that we need to be able to help others to succeed.
Creating the conditions for success
Whenever people talk about leadership we pretty quickly begin to talk about people. Sometimes they're people we know - a current or former boss, a community leader, a coach. Sometimes they're people we don't know personally but have observed or read about: famous figures from history like Martin Luther King, Ghandi or Churchill; or high-profile business identities like Richard Branson, Anita Roddick or Rupert Murdoch.
And of course we often recall people who were not in formal or organisational leadership roles who have nevertheless displayed characteristics of leadership: teachers are a common example, as are parents.
We understand leadership through the examples - the consistent behaviour, language and values - of people in leadership roles.
And one of the key reasons we respond to and recall such people - whether they be famous figures from history, inspiring business identities, or personal acquaintances - is that effective leaders create success in and through other people.
Anyone in a leadership role knows there’s a limit to what they themselves can accomplish. We have to work with and through others to harness and leverage group resources to produce positive results. And to do that we need to be able to help others to succeed.
Simple enough to say. The challenge is in doing it intentionally and effectively. Here are five points to think about in using our leadership roles to intentionally create and support the conditions for other people to succeed.
1. Help them set goals. Goal setting encourages people to apply their own motivations and strengths to organisational needs. It invites discretionary effort.
2. Ask questions. Leading with questions empowers people because it shows respect, invites input and encourages engagement. Questions also stimulate creativity and continuous learning.
3. Listen. Effective communication is a two-way process. Listening signals respect, interest and concern. It also helps you identify needs, challenges, gaps and opportunities.
4. Celebrate achievements and success. Reward and recognition is most powerful when it is personal and specific. It’s too easy for us to feel like our efforts are taken for granted. Celebration makes a celebrity of the achiever.
5. Encourage learning. Learning organisations are healthy organisations. Formal and informal learning occurs as a result of the actions we take, which means learning opportunities abound – especially if you’re applying the principles above.
There's an old saying about leadership that you can tell whether or not you're leading by whether or not anyone is following you. One of the reasons we follow people is that they are demonstrating their ability to create the conditions for us - individually and collectively - to achieve success. If leaders are the ones with their hands on the controls, we expect them to use those controls to help us succeed in our shared endeavours.
And as our list of five ideas above suggests, the most effective "controls" are those that enable, equip and encourage others so that they are able to achieve and sustain success.
Aubrey Warren
National Master Trainer
Situational Leadership® Australia
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