I recently posted on the gratitude that I felt for being able to work with so many great leaders over my initial two years as a professional coach. From that post I have been asked by quite a few people to reflect on any key insights on leadership that I have personally gained from my interactions with leaders across so many industries. While there are many learnings, here is a list that initially came to my mind. I think these are insights that would be a benefit for leaders at every level.
01Great Leaders “embrace the suck”: In Brene’ Brown’s book, “Dare to Lead” she coined this term to reflect the reality of leadership. Being in a leadership position is not a perk but rather incredibly difficult work. I have coached technology leaders that have had to decide and communicate workforce reductions and the leaders sandwiched in the middle that need to manage their own personal job security anxiety while also managing the communication to mitigate the anxiety on their teams. I have coached leaders that have had difficult performance conversations, challenges to implement tough organizational changes, and manage to navigate tough organizational complexities. So many challenges that sometimes have no popular path forward. Great leaders set out to serve others and influence positive change for the organizations that they lead but they realize not to expect too many thankyous in the process. In fact, there are many critics. In Brene Brown’s book she highlighted the famous quote from Theodore Roosevelt that I had hanging on my wall during most of my 30 years of leadership and it is worth repeating here...
02Great leaders understand their mission: Leaders face many challenges and decisions. I am coaching Principals in a local school district. These principals are often caught up in a complex world of state and federal regulations, district objectives, school worker unions, parents with varying perspectives. To a person, these principals have told me that they keep focused on one thing, what is best for the students. That is their true north.
I have heard something similar within two biotech companies that I have coached that our scaling into a more corporate atmosphere. Growing to the size of a mid-sized company brings lots of potential diversions for scientist that are now leaders. Their driving mission is to keep the science honest and pure. What is good for the advancement of the science is on their mind as they navigate the many changes that are in front of them. For many other leaders their true north is the what is best for customers or the quality of their product or service. This is not to say that leaders are not very concerned with what is best for the workforce, they are. They realize forever, that the success of the organization and ultimately the entirety of their team is to successfully meet the mission of their organization.
03Great leaders plan communication: I am sure that there are some very gifted leaders that can walk into a room without preparation and communicate a heartfelt message from the cuff. However, as I have coached many leaders now, I believe many great leaders put a lot of thought into all the important communication demands of the job. They identify their objective, desired outcome and do their outlines. They anticipate questions and objections. They seek input from trusted individuals to help them understand how the communication may land relative to their intended effect. Communication is an analytical process and they put in the work.
They also understand that they are dealing with people’s emotion and not just their minds. Great leaders that I have coached understand how to tap into their empathy to consider how they would feel receiving the information. They share stories to demonstrate some vulnerability and build rapport with those receiving their communication. A recent challenge that has come up with many clients is the different perspectives of Millennials and Generation Z and how that changes the way to communicate. Lastly, leaders in the remote work place have that additional challenge to connect and maintain team cohesiveness.
04Great leader’s empower others: Much of my coaching has involved helping leaders work through how to engage their teams and help them obtain or maintain their passion for the work more fully. It is about inspiring the team to look at the work as more than a job. Acknowledging everyone’s contributions and providing plenty of positive re-enforcement to balance constructive feedback is key.
For many our clients I am asked to help them become of a better delegator. This involves a lot of discussion about building mutual trust with team members and how to grow people so that effective delegation can occur without risk to the organization. This discussion also turns to how they prioritize and assess the criticality of work so that they feel comfortable when they need to take a risk and understand what the consequences are.
Leadership is never easy. Through coaching, we get the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the various challenges that leaders face across different industries. We learn about the pressures of decision-making, the importance of communication, and the art of delegation. Understanding these factors helps us strengthen our own coaching framework, allowing us to tailor our approach to the specific needs of each client.