People aren’t born into leadership positions. We usually start in the trenches, as the doers. The bricklayers. The people touching all the parts, from the inside out. We earn the right to lead the projects and the vision by doing the work itself, and doing it well. But therein usually lies the rub.
Because the hardest part of learning to lead well is letting go of the execution, the very thing that earned us our spot at the head of the team, and entrusting others with the building and construction.
The old saying of “if you want something done right, do it yourself” just doesn’t play at scale. That’s not how great ideas come to fruition, and it’s not how great businesses are built.
As I’ve learned to lead rather than do (and that’s a constant process), a few key concepts have helped me a great deal to stay on track, and perhaps they’ll help you too, or someone you know emerging into a leadership role.
Navigation:
- Build consensus around shared goals and direction.
- Present the what – the shared vision or goals – but not necessarily the how.
- Communicate expectations clearly and often.
- Avoid dictating the plans yourself, but rather help refine the roadmaps that others have built and presented.
Advocacy:
- Champion and enable others’ ideas instead of always handing others ideas to execute.
- Allow your teams sometimes to fail in their search for the approach that works, and to help them find the lessons in those failures.
- Protect nascent ideas and allow them time to incubate without immediate interference from bureaucracy and naysayers.
- Encourage respectful discourse and sharing of opinions and viewpoints, including opposing ones.
- Recognize success openly, sincerely, and often.
Perspective:
- Provide context, history, and organizational intelligence to empower your teams with information upon which to build their plans.
- Look past today’s projects to envision what tomorrow might look like and how you can guide toward it.
- Present alternative views or looks at stubborn problems.
- Consistently evaluate team dynamics and capabilities, and make the tough people decisions to ensure you’ve got the right people in the right roles.
Trust:
- Provide direct lines of communication with each team member, and be available.
- Keep confidences, period.
- Hire capable, smart people, and be willing to get out of their way.
- Be responsible and accountable for your decisions and their results, and avoid scapegoating and blame.
- Share the credit, and the spotlight.
Learning to be a leader can be challenging when you’ve built a career on doing the work. Old habits die hard. It’s sometimes hard to believe that anyone can do what you do and do it as well, or better. But if you’ve got designs on building something bigger than you, you’re going to need to build and empower a team around you. It’s just not possible to do it alone.
So what would you add to my list? How would you help new and emerging leaders get comfortable with their roles? I’m looking forward to your comments. Fire away.
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Hi Amber, what and insightful article you wrote. I have learned much about being in the trenches, and moving into leadership to become more of a facilitator of people’s talents. When you make the most of everyone’s talents, work becomes much more enjoyable for all and productivity increases. Zappos is a good illustration of this.
.-= Robyn McMaster´s last blog ..Ellen Weber – An Inspiration =-.
A big piece of it is having the right people on the team to start with, and I think a lot of companies falter when it comes to making the tough staffing changes. Zappos is really careful about bringing in only people that fit with the culture, and I’d be willing to bet it’s a large part of their success.
Hi Amber, what and insightful article you wrote. I have learned much about being in the trenches, and moving into leadership to become more of a facilitator of people’s talents. When you make the most of everyone’s talents, work becomes much more enjoyable for all and productivity increases. Zappos is a good illustration of this.
.-= Robyn McMaster´s last blog ..Ellen Weber – An Inspiration =-.
A big piece of it is having the right people on the team to start with, and I think a lot of companies falter when it comes to making the tough staffing changes. Zappos is really careful about bringing in only people that fit with the culture, and I’d be willing to bet it’s a large part of their success.
Hey Amber. In grad school I took a class on leadership that I thought was going to be a “filler” and it turned out to be a spark for a life-long study on the subject of leadership. So your headline today got my attention!
I think an important aspect I would add here is CLARITY. The ability to clearly articulate a direction, how it aligns with a strategy, and the role of the contribution of the individual employee is one of the most important aspects of leadership from my experience.
Thanks.
@markwschaefer
Right. That’s much of what I was getting at with the Navigation stuff. Being able to clearly demonstrate where you’re headed, but allow the people on your team to get you there. Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Hey Amber. In grad school I took a class on leadership that I thought was going to be a “filler” and it turned out to be a spark for a life-long study on the subject of leadership. So your headline today got my attention!
