How Successful People Lead Part 3

How to Make the Most of Your Position

All leaders can learn to lead differently and move up the levels of leadership if they're willing to change the way they lead on Level 1. How do you make the most of your leadership position while shifting from positional to permissional leadership?

1. Stop Relying on Position to Push People There is nothing wrong with having a leadership position. That's the starting place for most leadership. However, there is everything wrong with having a positional mind-set. If you have to tell people that you're the leader, you're not. If you continue to rely on your position to move people, you may never develop influence with them, and your success will always be limited.

Level 1 leaders think: Top-down-"I'm over you."

Separation-"Don't let people get close to you."

Image-"Fake it till you make it."

Strength-"Never let 'em see you sweat."

Selfishness-"You're here to help me."

Power-"I determine your future."

Intimidation-"Do this or else!"

Rules-"The manual says..."

By contrast, higher-level leaders think differently. Level 2 leaders think in terms of: Collaboration-"Let's work together."

Initiation-"I'll come to you."

Inclusion-"What do you think?"

Cooperation-"Together we can win."

Service-"I'm here to help you."

Development-"I want to add value to you."

Encouragement-"I believe you can do this!"

Innovation-"Let's think outside the box."

Level 2 relies on people skills, not power, to get things done. It treats individual followers as people, not mere subordinates. If you want to become a better leader, let go of control and start fostering cooperation. Good leaders stop bossing people around and start encouraging them. That is the secret to being a people-oriented leader, because much of successful leadership is encouragement.

2. Trade Ent.i.tlement for Movement Good leaders don't take anything for granted. They keep working and keep leading. They understand that leadership must be earned and established. They remain dissatisfied in a way, because dissatisfaction is a good one-word definition of "motivation." Good leaders strive to keep the people and the organization moving forward toward its vision. They recognize that organizations can sometimes be filled with appointees, but teams can be built only by good leadership.

You may have been appointed to a Level 1 position, but you will have to lead yourself and others above it. You must be willing to give up what is in order to reach for what could be. Let a vision for making a difference lift you and your people above the confines of job descriptions and petty rules. Forget about your leadership rights. Focus on your responsibility to make a difference in the lives of the people you lead. When you receive a position or t.i.tle, you haven't arrived. It's time to start moving-and taking others along with you.

Leadership isn't a right. It's a privilege. It must be continually earned. If you possess any sense of ent.i.tlement, that will work against you. If you've thought in terms of position, change your focus. Instead, think about your leadership potential. What kind of leader do you have the potential to become? What kind of positive effect can you have on the people you lead? What kind of impact can you make on the world? Rewrite your goals to embrace a nonpositional mind-set. It will make a difference in your teachability and the way you treat your team members.

3. Leave Your Position and Move toward

Your People

People who rely on position often mistakenly believe that it is the responsibility of the people to come to them for what they need and want. Good leaders understand that it is their responsibility to move toward their people. Leaders are initiators.

The Greek philosopher Socrates said, "Let him that would move the world first move himself." If you want to move up to Level 2 in your leadership, you need to get out of your territory. You need to stop being king of the hill, get down from your high place, and find your people. You must move beyond your job description, both in terms of the work you do and the way you interact with your people. You must make it your responsibility to learn who they are, find out what they need, and help them and the team win.

In order to do anything new in life, we must be willing to leave our comfort zone. That involves taking risks, which can be frightening. However, each time we leave our comfort zone and conquer new territory, it not only expands our comfort zone but also enlarges us. If you want to grow as a leader, be prepared to be uncomfortable. But know this: the risks are well worth the rewards.

Beliefs That Help a Leader Move

Up to Level 2

To change from a Level 1 leader to a Level 2 leader, you must first change the way you think about leadership. No one has to remain a positional leader, though the longer you have relied on your position, the longer it may take you to change the way you lead and the way others see you. You will have to earn your way up from Level 1.

Here are four statements you must embrace internally before you will be able to change from a positional leader to a permissional one.

1. t.i.tles Are Not Enough We live in a culture that values t.i.tles. We admire and respect people with t.i.tles such as doctor, CEO, chairman, PhD, Academy Award winner, director, n.o.bel Prize winner, salesman of the year, president, poet laureate. But t.i.tles are ultimately empty, and you must learn to see them that way. Who the person is and the work he does are what really matter. People who make career goals out of attaining certain t.i.tles are not setting themselves up to be the best leaders they can be.

