An organization that is controlled is not engaged.
It’s true. It took me half of my career to fully appreciate this fact. Control is not engagement.
The word control brings other words to the forefront like authority, regulation, oversight, force subordination, and containment. What are we trying to accomplish as leaders and executives? Control? Oversight? No. We are attempting to drive engagement.
In order to drive engagement in your organization, this first requires an honest introspective. It starts by answering this simple question:
Why do people follow you?
Are you the most senior executive? Are you likable? Do you get results? Can you negotiate well with other leaders? Do people follow you for your character, for who, and what you stand for? Why do people follow you? Take a minute and honestly answer this for yourself – it’s worth your time.
Consistency still counts when it comes to character. Having been fortunate to gain experience at companies with 15 employees, to international firms with over 100,000 employees my core traits have remained constant: what I stand for, who I am, and how I lead my teams and organizations. When driving engagement: character equals trust.
As you lead, ask yourself why people follow you. As Simon Sinek reminds us “it’s not what you do, it’s why you do it” (Sinek, 2009). Dictating from a position of power does not build trust. Encouraging people to line up does not build loyalty. An organization’s narrow focus loses the value of individual and local group contributions. Trading favors for progress breads mediocrity. Nothing great has ever come from mediocrity only to be overshadowed by consensus. However, if you earn trust because of your character as a leader and the values you represent, well – now you have something real. You have harnessed something special that can be transferred from organization to organization and from company to company. You have earned trust. People follow you because of the integrity, character, and the principles which you live by. It’s not easy, find your true north. This is how I lead teams, this has distanced myself from companies and drawn me toward others.
People will forget what you do and the results you delivered – but they don’t forget how you made them feel.
Does your team trust you? If, you answer this question to yourself and respond with ‘no they don’t,’ ask yourself what you are leading if no one is following? Give people a reason to trust you. You’ll be amazed, years later, they will still remember. People will forget the exact words you spoke to inspire. They won’t forget the time you took to inspire them. Leadership is glorified as awards dinners and proclamations to an awaiting flock. The quiet side is where authentic leadership calls home. These are the side conversations, such as defending a team leader in front of a board when other leaders asked for their resignation. It can be simplified as “living up to your word.” It’s interesting to observe this a recessive trait in new leaders today, and even managers who think they are leaders, often lack this character trait in their value set. Lets change that.
Are you worthy of being followed? These three attributes highlight, true leadership – you’ll be able to identify it when you see it – you’ll feel it.
- You watch for talent. The last time you met with a team member several levels down, were you looking for potential and did not just dismiss them for not being knowledgeable. Beginners today will be the experts of tomorrow.
- You inspire. There is a reason that a new leader can change a team, the team attitude, and how they perform. You are inspiring the team to become something amazing, delivery unprecedented results. You tap into the top talent and inspire.
- People want to work with you. They don’t have to work with you, they choose to. They seek you out as a leader they want to learn from. You’ve taken time out of a busy day, to listen, to truly understand, and build a relationship with your team – you are always present.
Take a minute to genuinely assess why people follow you as leader. Maxwell’s “5 Level of Leadership” are successful at outlining different levels of leadership and why people follow.
The 5 Levels of Leadership are:
- Position. People follow because they have to.
- Permission. People follow because they want to.
- Production. People follow because of what you have done for the organization.
- People Development. People follow because of what you have done for them personally.
- Pinnacle. People follow because of who you are and what you represent (Maxwell, 2013)
As you lead, ask yourself why people follow you.
References
Collins, J. (2005). Level 5 leadership: The triumph of humility and fierce resolve. Harvard Business Review, (July)
Maxwell, J. C. (2013). The 5 levels of leadership: Proven steps to maximize your potential. New York, NY: Center Street; Reprint edition (September 3, 2013).
Sinek, S. (2009). Ted talk: How great leaders inspire action. Retrieved from
Tumblr/lightandliquid. (2015). sky-lantern-festival (online image). Retrieved January 21, 2016, from https://www.tumblr.com/search/sky-lantern-festival
Peter Nichol, empowers organizations to think different for different results. You can follow Peter on Twitter or on his blog. Peter can be reached at pnichol [dot] spamarrest.com.