This Key Step Is What Separates True Leaders from Everyone Else
Many aspiring leaders forget this crucial step.
As a former military officer, “big 4” consultant, and Fortune 500 employee, I have seen just about every leadership style in the book. While they all vary a bit, usually to accommodate distinct personality traits, all successful leadership styles have a few critical elements in common.
Effective leaders usually prioritize communication. They clearly outline a vision and a path to achieve it. However, true leaders always roll up their sleeves and follow through.
A lot of folks who have the potential to be true leaders often fumble this step. If that stings a little, not to worry; it’s not all your fault. Our culture and media frequently focus on the big moment rather than the work that comes before or after it. You dream big, you convince the right folks, you get the go-ahead… boom… success! “We have investment funding; pop the corks!” We have been conditioned to think of that as success.
Of course, there are times when that moment of achievement is worth celebrating. However, real leaders know that their job is to ensure that everyone involved has everything they need to propel the plan to completion. Hold on… make sure you read that clearly: As the leader, your work is to ensure that those who have bought into your vision and are willing to follow you, have what they need to help you achieve it.
Your Followers Need the Right Resources to Help You Succeed — That’s Your Job
You might struggle if you try to find a clear and tangible definition of leadership. Even though the term garners 4.5 billion search results, it isn’t easy to get a useful definition. In fact, if we go straight to the source, here is the dictionary definition:
You’ll notice that all three definitions use a variation of the root word, “lead” to describe the concept of leadership. Honestly, it isn’t super helpful. Through my years of experience, both the successes and the failures, I developed and use these two definitions of leadership to help guide my continued growth as a leader:
Leadership (noun)
: the process of providing the necessary information, environment, resources, behaviors, plans, and measures to create an intended change by implementing a specific idea, either by yourself or with others
: the process of developing a great idea, a clear plan to achieve the idea, meaningful connections with those that will be involved in achieving the idea, and putting in the hard work to achieve the idea
Whether you are going it alone or have millions of followers, effective leadership is all about ensuring that those who are willing to help implement a specific idea have what they need. The leader’s work doesn’t end once the path is set. Honestly, that’s where the real work begins.
If you want to think of yourself as a leader, you need to take responsibility for the conditions of success for your followers. As with most things in life, it is likely that as your plan moves forward, things can and will go wrong. When it does, you are the one who needs to see and clear the roadblocks. You have to provide your followers with everything they need to carry out your great idea.
You may not necessarily be the one getting all of the work done, but you do need to monitor progress and measure it against where you need to be, ensuring that you eventually accomplish the vision you are working toward. To do that effectively, everyone involved must have what they need when they need it. Whether it is information, direction, or specific resources; ensuring it is available is your job as a leader.
Take it One Step at a Time
By now, you should understand the importance of following through all the way to the end. All those small achievement moments along the way are worth celebrating! By all means, feel proud of yourself when your company tells you that your idea was great and you have the go-ahead to put it in play. But don’t drop the ball now; it is time to follow through.
After you celebrate the moment and before you jump into the work, take some time to plan checkpoints along the way. Even if you’re just leading yourself, it’s important to plan reflection points. A dedicated time when you can check in to make sure you are on track. Use these moments to assess progress against your plan. Are you still on track to achieve your awesome idea? What could you (or your followers) do to improve your progress? Make sure you’re clear on who needs support, what kind, and how you can provide it as needed.
You should also take time to review your previous and upcoming milestones. Did they succeed? What did they lack? If you need to change your plan, don’t take it personally! All great plans change as needs evolve. Instead of worrying about creating a perfect initial plan, just be ready to change or alter your plan as needed. Whether your plan was perfect from the start or has totally changed along the way, your job is to make sure that the path toward the goal is clear and that the resources required to get there are available.
As with all skills, your leadership skills will improve with deliberate practice. Next time you have a great idea that you want to accomplish, take some time to break it down into manageable steps. Work to get others on board with your idea and your plan. Now work really hard to ensure that everyone has what they need to help you succeed.
It is likely that you will face obstacles, setbacks, bad days… but, if you can make the adjustments to keep yourself and those that are helping you on track… and actually accomplish the idea (no matter how big or small), I promise you will learn so much about your ability to lead.
A lot of potential leaders miss these opportunities for growth. They focus on the moment that feels most like achievement or success: celebrating the new title, or approval, or followers, or plan… all important steps, but these are just milestones on your journey. Focusing too much on those can mean you miss out on your true leadership potential. Real leaders feel the responsibility to ensure everyone has what they need to accomplish the ultimate goal… and the responsibility to ensure that it actually gets done.
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