Only when you’re conscious of and recognise the importance of your own value add, will you be able to begin to recognise the potential power of releasing the value of your people …

Behind every great leader, there’s an even greater team

Creating empowering beliefs and bringing people with you are key leadership skills. Ask yourself:

  • How do you engage people and their ownership of a shared vision?
  • Are you making the most of, and getting the very best from, your greatest asset?
  • Do you promote a high degree of participation and teamwork in the organisation?
  • Do you involve or do you consult?
  • Do you invest in really getting to know your people?
  • Do you know what else they are good at that brings value to the business?
  • Do you know who they are, beyond what they do for you?
  • Have you got the right people doing the right things, in the right places, at the right time?

Holding up the mirror

As I say in my book, the behaviour of your people is a reflection of your own and your customers experience will be a mirror of the experience your people have when working for you.

Your people are always watching you so be aware of that constantly and ensure you role model the behaviours you want them to emulate. And remember, if you’re not enthused, and showing it, then your people won’t be. I work with many leaders whose first conversation with me involves talking about their business challenges in the form of what they need to fix and it usually starts with the people on the ground floor. What do I say? Look in the mirror … Let me illustrate …

I recently worked with the leadership team of a manufacturing business where 40% of their products were leaving the factory late. When I sat in on the management meeting I discovered why: organisation was lacking; there was nothing happening outside the meetings, no sense of who needed to know what and no meeting discipline. When the MD said “we need to make sure we have the best technical experts in each area of the business to improve delivery times”. I said “No you don’t … You need to change attitudes and it starts in this room. How can you expect your people to recognise the importance of organisation and timing if you don’t model it?” Getting business leaders to really understand the power of their impact is a challenge – getting them to then be the change they want to see is where the really hard work starts! Needless to say, the percentage of products leaving the factory late reduced to as little as 10% in just three months.

Leadership is like parenting

Your business is you and your people – not the widgets or service … It stands to reason then that your business sustainability is about your capacity to learn and develop yourself and nurture, guide and support the development of your people. Leading a business is like being a parent.

  • When you’re nurturing and guiding, you’re leading
  • When you’re giving instructions, you’re managing

I refer to it as making things possible versus making things happen … More on this in next months blog!

If you would like to discuss succession management or next generation coaching with me, please email me at: bev.lockwood@unlockedltd.com or give me a call at 07747 456351.