I think an important aspect I would add here is CLARITY. The ability to clearly articulate a direction, how it aligns with a strategy, and the role of the contribution of the individual employee is one of the most important aspects of leadership from my experience.
Thanks.
@markwschaefer
Right. That’s much of what I was getting at with the Navigation stuff. Being able to clearly demonstrate where you’re headed, but allow the people on your team to get you there. Thanks for the comment. 🙂
Amber, I love it. In the past, only kings were born into leadership positions with some doing well and others doing miserably. I love your inclusion of advocacy, I believe that in economic challenging times many leaders can become self-centric. I would add authenticity to your list — with information moving as fast as it does now, transparency is more critical than ever to establish trust.
@membershipjedi
.-= Mike Cassidy´s last blog ..Fundraising Bites =-.
I deliberately stay away from the word “authenticity” because we’ve beat it to death, and many people don’t know what they mean when they say it. Same with “transparency”. I’ve grown to hate both of those words, because they’re used as a stopgap rather than taking the time to understand what we mean when they say them.
That said, the Trust category above probably needs to be turned externally, too. I focused a lot of this post on how leaders lead internally, but it’s also important that they communicate that leadership externally, too.
Amber, I love it. In the past, only kings were born into leadership positions with some doing well and others doing miserably. I love your inclusion of advocacy, I believe that in economic challenging times many leaders can become self-centric. I would add authenticity to your list — with information moving as fast as it does now, transparency is more critical than ever to establish trust.
@membershipjedi
.-= Mike Cassidy´s last blog ..Fundraising Bites =-.
I deliberately stay away from the word “authenticity” because we’ve beat it to death, and many people don’t know what they mean when they say it. Same with “transparency”. I’ve grown to hate both of those words, because they’re used as a stopgap rather than taking the time to understand what we mean when they say them.
That said, the Trust category above probably needs to be turned externally, too. I focused a lot of this post on how leaders lead internally, but it’s also important that they communicate that leadership externally, too.
Thanks, Amber – this is a really helpful list.
I’m not sure if this would fall under navigation or advocacy, but I think the best leaders are most helpful when they use their view from above to help identify and remove the internal roadblocks that hinder employees from being able to do their job well. Sometimes employees feel stuck for their own personal reasons, but often there are conditions inside the company that prohibit great ideas from ever being implemented — or only marginally implemented. Good leaders remove roadblocks and get you the air cover you need when you need it — but over-communication from both sides seems to be a necessary ingredient.
.-= Shannon Paul´s last blog ..Social Media Gets Operational =-.
Right! Yeah, I suppose I’d put that under advocacy, along the lines of letting ideas incubate. It’s recognizing when people and processes need a bit of a path cleared for them, and helping use your credibility within an organization to make that happen.
That takes a brave person sometimes, one who is willing to not only try and move the roadblocks, but put their own butt on the line to be accountable for the results of that. When you’re the one that advocates for change or permission or access that hasn’t before been given, you become responsible and accountable for the results and impact of that change, and many people don’t have the constitution for that.
Perhaps we need to add something to the list about having a thick skin, too. 🙂
Thanks, Amber – this is a really helpful list.
I’m not sure if this would fall under navigation or advocacy, but I think the best leaders are most helpful when they use their view from above to help identify and remove the internal roadblocks that hinder employees from being able to do their job well. Sometimes employees feel stuck for their own personal reasons, but often there are conditions inside the company that prohibit great ideas from ever being implemented — or only marginally implemented. Good leaders remove roadblocks and get you the air cover you need when you need it — but over-communication from both sides seems to be a necessary ingredient.
.-= Shannon Paul´s last blog ..Social Media Gets Operational =-.
Right! Yeah, I suppose I’d put that under advocacy, along the lines of letting ideas incubate. It’s recognizing when people and processes need a bit of a path cleared for them, and helping use your credibility within an organization to make that happen.
