People are an organization’s most valuable asset. Organizations need leaders because leaders develop people. Leaders see the potential in people and add value to them, thus increasing their effectiveness.
Competent leaders know that no individual does it all. The more leaders you develop the more successful you become. The more value you add to others the more valuable you are, this leads to building competent teams to help you accomplish a compelling vision together.
Competent Leaders Take Responsibility
Competent leaders always take responsibility for their actions and decisions. President Harry Truman had a plaque on his desk that says, “The buck stops here.” Truman didn’t hand off to others what he knew he must do himself.
Competent leaders recognize and utilize the untapped potential around them to accomplish great things. If you take responsibility to develop people, your effectiveness multiplies. Developing effective teams leads to exponential growth, adding value to the organization and the members of each team.
Competent Leaders Assemble Effective Teams
Assemble and train your team to do what they do best. John C. Maxwell says, “teamwork makes the dream work.” Great leaders aren’t necessarily standing head and shoulders above other leaders, they’re standing on the shoulders of the effective teams they assemble.
A team is defined as:
a number of persons associated together in work or activity
marked by devotion to teamwork rather than individual achievement
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people, so they can tell us what to do.”
– Steve Jobs
Build your team by teaching them what you know, once you’ve helped them develop their strengths, listen to them and learn from what they know. Effective team building is always a win/win which in this case is a learn/learn.
If you train your team to get the job done right, you need to give them space to can get the job done right. If you’ve staffed to your weakness, the team you assemble will know more about how to get their job done than you do, when they do what they do right, you receive the expected outcomes.
Competent Leaders are Equippers
Competent leaders take time to communicate and connect with their team personally and collectively. Leaders who make an effort to connect with their people have better relationships, more consistent workers, and highly productive teams. Competent leaders are encouraging, empowering, and equipping team leaders.
John C. Maxwell says, “Equipping, like nurturing, is an ongoing process. The ideal equipper is a person who can impart the vision of the work, evaluate the potential leader, give them the tools he or she needs, and then help them along the way at the beginning of their journey”.
The Equipper is a Model— a leader who does the job, does it well, does it right, and does it with consistency.
The Equipper is a Mentor— an advisor who has the vision of the organization and can communicate it to others. He or she has experience to draw upon.
The Equipper Empowers Others— one who can instill in the potential leader the desire and ability to do the work. He or she is able to lead, teach, and assess the progress of the person being equipped.
Note: Equipping must be tailored to each potential leader.” (1)
(1) Developing the Leaders Around You by John C. Maxwell
*** This article was authored by John Picarello, Chief Leadership Officer at Lions Pride Leadership Co.***