Developing the Leaders Around You. Session 3
This weeks session started with three questions in regard to someone who is not a great leader themselves.
Question 1. Can they Identify leaders…and the answer was yes… true leaders have a certain charisma which makes them stand out so most people, even people who are not great leaders themselves can recognise them, and are drawn to them. This does not mean that charismatic, natural leaderrs do not need to develop and learn skills and techniques to make them better leaders. Neither does it mean that people who are less charismatic now cannot progress and develop as individuals growing in self esteem, and confidence. That is why we are also studying "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth" and will study other such materials as we progress.
Question 2. Can they Enlist them…here the answer is yes, sometimes. The person can recognise and enlist the services of the leader they identify provided they command respect in their own field and have the authority to empower the new leader to go where they may not be able to go themselves.
Question 3. Can they develop leaders… and here the answer was probably not or at best very seldom. It might be possible to help with the leaders development in a particular area or skill but it is not really possible to give away something you don’t have yourself.
Nevertheless, Identifying, Enlisting and Developing other leaders is the biggest challenge every great leader faces.
Once the big picture is clear and the goals are established choosing the right people to help the organisation reach those goals becomes the priority.
John Maxwell asked the question, What does a leader look like?
Then began a list of 10 attributes of a great leader, the first three of which he covered in this session.
Before getting into the list John noted that the level of anyone’s success will always be determined by the people closest to them.
I have noticed myself that this tends to cover income, interests, use of language and levels of ambition. Basically as people are striving to improve themselves they need to take a look at the company they keep and if they are not often looking up to those around them and being encouraged in their improvement they are probably running with the wrong crowd. Not a place to find leaders.
We are looking to find the leaders around us so it may be we can identify them within the organisation…This is what we are looking for.
1 Leaders Make things Happen, they create momentum, they are an encouragement to those around them. They are unaffected by the draining types who are often around.
We can effectively judge an individual on their performance? The results they produce—and there are two areas to look for results.
The first area is personal work activity, and it's simple to follow up on. If a task set is achieved no matter what the obstacles this demonstrates the character of a potential leader but if he is more accomplished at making excuses for poor results it is unlikely this will improve if he joins yoru team. You may think you can teach him but it is not easy to teach character.
The second area you need to monitor is group productivity. The ultimate test of a quality team is measurable progress in a reasonable amount of time. If the team leader is clear as to what you expect him and his team to produce they ought to be able to do so. The leader must be able to communicate to each individual what their task is. If he makes things happen and the momentum passes down the chain then you probably have a developing great leader.
2 Great leaders see the opportunity where others might only see problem. But they don’t just see it, they seize it by quickly working out and implementing viable solutions.
3 Leaders are able to Influence others…they know where they are going and they can get others excited about taking the journey with them. They are confident and their confidence is contagious. They make the task seem more like an adventure and those that go with them are convinced of victory before the battle even begins. People back winners and great leaders always win through.