That takes a brave person sometimes, one who is willing to not only try and move the roadblocks, but put their own butt on the line to be accountable for the results of that. When you’re the one that advocates for change or permission or access that hasn’t before been given, you become responsible and accountable for the results and impact of that change, and many people don’t have the constitution for that.
Perhaps we need to add something to the list about having a thick skin, too. 🙂
Another really great post Amber, thank you.
I think having a trusted mentor/sounding board is of tremendous value as well.
.-= matterhornpat´s last blog ..Best Ideas Of The Week (1-18 to 1-22) =-.
Another really great post Amber, thank you.
I think having a trusted mentor/sounding board is of tremendous value as well.
.-= matterhornpat´s last blog ..Best Ideas Of The Week (1-18 to 1-22) =-.
Hi Amber,
A great article, thank you.
I’m potentially about to become a first-time manager and am dreading handing over my precious projects and daily tasks to someone else. I think that if I pay attention to your guidance and try putting it into practice then things may be easier.
This article is also going straight to my husband who is hugely bad at delegating as he loves the hands on stuff so much.
Thanks again,
Sophia
Hi Amber,
A great article, thank you.
I’m potentially about to become a first-time manager and am dreading handing over my precious projects and daily tasks to someone else. I think that if I pay attention to your guidance and try putting it into practice then things may be easier.
This article is also going straight to my husband who is hugely bad at delegating as he loves the hands on stuff so much.
Thanks again,
Sophia
Amber, very thoughtful post. You managed to put into words a lot of processes that sometimes happen in the back of our minds without us even noticing.
For me, letting go of the “doing” is particularly hard. I usually have a very concise and precise idea of what I want the “end” to look like. I’m working on starting backwards (as you too suggested in the article), letting people come up with the ideas and the how, and simply supporting them the best I can so the idea can grow.
Best regards,
Beny
Amber, very thoughtful post. You managed to put into words a lot of processes that sometimes happen in the back of our minds without us even noticing.
For me, letting go of the “doing” is particularly hard. I usually have a very concise and precise idea of what I want the “end” to look like. I’m working on starting backwards (as you too suggested in the article), letting people come up with the ideas and the how, and simply supporting them the best I can so the idea can grow.
Best regards,
Beny
Hi Amber,
What a great list!
One thing I would add is shield, which would probably go under trust. My teams over the years have always said that one of the things they appreciate most is being shielded from the bureaucracy at the management level. As leaders, we will inevitably need to deal with negative situations at the management team level but we should not pass this negativity on to our own team(s). Endlessly listening to your manager complain about other managers destroys trust and lowers morale.
..Judy
Good point, Judy. The management of negative media starts with management!
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Perspective: View from a High Horse =-.
Hi Amber,
What a great list!
One thing I would add is shield, which would probably go under trust. My teams over the years have always said that one of the things they appreciate most is being shielded from the bureaucracy at the management level. As leaders, we will inevitably need to deal with negative situations at the management team level but we should not pass this negativity on to our own team(s). Endlessly listening to your manager complain about other managers destroys trust and lowers morale.
..Judy
Good point, Judy. The management of negative media starts with management!
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Perspective: View from a High Horse =-.
Hi Amber:
what a concise article on growing into leadership. I believe we don’t “arrive” when we are placed in leadership roles-much is expected and leaders are under scrutiny. I particularly liked “keeping confidences”. When leading people sometimes a person needs a safe place to vent in order to work out conflicts (real or perceived). It can sure turn into a raging fire is dissension arose from breaking confidences or to judge/label a person. We Are all a work-in-progress and allowed room for growth and transformation. It ties a good leader to let someone learn,grow, solve problems and sometimes you are pleasantly surprised.
It’s just some people need to get past themselves ( their own jealousies, feelings of inferiority, comparison mindset, and limiting belief systems) when it comes to relating in a business world ( especially) online.
Thank you for posting a great “map” and solutions -I plan to print it and leave it up for a reminder !
Have a great day!
Ana
Hi Amber:
what a concise article on growing into leadership. I believe we don’t “arrive” when we are placed in leadership roles-much is expected and leaders are under scrutiny. I particularly liked “keeping confidences”. When leading people sometimes a person needs a safe place to vent in order to work out conflicts (real or perceived). It can sure turn into a raging fire is dissension arose from breaking confidences or to judge/label a person. We Are all a work-in-progress and allowed room for growth and transformation. It ties a good leader to let someone learn,grow, solve problems and sometimes you are pleasantly surprised.