If the work is significant and adds value to people, then it doesn't need to come with a t.i.tle. For every person who has received recognition, there are thousands of others working without recognition who perhaps deserve even greater honor. Yet they continue to work without credit because the work itself and the positive impact on others are reward enough.

Developing an awareness that t.i.tles have little real value and that Position is the lowest level of leadership brings a healthy sense of dissatisfaction with Level 1 as well as a desire to grow. A position is not a worthy destination for any person's life. Security does not give purpose. Leadership is meant to be active and dynamic. Its purpose is to create positive change. Do whatever you have to do to identify less with your t.i.tle and position and more with how you contribute to the team or organization.

2. People-Not Positions-Are a Leader's

Most Valuable a.s.set

If you want to become a better leader, you can't focus on rules and procedures to get things done or keep things going. You must develop relationships. People get things done, not the playbook they use.

It takes some time to develop the people skills needed to become a better leader, but it takes no time at all to let others know that you value them, to express appreciation for them, and to take interest in them personally. So that's a change you can make quickly. Go out of your way to communicate how much you value each person you lead. People are the most valuable and appreciable a.s.set of any organization. You must be certain to treat them that way. And here's the immediate benefit: the moment people notice the shift in your att.i.tude, you'll notice a positive shift in their response to you. They'll begin to help you, which allows you to help them.

3. A Leader Doesn't Need to Have All

the Answers

Positional leaders often believe that they need to have all the answers. After all, if they admit that they don't know something, it shows weakness. And if they show weakness, how are they going to stay on top of the hill and maintain their precious position? To get off of Level 1, a leader has to think differently.

A leader's job is not to know everything but to attract people who know things that he or she does not. One of us is not as smart as all of us. Stop bringing people together to give them the answers and start calling on them to help you find the answers. That will transform your leadership, not only because you can be yourself and stop pretending that you know more than you do but also because it harnesses the power of shared thinking.

When people ask you something that you don't know, admit it. Then ask for the opinions of the people on your team. If they don't have the answers to questions, ask them if they know people who do. Make problem solving collaborative.

4. A Good Leader Always Includes Others Because positional leaders often work alone, standing atop the hill of leadership while their subordinates work together at the bottom, their teams work far below their capabilities. Why? Stand-alone leadership doesn't lead to teamwork, creativity, collaboration, or high achievement. What a shame, and what a waste of potential.

Successful leadership is all about others. It means relating well to other people. It requires leaders to be examples for other people. It challenges them to develop and equip people. The higher you go up the levels of leadership, the more you realize that good leadership is about leading with others, not just leading others. It requires collaboration. It requires inclusion. It requires sacrifice of selfish personal ambition for the sake of the team and the vision of the organization. It means being part of something greater than yourself. It means putting others ahead of yourself and being willing to go only as fast as the people you lead.

Moving up from Level 1 to Level 2 requires the greatest personal change from a leader. It requires a change of beliefs and att.i.tudes toward other people and leadership. But here's the truth: once you decide to include others in the leadership journey, you are well on your way to achieving success at the other levels.

Level 2

PERMISSION.

You Can't Lead People until

You Like People

When a leader learns to function on the Permission level, people do more than merely comply with orders. They actually start to follow. And they do so because they really want to. Why? Because the leader begins to influence people with relationships, not just position. Relationships are a major key to success, whether you're trying to sell, coach, teach, lead, or simply navigate the daily tasks of life. Building relationships develops a foundation for effectively leading others. It also starts to break down organizational silos as people connect across the lines between their job descriptions or departments. The more barriers come down and relationships deepen, the broader the foundation for leading others becomes. When people feel liked, cared for, included, valued, and trusted, they begin to work together with their leader and each other. And that can change the entire working environment. The old saying is really true: people go along with leaders they get along with.

Moving up to Level 2 is an important development in leadership because that is where followers give their supervisors permission to lead them. People change from being subordinates to followers for the first time, and that means there is movement! Remember, leadership always means that people are going somewhere. They aren't static. No journey, no leadership.

The Upside of Permission

The Workplace Has Become More

Pleasant for Everyone

There are many upsides to Level 2 because the focus on relationship building opens up so many new avenues of leadership. Here are my top five upsides.

1. Leadership Permission Makes

Work More Enjoyable