Leadership is such a rich and vast topic. There are countless books and experts out there that will tell you what good leadership is.
It is hard to put a single quote or sound byte that encompasses good leadership.
I want to take you beyond good leadership and talk about great leadership.
I've seen poor leaders, good leaders, and great leaders. I've learned from them all.
But the great ones shared a common set of traits. They understood that great leadership, in part, can be boiled down to 3 Ds.
Decide. Delegate. Disappear.
I learned this concept many years ago as a
young junior officer in the Navy. It set the framework for my approach to leadership
since.
Although this is a very rich topic, I will do my best to keep it
within the constraints I established for the length of my blogs, even though I
feel that it warrants much more space.
So here we go...
Decide. Your job as a leaders is to make a decision
and move forward with it.
If you have to get something delivered to the corner
of 4th and Main, look to the people in your organization that know
the streets. Take their inputs on which roads are the best to travel.
Some may
be one way streets and others may have construction happening. The point here
is that getting the input from those that actually know the lay of the land is
important.
When people are given a voice in the decision making process they will
take more ownership of the outcome. And when they feel like they have more of a
stake in the outcome, they are more motivated to see it succeed.
So after you
have taken all their inputs, make the decision on what the path will be. It may be that you chose your own route, their suggested route, or a blend of the two.
And now
YOU, the leader, will own that decision. If the delivery is successful, you
give praise to your people.
If it fails, YOU take ownership.
After all, YOU
made the final decision on the route chosen.
Next, you...
Delegate. Once a decision
has been made, delegate the responsibilities to those that are actually going
to accomplish the tasks.
In our scenario, that means letting the people
that are going to make that delivery do their jobs. Define the parameters under
which they are to operate, then trust them to work within those confines.
If
you trusted them enough to take their input when deciding how to best reach your destination, trust them to do their jobs the right way.
They want to know that you have confidence in them. They want to know you trust them to do what you asked them to do.
And then you…..
Disappear. This doesn't mean go back to your office and close the door. It merely
means that you now let them do what you have asked them to do.
If you have clearly
defined the parameters within which they should operate, and have delegated the responsibilities to them, stay out of
their way.
Don’t micro-manage them.
Now, what that means to one person may be
different than it does to another.
What this is to me is simply…don’t be a helicopter leader
that is always hovering above them. Stay engaged, offer assistance and support, get
status updates, but don’t be in the way.
Your people are your experts.
Trust
them to do their jobs and trust them to come to you when they need you.
Train
them to do that. You will have a much better and more successful organization
if you do.
This frees you up to do what you are there to do, LEAD!
As
I said at the beginning, this is a topic that deserves much more time and space
than I allot for my blogs. It could actually fill books, I am sure.
So as you look
to improve your leadership abilities, and thereby set the example for those you
are leading, remember the 3 Ds and live them.
Decide.
Delegate. Disappear.
For more information about how The Cobalt Group can help you with leadership development, or any other any business or leadership challenges you are facing, Contact us.
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