Demystifying Leadership – Taking Above-Average Managers to Extraordinary Leaders!

I was listening to sports talk radio and they were discussing, “what leadership do the Broncos need next?”

Ah, that is the question for EVERY LEADER, only it is an internal one:  what is the next layer or level to MY leadership? And you know what?  Most “leaders” are only “leaders” when it is easier, and then they fall back to “managerial” when it is harder, and thus, they don’t even ask this question.

AND, if you are reading this, will you ask it?  More importantly, will you ANSWER it?

And then, if you have an answer… will you ACT on it? AND… will you create that action in times of stress and pressure?

So let’s give you one of many potential answers to this question.  MOST people in a leadership role believe that there is a responsibility to being a leader. Yes, but truly, they put more weight of the responsibility on the employee to do their job.  They might say something like, “Hey, I was a good leader.  I told them what to do, I supported them.  They failed, not me.”

The Leadership DNA instilled in me at West Point and in elite military units, the BEST units in the world have one simple tenet:  Leaders own everything.  Leaders even own “the weather.”

What does that mean to you? Think of it this way:  is it the responsibility of the teacher or the student to learn?  While you may believe it is both, or ultimately the student, especially if the teacher is doing a “good job” …  Great Leaders own it all.  They must find the key to communications, they must inspire the student / employee against all odds, ANY failure is THEIR failure FIRST, not the employee.

Now, I have fired people before, but I always knew it was my failure first. I dedicated myself to learning what I did wrong that lead to that firing, and I owned everything that was happening. As a military leader, sometimes you don’t always succeed at your mission, nor does everyone always make it back in one piece. 

But if YOU shift your psychology to that position… you will experience FAR MORE success than you do today where you split the “responsibility pie” with your team. 

Don’t do that.  Own it all.Watch what happens.