One of the most fundamental and difficult transitions emerging leaders must make is shifting from being the star performer to being an effective leader. The change in mindset that all evolving leaders must make is the belief that "it is more important to get it right than it is to be right." Let me explain.
"Being right is all about having the answers."
"Getting it right is about creating an environment of trust and empowering others to reach the right answers."
Making the shift from needing to "be right" to "getting it right" can be difficult because almost all leaders rise to leadership positions because of their ability to problem-solve and get things done. Because this ability has served them well in the past, the natural inclination for leaders when they feel a loss of control, frustration, or threat is to take the lead in resolving the issue.
While it is true that employees must rely on their leader to resolve the occasional urgent, complex challenge, over-reliance on the leader to have the right answers creates many issues. What does this leadership behavior tell employees how they should act when encountering future challenges and problems? How does this mentality impact the company's scalability?
Making The Shift To Leadership
1) Star Performer To Coach
Success as a leader is all about empowering others, developing employees, and building strong relationships for ongoing team success. The primary tool to accomplish this mindset shift is COACHING. Sir John Whitmore's GROW model is a simple and practical framework for coaching. GROW is an acronym that helps guide leaders to coach others toward resolving challenges or issues.
John Whitmore's GROW Coaching Model
Coaching requires leading through questions, but it should not stop the leader from sharing their experience, insight, or direction. Leading with questions allows the leader to understand the employee's perspectives before making a more informed choice about what input is needed to support the employee's success.
2) Delegate To Elevate
Effective leaders understand that they need to continually assess how they spend their time and delegate tasks and activities that can and should be done by others. The best leaders don't delegate because they believe they are "too good" or "too important" to do these tasks; they understand that it is no longer their role. They know that if they are focusing on activities that others can do, they will end up neglecting the important tasks that their teams depend on them to complete.
For a leader to effectively delegate, they must first assess how they are currently spending their time and identify the activities that are unnecessarily taking their time from focusing on the more strategic aspects of their role. The following questions can help leaders clarify their priorities.
- What are the most strategic responsibilities of my leadership role?
- What are the activities that only I can do for my team?
- What important issues require my influence, attention, and authority for success?
Delegation Funnel
The Delegation Funnel is a simple tool for leaders to assess what activities they should consider delegating and the type of support that is needed from them to ensure the success of others.
3) Yes, And…
"Yes, AND" is a powerful leadership tool for increasing collaboration and effective communication. Think about it. Have you ever shared your perspective with a leader, and they immediately respond by saying, "Yes, BUT," then launching into sharing their "right" answer? A "Yes, BUT" response makes you feel that the leader has shifted from listening and is now focused on dismissing your perspective and emphasizing their "right answer."
This simple "Yes, AND" approach encourages safety, increases possibility, and promotes inclusive problem-solving. If needed, there will always be time for narrowing potential solutions. Practicing using "Yes, AND" helps leaders expand conversations by valuing perspectives and increasing the buy-in of others.
4) Seek Feedback Regularly
Regardless of your leadership effectiveness, you will have flawed perspectives or sometimes make mistakes. Asking for your team members' feedback demonstrates that everyone has room to improve by role-modeling a growth mindset for continuous development.
Since sharing feedback with a leader is risky for employees, a leader must be deliberate about creating a safe environment by actively giving permission and expressing openness and desire to receive feedback about their performance. For a leader to regularly receive honest upward feedback, they need to minimize potential obstacles while encouraging others by:
- Asking for feedback often
- Being specific about the feedback request
- Avoiding defensiveness
Conclusion
All scaling leaders must understand that the primary role of leadership IS NOT to
Woman enjoying successful transition to leadership
resolve their team's ongoing challenges and issues. A leader's primary responsibility is to create a culture where employees feel valued, empowered, capable, and motivated to solve problems and do great work. Do you agree?
