“Leadership is about bringing the best out in people” said Aga, our Client Happiness Rockstar at a team meeting yesterday where we discussed what makes a great leader.
As a leader it is your job to facilitate an environment where people can produce remarkable work, a place where people can bring out their brilliance.
To be able to do that you have to let go of control, give your team members responsibility and let them shine.
I‘ve seen many people struggle with this, understandably. Their business is their baby and they‘ve worked their butts off to get it to a certain stage. And now they are suddenly supposed to hand over control and responsibilities?
Absolutely! Leadership is about hiring people who are better than you are. It‘s about focusing on what you are really good at, stepping aside and letting other people step up. It takes courage, trust and checking your ego at the door to do that successfully.
I‘m the first one to admit that there are many people who are better at certain tasks and have surrounded myself with people who do a better job in different areas of the business. We have people on our team who are better at delivering our Clever Bunch program (Susanne), better at nurturing our clients (Pat & Fiona), better at producing incredibly awesome creative work (Julia), better at keeping us all in line and organizing awesome team outings (Aga) and better at technical stuff (Eka, Kris & Zeca).
Leadership is not about creating followers who are dependent on you, it‘s about helping people to produce brilliant work and to become their own leaders.
Leadership is about handing over your brilliant ideas and letting your team own them, run with them, making them feel amazing because they are if you let them be.
Leadership is about letting others shine, not stealing their thunder.