My stumbling - unleashing the potential

I was at an event on Friday night where I met the presidents of two companies, both complaining about “people these days.” They have such short “wicks.”

It is an undeniable situation and the solution is leadership. That’s the job of a leader: to get people where they need to go. If everyone did what they were supposed to then there would be no need for a leadership team, managers, supervisors, etc.

Leadership is a journey. Laurie Jones explains the leadership challenge succinctly “…it doesn’t come with a detail-filled, certified map.” It certainly doesn’t come with a step by step blue print but I think there’s a lot of mental models to contemplate and find wisdom to seek application.

A model I stumbled into recently around peak team performance attempts to simplify the job of leaders to three distinct roles:

1. “Set the stage” - A mountain of Vision, Values, & Initiatives a team is excited to climb

2. “Hire the right people” - A team that fits the culture

3. “Get out of the way!” - Don’t micromanage in the 20th century, Command & Control style.

Rather, trust & inspire to unleash the potential of a great team eager to climb the mountain.

Of course leadership needs to assist and step in for the crucial conversations and when people are stepping out of line. I think the overall concept of this model of leadership is about doing the hard work of setting up the bus with a direction and getting the right people on the bus. Then, let the team get to work and be there to support! 

The overall model above gets to the crux of what Richard Florida has stated: “people don’t need to be managed, they need to be unleashed.”

Leaders bring out the best in their teammates.