3 SIMPLE LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES TO ELEVATE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU

It is no secret leaders are stretched at the moment. Many feel like they are at capacity and have no more bandwidth. Yet also feel they are not quite covering everything they need to. Taking care of day-to-day business, reacting to the immediate, often happens at the expense of more strategic areas like developing their people.

As developing capability is one of the keys to future proofing yourself, your people, and your organisation, this is cause for pause.

How can you set yourself and others up for success now and into the future if you’re not focused on this?

Here are 3 simple opportunities to help you elevate the people around you so that rather than feeling like you need to take responsibility for everything, you can focus on what you do best and the people around you can step up to own their responsibilities.

These ideas are about you being a leader. About you creating the opportunity for the people around you to become even better leaders themselves.

1. LISTENING

The research tells us that the feeling of being listened to is one of the most impactful in terms of people’s levels of engagement, productivity, and performance. When you have an opportunity to listen in a conversation, or a meeting, be present and be active in your listening. This alone creates an opportunity for others to have the feeling of being listened to, and for this to impact their response, their participation, and their contribution.

This is a simple idea you can implement right now. Amplify and activate your own listening to create an opportunity for the people around you to really step up.

2. ROLE MODELLING LEADERSHIP

I have had a series of conversations around this concept in the last few weeks. It is important for leaders to recognise that we are always role modelling leadership. To realise what we think and feel shows up in what we say and do, all day, every day.

Consider what you are role modelling at the moment.

What is your opportunity to elevate your own role modelling? To show the people around you what leadership is all about. How effective leaders operate. How leaders behave. How they make decisions. How they work and collaborate with people. How they communicate. How they negotiate. How they influence.

As a leader, what you do and say every day tells people what you value and what you don’t. It tells people what is acceptable and what is not. It informs people what is important and what is not important, who and how you value the people around you, and so on.

There is significant impact that come from your leadership role modelling. This is not about an add-on to your daily activity or routine. It is about how you go about your day and how you show up as a leader.

3. COURAGE IN LEADERSHIP

This is another topic that has been prevalent in the conversations I have been having with the senior leaders around me. I believe courage is an important opportunity that is being missed. And I learned this week there is an opportunity to lean into your courage about every seven minutes. (Thank you, Ally Nitschke)

I don’t know about you, but I have seen plenty of instances of ‘this is a lean into courage moment’ not happening.

It might be having the important conversation that needs to happen. It might be sharing an observation or some feedback. It might be choosing to make an important decision rather than procrastinating on it or over-consulting on it. It may be saying ‘no’. So many times these things don’t take place when they really should.

These opportunities show up all day, every day. Courage and leadership are about you accepting the responsibilities of leadership and executing on them.

This is not about doing even more, over and above what you already do. Rather the things you lean into, that you are courageous about, that you act on, will really be everyday things that you approach differently. With courage.

And the impact you will have can be profound. People see you are choosing to lead them. They can trust in being a leader. That you are creating opportunities for people, for example, through feedback, to become even better. They will notice that rather than taking the easy path, you are taking the right path. The path that is about the greater good, that is strategically sound, that is about creating a future for people, rather than just taking the easy way right now.

Not everyone will love everything you do, and they will not necessarily agree with everything you do and say, but this is about courage, not about keeping everybody happy all of the time. It is about doing the right thing in the moment with the information that you have available, using all of your resources, and showing up in the right way.

Anyone can do the easy thing. Leaders do the right thing, even when it’s hard. ~ Dr Stacey Ashley

These 3 everyday opportunities to elevate the practise of leadership are not about doing more, they are about doing differently. Your opportunity is to reflect on what you are doing right now, and how you are showing up in these three spaces of listening, role modelling, and courage. Then you can identify the opportunities, not only for yourself, but also for all the people around you, so you can all elevate together.

I’d love to know your thoughts.