Cultivating Leadership Excellence: A Guide to Developing Others

True leaders are distinguished by their skills and behaviours, not by their roles or titles. This discourse delves into the crucial science of developing others, a core facet of effective leadership.

In previous articles, we talked about the first crucial skills for leadership: listening, mentoring and coaching. But these skills alone are insufficient. Only leaders who genuinely want to develop the people around them will utilise these skills to their maximum efficiency.

There are three main points for leaders when it comes to developing others: guardianship, environment building, and creating a multiplying effect.

Guardianship

“Leadership is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.“

– Simon Sinek

Whether adorned with a title or not, leaders must adopt the idea of Guardianship: taking care of the people around them. It’s a simple sentiment of putting others first. “Leaders eat last.” However, it comes with the responsibility to do more for the people around you. Indeed, Simon Sinek reminds us that being a leader comes with sacrifice. 

Distinguishing leadership from management is pivotal. Managers focus on the organisation’s numbers and results, and leaders dedicate themselves to the humans behind the numbers and results.

And humans are inherently emotional creatures. The misconception of maintaining a “professional” attitude in the workplace implies that emotions should be kept at bay, being focused and productive, and essentially being robots! However, leaders who lead with their hearts will have more than robots in their teams. They will have, yes, emotional humans, but also dedicated, creative, capable of growth, and humans fully committed to the team’s vision and goals.

I, for one, rather have humans than robots in my team. Recognising the emotional nature of individuals, leaders become guardians of safety, openness, and vulnerability. Brene Brown’s insight in “Dare to Lead” echoes: “Leaders must either invest time in attending to fears and feelings or squander an unreasonable amount of time managing ineffective behaviour.”

Environment Building

“Leadership is the ability to enhance the environment so that everyone is empowered to contribute creatively to solving problems.”

– Gerald M. Weinberg

In his famous book, Turn the Ship Around, David Marquet highlights how he, as a submarine captain, ensured his crew had two strong pillars: competency (how to do things) and clarity (what we should do). This nurtured an environment where all his people were independent, thinking human beings contributing to achieving the mission’s objective. 

His crew started thinking as a captain. He didn’t have to give specific orders anymore because the ownership of actions had shifted to his people. 

Build an environment where growth and competence are but a consequence of its design, an environment for thinking. As per David, we’ve been programmed to take control and attract followers, but leaders should give control and create more leaders. “I don’t care how smart you are. In my submarine, I have 135 thinking, active, passionate, creative, taking-initiative people. It’s a tidal wave! You don’t stand a chance.”

Creating a multiplying effect

In his book Five Levels of Leadership, John Maxwell describes that the path to leadership excellence involves transitioning from personal skill development to empowering others. It’s a journey marked by stages: 

1. I do it. Here, leaders are yet to start developing others, but they are honing their own skill sets.
2. I do it, and you are with me. Leaders here are now actively developing someone else through teaching, shadowing, etc. 
3. You do it, and I’m with you. Here, leaders are observers and provide feedback to the apprentice. Leaders use their mentoring and coaching skills for adjustment and fine-tuning.
4. You do it. The apprentices are now fully independent (on level 1 themselves). The leader’s job here is to nudge the apprentices, asking them who they will be equipping next.
5. You do it, and someone is with you. Your work is only complete with the apprentices once they can multiply themselves. Level 5 is the most crucial, but aspiring leaders often forget it.

The secret to developing others is that it starts before you even begin. The secret is to recruit well and to position them well. Another quote by John Maxwell is: “Successful people discover what they are good at. Successful leaders discover what others are good at.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, as Ralph Nader puts it, “the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Embrace guardianship, cultivate a conducive environment, and embark on the journey of developing a multiplying effect—only then can leadership truly thrive.