It’s just some people need to get past themselves ( their own jealousies, feelings of inferiority, comparison mindset, and limiting belief systems) when it comes to relating in a business world ( especially) online.
Thank you for posting a great “map” and solutions -I plan to print it and leave it up for a reminder !
Have a great day!
Ana
Amber,
This is a great list. I would add that because we were all doers at one point in time, the tough thing for me was to accept the fact that my employees aren’t me. They don’t do things the same way that I do and don’t think the same way that I do and that’s a good thing. Once I celebrated the differences that existed on our team and put those differences to the best use, our team flourished.
.-= Brandon R Allen´s last blog ..Social Media is Dumb and A Waste Of Time— Pt. 2 =-.
Good point, Brandon. Ownership is key in responsibility pass-offs (as Amber mentioned in a couple of her points). You can sit down in training and show them the ways you found to be easiest but if you couch those recommendations in the “why” (ie., “I usually do this step first BECAUSE you need the information for this later step”) and encourage them to do what’s most comfortable to them, they are more likely to take the task and run with it. They may even come up with a new idea for a “how” that works better or can be used in other processes!
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Perspective: View from a High Horse =-.
Amber,
This is a great list. I would add that because we were all doers at one point in time, the tough thing for me was to accept the fact that my employees aren’t me. They don’t do things the same way that I do and don’t think the same way that I do and that’s a good thing. Once I celebrated the differences that existed on our team and put those differences to the best use, our team flourished.
.-= Brandon R Allen´s last blog ..Social Media is Dumb and A Waste Of Time— Pt. 2 =-.
Good point, Brandon. Ownership is key in responsibility pass-offs (as Amber mentioned in a couple of her points). You can sit down in training and show them the ways you found to be easiest but if you couch those recommendations in the “why” (ie., “I usually do this step first BECAUSE you need the information for this later step”) and encourage them to do what’s most comfortable to them, they are more likely to take the task and run with it. They may even come up with a new idea for a “how” that works better or can be used in other processes!
.-= Beth Coetzee´s last blog ..Perspective: View from a High Horse =-.
This is excellent Amber. “The hardest part of learning to lead well is letting go of the execution, the very thing that earned us our spot at the head of the team.” Well said!
Love your mindful choice of words for the areas emerging leaders (and I would add any manager) need focus on to develop their capacity to lead. The one category I might add to your list is Enrollment. It is about much more than navigation and specifically building consensus. It involves supporting your team in connecting what they personally do and are passionate about directly to the possibility you see and goals you set for the business. Consensus is helpful, but insufficient if you really want to let go of the execution AND cause ownership of the results. People will only truly align, i.e. choose to personally stand behind a decision or vision, to the extent it makes sense to them and truly matters in their own world.
.-= Susan Mazza´s last blog ..Celebrating Firsts =-.
This is excellent Amber. “The hardest part of learning to lead well is letting go of the execution, the very thing that earned us our spot at the head of the team.” Well said!
Love your mindful choice of words for the areas emerging leaders (and I would add any manager) need focus on to develop their capacity to lead. The one category I might add to your list is Enrollment. It is about much more than navigation and specifically building consensus. It involves supporting your team in connecting what they personally do and are passionate about directly to the possibility you see and goals you set for the business. Consensus is helpful, but insufficient if you really want to let go of the execution AND cause ownership of the results. People will only truly align, i.e. choose to personally stand behind a decision or vision, to the extent it makes sense to them and truly matters in their own world.
.-= Susan Mazza´s last blog ..Celebrating Firsts =-.
Amber, great post as always. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about management and productivity. I finally put some of my thoughts into a post last night, so its funny I came across yours this morning. I think it’s important for leaders not to set or control the standard for how their team manages its environment. A great leader will trust his/her people enough to allow them to customize their work environment, which will create greater value through increased productivity.
.-= Eric´s last blog ..Great managers create value through customization =-.
