How many leaders does your business have? One? Two? Maybe none?
How many leaders SHOULD a business have? What if I told you that everyone in your business should be a leader? What would that look like? How do you define a leader? What does a leader look like?
When we critically think about all these questions, we may start to shift paradigms that we created around the word leader. I believe that everyone is capable and born to lead in one aspect or another. Leadership is accountability, dependability, and an example to others. I think most business owners would love to have a business FULL of leaders.
Unfortunately, this concept is not necessarily something we are taught, and it becomes obvious when I speak to leaders that feel more like they are managing constant issues among their staff. Business owners and “leaders” find themselves chasing conflict, dealing with gossip, mediating between staff members or departments, picking up slack and finding themselves completely burnt out, then repeat the same cycle over and over. It takes all the joy out of business and leadership.
I learned quickly in business that if you allow yourself to become a revolving door for people to complain, vent or pass work off to…that’s how leadership will feel to you, and that is the first sign that you are not leading. Leaders INSPIRE!
I love the idea of setting a strong boundary around becoming solution driven. This first step is the most important in creating empowered staff that turn into confident leaders in their own zone. When staff understand that coming to YOU means they are approaching solution creation, they will begin coming to you when they are serious. They begin to do vs. expecting you to fix.
I stand by the concept that we must first seek to understand. Understand people. Understand situations. This means we need to ask questions.
What? When? Why? Who? HOW??
Asking questions allows critical thinking, develops trust, and taps into the unique leadership qualities that everyone possesses. After we understand, we can help the actions that follow.
The approach to creating SOLUTIONS and seeking to understand first is the beginning of building a strong team of leaders and supporting some fierce growth. The rest starts to happen with time and intentional steps.
If you’d like to see what type of leader each of your staff is, please reach out to me to tap into the genius of human wiring…here!