What’s your leadership style?
Driving your car is a lot like leading your team. You’ve had your license for years, which means you’ve built up a lot of muscle memory. You operate the gas and brakes without conscious thought.
It’s second nature to be constantly scanning for traffic or obstacles, ensuring that you safely arrive at your destination. You have to be awake, aware, and constantly involved in manipulating the vehicle. This is why it’s exhausting to drive for very long periods of time.
Your friend has a Tesla and lets you take it for a spin. Now you are in a vehicle that drives itself. Here you are driving along, doing what you’ve always done. The Tesla operates the gas pedal, presses the brakes, and directs the wheel.
Instinctually, you move to fight the car - even though it knows how to do it better than you. You are conditioned to rely on doing what you’ve always done. But in this case, it’s counterproductive. Your friend did that too when they first got it, but they learned to stop fighting the car, the processes and automation put in place. Now they are much more relaxed and comfortable with taking their hands off the wheel and enjoy the ride of the expertly built vehicle.
Did you know you can lead your team like you drive a Tesla? It’s far less exhausting, and it allows you tremendous freedom.
Charging up your team to run efficiently and effectively means empowering everyone to do their part and do it well. There are two enormous advantages to leading your team like you drive a Tesla…
You can work more ‘on’ your business - or away from your business- instead of ‘in’ it.
You are serving others by developing and trusting them.
The good news? Anyone in a leadership position can make this transition. You just need systems and a clear leadership philosophy to get your team operating like a Tesla instead of the car you have to drive every mile of every trip. And the farther the car is from clear systems and process the more effort it takes to drive i.e. rolling up the windows with a crank handle or shifting that manual transmission!
Shift your mindset
In order to be an effective leader, you have to know why and how you want to lead. This begins as an internal dialogue that is solidified and then communicated to your team.
Let me be clear about this "internal dialogue." It culminates in a very important document that will steer your path as a leader. The document we call the Leadership Philosophy.
People follow clear expectations much better than shifting expectations. These expectations, outlined in your Leadership Philosophy, help you and your team understand the roles and responsibilities of all. You, as the leader, determine if you want to be present and hands-on in every phase of business or if you will empower your team to step into leadership roles and share the responsibility and rewards.
It goes back to having a clear coaching plan. You need a mindset shift to move from doing it all to empowering others.
Set the parameters
This shift doesn’t happen overnight. Commit to being a leader who teaches others. Teaching takes time and repetition. Be prepared to show the process 3, 4, 5 or more times as they learn. Slowly step back to allow them to try it. Be prepared for mistakes to happen. Teach it to them and then run the process again until you are just standing by, ready to step in and make that surgical cut if needed. There is a detailed and specific process you can follow to get to that point.
Stepping back and empowering your team to step up creates a culture of growth. There is energy and forward momentum.
It is important not to think of it as napping while you drive. You are still present, alert, and ready to act. You can’t step away completely, (there has to be a driver in the car) but you can drastically change your role and free up precious time for other endeavors (professional or personal).
So what is your leadership style? The all manual and high individual output car, or the Tesla that essentially drives and takes care of itself while you safely arrive at your destination?
Where to start
Great leaders look in the mirror first! In order to serve your team, you have to begin by understanding your strengths and weaknesses. We all have them. It’s what we do with them that matters.
Start by taking inventory. Use our free Leadership Assessment to see what skills you currently possess and where your opportunities for growth lie.
Later this spring, we will be launching our Leadership Lab that will provide you with tools and step-by-step processes to help you grow as an influential leader. One section of the Lab will be dedicated to helping leaders build, document, and communicate their leadership philosophy.