Amber, great post as always. I’ve been thinking a lot recently about management and productivity. I finally put some of my thoughts into a post last night, so its funny I came across yours this morning. I think it’s important for leaders not to set or control the standard for how their team manages its environment. A great leader will trust his/her people enough to allow them to customize their work environment, which will create greater value through increased productivity.
.-= Eric´s last blog ..Great managers create value through customization =-.
Amber you are a blogging machine, I did not realise you managed this ammount of content and on so many fields. Leadership has been on my mind reading a post by Guy Kawaski. I like the comment Susan Mazza made on execution. I would say capacity needs to be built for emerging leaders. I read in Tribes this week that leadership is not management, I did my Clifton Strengthsfinder test and management came up as a competence but need to tie down a good difition before i begin this journey, this seems like a good place to start with this difinition. I feel advocacy is often overlooked so thankyou for pointing that out, and will also use Sophias tip of delegating, although a personal example, the common demoninator is relationships, as my lifecoach is always pointing out.
Thankx
Dara Bell
Amber you are a blogging machine, I did not realise you managed this ammount of content and on so many fields. Leadership has been on my mind reading a post by Guy Kawaski. I like the comment Susan Mazza made on execution. I would say capacity needs to be built for emerging leaders. I read in Tribes this week that leadership is not management, I did my Clifton Strengthsfinder test and management came up as a competence but need to tie down a good difition before i begin this journey, this seems like a good place to start with this difinition. I feel advocacy is often overlooked so thankyou for pointing that out, and will also use Sophias tip of delegating, although a personal example, the common demoninator is relationships, as my lifecoach is always pointing out.
Thankx
Dara Bell
To me, a leader is someone who does more than expected. It’s easy for anyone to “meet expectation”, but often doing more is the right thing to do in many situations.
A leader doesn’t need to be charismatic, either. But she is passionate and decides her work is more important than appearing wrong.
.-= Tak Hikichi´s last blog ..Just to Make That ONE Play =-.
To me, a leader is someone who does more than expected. It’s easy for anyone to “meet expectation”, but often doing more is the right thing to do in many situations.
A leader doesn’t need to be charismatic, either. But she is passionate and decides her work is more important than appearing wrong.
.-= Tak Hikichi´s last blog ..Just to Make That ONE Play =-.
Hi Amber,
Leadership is an exciting subject:) For me it’s a person with a clear vision, expert in his/her niche, able to take action and responsibility, able to see failures as learning opportunities, a great listener and observer, always ready to improve, to step out of the comfort zone, someone who strongly believes that he/she can instead of can’t and respects others:)
.-= Justyna´s last blog ..Is WordPress Security of any importance to you? =-.
Hi Amber,
Leadership is an exciting subject:) For me it’s a person with a clear vision, expert in his/her niche, able to take action and responsibility, able to see failures as learning opportunities, a great listener and observer, always ready to improve, to step out of the comfort zone, someone who strongly believes that he/she can instead of can’t and respects others:)
.-= Justyna´s last blog ..Is WordPress Security of any importance to you? =-.
I don’t think leaders ever do “let go”. They are “masters”, constantly honing and developing their art, to pass onto others, setting by example, keeping it simple. If we are not learning then we are dieing.
.-= Nic Windley´s last blog ..Coalition Approach To Sales And Marketing Addresses New Business Development Challenges =-.
I don’t think leaders ever do “let go”. They are “masters”, constantly honing and developing their art, to pass onto others, setting by example, keeping it simple. If we are not learning then we are dieing.
.-= Nic Windley´s last blog ..Coalition Approach To Sales And Marketing Addresses New Business Development Challenges =-.
Hi Amber! I much enjoyed your article but I got hung up on one of your bulletpoints where you write that the what should be described but not neccessarily the how, what do you mean by this – beacause in my world clarity and a shared vision is vital and the organization should work togetehr. Teamwork is essential, no? ANd to be able to do that there must be a consensus of an approch. Moreover I would be interested in hearing your response to Simon Sinek (you can see his ted-talk on youtube, the clip is called how great leaders inspire action) because he says that the what should come last and the source of great leadership is actually adressing the why and then tap into how.