Leaders take all the responsibility when things go sideways;
And give all the credit when things go right.
No one can do it alone in today’s world.
The old term “self-made-millionaire” or self-made anything for that matter is severely antiquated; and probably always has been.
No one is doing or achieving anything in today’s world by themselves.
Authentic leaders know they need a team; and as discussed in previous editions of this series, they surround themselves with a team of leaders.
Authentic leaders don’t build followers, they build more leaders. Learn their secrets here.
Read Imperative #9 – Leaders Manage Leaders to learn more…
The fact is that information is currently doubling every 13 months with IBM predicting it soon to accelerate to every 12 hours.
Leaders understand that there’s NO WAY to know all there is to know.
The more information doubles in the world, the more
ignorant we become. No one can keep up!
Here’s the shocking fact: your ancestors on the Serengeti “knew” more about their world than you do!
They knew exactly how and where their shoes were made…
They knew exactly where their meals came from…
They knew exactly what their dangers and threats were…
They knew how their economic system worked (no matter how primitive it was) …
They knew. Because there just wasn’t that much to know!
Your ancestors on the Serengeti “knew” more than you “know.”
How is that? There just wasn’t that much to know. While we THINK
we’re becoming smarter, there’s just no way to keep up.
Therefore, we’re not.
Authentic Leaders understanding this, realize that they must give their power away.
While I believe Elon Musk to be a hero in many ways—in fact, probably the closest thing to the real Iron Man in existence—in my humble opinion he, like all of us, has a few lessons to learn.
Elon needs to build a team of leaders around him.
Trusted advisors and colleagues whom he can empower to get the job done, so that he doesn’t feel the need to do it all.
I’ve fallen into this trap many times. I think all entrepreneur leaders do if not careful.
The mindset and belief system that “No one can do it better than me,”
while potentially true, is a surefire strategy to leadership meltdown.
The primary jobs of a great leader are:
- To develop Self-Awareness and Emotional Intelligence.
Emotional Intelligence (EQ) knowing your own inner-most thoughts and feelings has been shown to be far more predictive of success in both life and business than IQ. You must possess this awareness for yourself first, before you can encourage it in others. - To make decisions. And to make them quickly! Bloomberg recently published a study stating that 70% of the leaders in the USA are “unfit for the future.” One of the main reasons? They don’t move and decide quickly enough in an environment of disruption.
- Build an environment (culture) of trust, empowerment, deep dialogue, sharing of information, inspiration and motivation to a cause. Everyone needs to feel valued and “heard.”
Once this culture is in place, regardless of the size of the company, then the leader basically delegates power to the one most capable for the particular task; and gets himself out of the way.
The thought that you can “empower” someone is faulty.
The only person you can empower is yourself;
and others must do the same for themselves.
The final and never-ending task for the leader is to remove obstacles.
So, what are you doing in both your life and business?
Because when you think beyond the surface, you’ll realize that all these principles apply to both.
Be a Leader. Live Your Purpose; and Take Your Power Back!
James
