Let Your People Lead!
August 4, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” – Ralph Nader
I believe this quote with all my heart, but many of those I’ve led with don’t, and I wondered for years why.
Why don’t leaders work to produce more followers, instead of finding ways to oppress those who report to them.
Let your people lead!
But why? Why don’t managers and leaders allow their people to lead.
3 reasons managers don’t allow their people to lead
- Insecurity – If you’re afraid of others passing you by and making you obsolete, then you won’t allow your people to lead.
- Insincerity – If you don’t care about your people, then you won’t let your people to lead.
- Lack of knowledge – If you don’t know how to lead, then how can you possibly allow your people to lead?
How do you overcome these obstacles?
- Insecurity (#1) is often caused by a lack of job or industry knowledge (#3). Formal training is the best way to build your confidence as it will go at a more controlled pace and will allow you to practice the new skills in the safety of a classroom. Start moving towards a degree, take an online course, or sign up for a course with your company’s training group.
- If your insecurity is caused by something in your past, look for an anonymous Associate Assistance Program or get a counselor. These trained experts can’t share what you talk about with anyone, and they are non-judgmental. See what’s covered by your insurance or get some help another way.
- Insincerity is tough to overcome but if you know you’re not sincere, then you probably care enough to fix this. Find things you can be sincere about and work on those, then commit to working on the rest of them. Understand that compassion and sincerity are signs of strength, not of weakness. The more you have, the better you can lead.
- If you don’t have any knowledge on how to manage or lead, find a mentor or ask your manager for tips. Or start listening to the Manager Tools set of podcasts on how to be a better manager and a better leader.
Questions for comments
What are some other obstacles?
How can you overcome them?
What other advice do you have for managers and leaders?
Roadblock photo credit to Dazza_13
Whenever I’m in a manager/organizer position, I don’t dare to let my people lead because I always think I can do better. I always keep them around me so I can give them tasks if I run out of time and realize that I can’t do everything. There are always a few people around me, and they are sometimes upset because of my stubbornness, but I like them and even trust them. I’m just realistic and know that I can often do better.
So far I’ve only been in such a position in Student Council organizations, and my problem was that people often don’t care about the job, they just want it to take an end. In real-life situations, when they are paid for what they do, however, I could easily make them become more ambitiou$ :D
Phil, I will often notice that managers simply need to make room for others to co-lead with them in a more intentional way. They are not deliberately holding people back as much as not noticing enough, and not seeing when others are ready for leadership. Opportunities abound for co-leading with connected projects and other leadership initiatives, and having more of an abundance mentality certainly helps, but there is some strategic planning to be invoked too, coupled with coaching and leadership development.
One of the very best time to “notice” when people are ready, is when you come back from vacation or a business trip: Allowing others to lead may be as easy as encouraging them to continue with what they stepped into while you were gone!
I think for many managers as ‘leaders’ they still see their role as: DOING THINGS RIGHT… organizing, setting the rules and seeing rules are followed and they seem to act as the quality of inputs inspector. This of course contradicts a leaders real ‘purpose’ and of the real real duty of leadership, which is more about about: DOING THE RIGHT THINGS by… developing trust and taking risks to ensure their team (followers) meet their full potential both as individuals and as a group.
I guess with many the leadership problem comes down to the fear of sharing the power of their authority (which we all tend to hold on to) while delegating responsibility to get the work done which we all seem to be comfortable with. For me the only reason for a leader to exist (in a work sense) is to provide the resources for their followers (staff) to make it easier for them to get their job done and of course satisfy a customer.
Ric-orglearn.org
I can think of one other reason – fear of failure!
This is a problem that’s endemic throughout society, from the top to the bottom. Think of government. If they were doing their job then they would effectively be making their job redundant because they would be helping to build a society that didn’t need the things that government provides.
That this hasn’t happened I suspect is a basic human trait, an intrinsic survival instinct that ensures we look after ourselves first, and others second. Only if systems are in place that reward the kind of behaviour we want from our leaders will this change.