Leading Through Others
Leadership Workshop (4 of 12) – Lead Through Others
Leading at Light Speed is an excellent leadership book by Eric Douglas showing you step-by-step how to implement 10 Quantum Leaps that build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.
Quantum Leap #3 is all about Leading Through Others.
To maximize your impact, you have to lead through others. For the leader, this means it is critical to recruit and hire the right players, delegate responsibility to them, and provide them with the tools and systems to succeed. It also means getting rid of players who fail to adapt successfully. In this high paced world, each person on the team is needed to elevate the others. It is critical to understand and develop those habits of highly effective teams. Being a leader requires you to, continually watch the team’s dynamics, bench the players who aren’t making progress, and let those who make themselves ready play a starting role.
When asked the secret of her cooking, the renowned chef Alice Waters liked to say: “Always start with the right ingredients.” When asked why he liked combining one or two superstars with a bunch of younger, unknown players, L.A. Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, noticed: “They elevate each other’s game.”
“Get the right people on the bus,” is how Jim Collins puts it. You can only lead successfully if you find the right people and give them what they need to do their jobs right. Unfortunately that is an easy thing to say, but a challenging thing to follow through on. This chapter discloses some of the elements. It focuses on shifting your mindset – instead of thinking about yourself you lead through others. The example of Wells Fargo and Bank of America is used by Jim Collins to exemplify the difference.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank had similar revenues and profit margins. Bank of America was directed by a leader who, by dint of his strong personality and commanding nature, had assembled a passive team of “yes men.” In contrast, Wells Fargo’s CEO, Dick Cooley, had assembled one of the most dynamic management teams in the industry. At Wells Fargo, people posed tough questions to one another and weren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. They felt free to challenge each other’s thinking. Better relationships are founded on mutual trust not with fear and intimidation.
In the early 1980s, banking deregulation took place, triggering a revolution in the industry. The industry’s traditional profit margins were threatened. Seeing the changes coming, the Wells Fargo management team focused on cutting costs. They recognized that banking was becoming a commodity business, with thinner profit margins than before. “Run it like you own it,” became their mantra. On the opposite end, BofA took a long while to react. The exclusive society prevailed. Not one person challenged the status quo. The outcome? Over a span of fifteen years between 1983 and 1998, Wells Fargo’s stock smashed BofA’s by 500 percent.
“We” leaders surround themselves with the right people. They have sense enough to pick good people and to know what needs to be done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Leadership doesn’t mean controlling every decision. They aim to delegate. Empowering people creates an environment where they are engaged and feel free to ask tough questions and give conflicting opinions. Good leaders see such an atmosphere as a positive sign that change is in the air, and they welcome the kind of friction that they know will keep sparks flying.
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