People as a Primary Growth Area

In the course of my week I talk with a lot of businesses at various stages and sizes about where they want to grow. It’s not unusual to hear things like:

• I want to grow into a new market.
• I want to increase my offerings.
• I want to add a new location.

The list goes on, and every one of them are good goals and good growth areas. Most of these business leaders have a good strategy to reach those goals, too. But as I talk with them about those strategies there is one common denominator that I don’t hear them talk about growing – their people!

So I want you to change your approach to business growth and think of your People as a Primary Growth Area! While this is true for all of your people, it is especially true for your leadership team. After all, if you’ve read my blog on the 3 Ds of GoodLeadership, then you know that these are the people to whom you will entrust to one of the Ds – Delegate.

Your people are the most important asset you have in your business. Even if you are self-employed, taking care of yourself will benefit your business.

It’s the people that take your vision and direction and help you achieve your goals. They are the ones that make things happen. You have those people because your business grew enough that you could not do it all yourself.

Don’t overlook your Primary Growth Area. Invest in your people. Make sure they know what to do, and have the tools and training to do it. Sure, better benefits help when they are affordable but what I am saying is to make sure they understand what the mission and vision are, and what their role in it is. Seek their input into your plans and they’ll feel like they have ownership, and with that they will want to succeed even more. And when you’ve achieved results in that Growth Area, you’ll be better positioned to grow your business in other areas, and be able to do so with your people as part of that strategy.

The Cobalt Group can help you with this. Ask us how.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2018 The Cobalt Group LLC. All rights reserved.

Attributes of a Good Leader

What attributes does a good leader have/need? As I was asked that question again recently I started jotting a few things down. This list is not all inclusive but does cover a good portion of the attributes I believe make a good leader. If you’re in a leadership role, and most of you are in some way or another regardless of your title, how many of these describe you? Honestly?

• Knows that he/she cannot do it all by themselves. If so, you would not need people to lead.
• Is honest and trustworthy. If your people can’t/don’t trust you, you’re in trouble.
• Speaks directly. That doesn’t mean to insult or give someone unfiltered opinions, it means that you address the issue head in a direct manner and not try to talk around it.
• Is consistent. One of the worst things a person in a leadership position can be is vacillating. If your people don’t know what to expect from you then they won’t know what to give you.
• Is decisive. Indecision is a terrible thing. Or is it?  Lead, follow, or get out of the way is an expression I heard often in the Navy. It is never a good thing when a leader cannot do the main part of his/her job…make a decision and move forward. Decision paralysis benefits no one.
• Sets clear expectations, and follows through. Your people need to know what is expected of them or, just like in the fourth bullet, they won’t know what to give you. Following through is just as important as the set expectation.
• Seeks input from his/her people. When your people feel like they have a contribution to the goals they will take more ownership in achieving them.
• Doesn’t have all the answers. But he/she does know what questions to ask to get those answers and to lead his/her people to the answers.
• Empowers people. Give your people room, define the boundaries, and give them ownership of their job. You’ll be amazed at how many will rise to, and exceed, the expectations you set for them.
• Supports his/her people. If you want to bring out the best in your people they need to know that you will support them. When they know you have their backs they will do their best to have yours too.
• Praises publically. Disciplines privately. Self-explanatory.
• Focuses on the strengths of his/her people, not their faults. Too often the only time some leaders engage their people is when it is time for a correction. No one wants to only talk with their boss(es) when things are going wrong. And don’t be afraid to move a person into a role that is more suited to their strengths. They will be happier and more productive.
• And lastly for this blog post, a good leader is coachable. A good leader doesn't know everything. They haven’t faced every challenge they are going to meet. But if they are humble enough to be coachable then they will become better at what they are asked to do. LEAD.

So, as I asked at the beginning, how many of these traits describe you? And, since I am coachable too, what traits did I not list here that you think a good leader should possess?

When to Start Grooming Your Leaders

As a leadership consultant/coach I have often said (and blogged) that leadership begins with the most junior persons in your organization. If they are taught to do their job correctly and are given the tools needed to perform their roles then they can begin to experience what good leadership looks like and gives them something to model. I truly believe that.

Some organizations even take the next step and assign each employee a mentor. This is a good thing for the junior employee. In theory, this gives that junior employee a senior person that can help them navigate the organization, their career path, and allow them to voice concerns and other issues in a friendly environment. In my experience, though, I have rarely seen this work as it was intended. The person that is assigned as the mentor has his/her own issues and they are more often than not too busy, and either intentionally or unintentionally soon forget that they are supposed to be mentoring someone. That junior person often times doesn’t want to feel like pest so they don’t approach their mentor and the great idea fizzles.

The usual next step occurs when a person might receive some sort of coaching is after being moved into a VP or other “C” level role. Those that are fortunate are sometimes provided an executive coach to help them transition into the next level of the leadership food chain. This occurs in organizations that invest in their people and their businesses.

But I submit that there is a better time to invest in your future leaders (aside from when they start). I believe that when a person is moved up into their first supervisory role as a Senior Manager (there’s that word again), Project/Project Manager, or the Director level is the time to invest in them by providing them a coach.

Leadership is leadership, but the type of work a consultant/coach would do for an entry level supervisor/Director would focus, in part, on separate areas of this transition into leadership than it would for a VP or higher. This is their first foray into the leadership arena. This is where it is critical for that person to have guidance as they shift the types of responsibilities they bear. And in this first transition, an investment into the success of the new leader will have a more positive effect on the success of the organization.

So when should we start grooming our leaders? We should be grooming them from their first day on the job. But the time for more investment into them should come when they are moved into their first leadership role, not the one two to three levels up.

The 3 Ds of Great Leadership

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 4^th 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.

We want to hear what you think. Leave a comment and let’s start a discussion.

Copyright © 2013 The Cobalt Group, LLC. All rights reserved.