The best leaders don’t give orders.
They don’t have to. Nor do they want to.
Because they lead leaders.
Leaders who each…
…study the situation for themselves.
…share their intent in the open.
…invite challenge.
…listen with an open mind.
…negotiate with others.
…take initiative and do what must be done.
…lead themselves, in a way that also leads those around them.
But how does one arrive at such a fortunate position?
Not by giving orders.
Order-giving just trains order-taking.
The more you tell people exactly what to do, the more you train them to wait for orders instead of taking initiative.
Order-taker:
“Something has happened! I wonder what the boss wants us to do.” waits
Leader:
“Something has happened! I know what we’re here to do, which means a reasonable course of action would be ____. Any objections?”
You have to coach them to lead themselves first.
That means putting them in situations where they must decide what to do, exercising judgement as you might, then reflecting on what happens together.
They need moments of uncertainty, where they have to reach for the answer themselves, exercising the muscles of leadership.
Every new day brings a choice to decide to train leadership instead of training order-taking. To help them practice on small stuff, instead of waiting for an emergency to come along.
Leaders make leaders. They do it every day.
Ben and David
StrategyTeaming.com