For anyone in a leadership role, the key is to stay laser-focused on the two most important things, Results & People. Why? Because there is a vital connection between the two:
~ Your people deliver the results you desire. ~
If there is a secret to effective management, this is it!
Let’s look at three component parts, People, Deliver, and Results.
People
The most effective managers develop their leadership capability. Leadership, by definition, requires Followers. You can’t be a leader alone. Your people are the means, the strategic channels, by which your organization reaches its goals. Therefore, your job is to do everything in your power to help your people succeed. At a high level, do what John Maxwell advises when he says: “A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” And sometimes the leader gets out of the way.
Deliver
The verb “deliver” in this secret means “to do or carry out as promised; to give birth to.” Results don’t happen unless someone makes them happen. Interestingly, the origin of the word deliver means “to set free.” Effective leaders unshackle their people and do everything in their power to remove obstacles and facilitate successful performance.
Results
At the end of the day, we all are measured on (and paid for) the results we get. For those in leadership roles, the results come from the effort of their teams.
~ Your people deliver the results you desire. ~
If there is a secret to effective management, this is it!
Let’s look at three component parts, People, Deliver, and Results.
People
The most effective managers develop their leadership capability. Leadership, by definition, requires Followers. You can’t be a leader alone. Your people are the means, the strategic channels, by which your organization reaches its goals. Therefore, your job is to do everything in your power to help your people succeed. At a high level, do what John Maxwell advises when he says: “A leader knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” And sometimes the leader gets out of the way.
Deliver
The verb “deliver” in this secret means “to do or carry out as promised; to give birth to.” Results don’t happen unless someone makes them happen. Interestingly, the origin of the word deliver means “to set free.” Effective leaders unshackle their people and do everything in their power to remove obstacles and facilitate successful performance.
Results
At the end of the day, we all are measured on (and paid for) the results we get. For those in leadership roles, the results come from the effort of their teams.
Success means Letting Go
Every organization has a definition of success. When President John F. Kennedy said that America would put a man on the moon, he set in motion a great engine of success that unleashed tremendous creative energy…and changed the world. As General George S. Patton once famously said: “Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and why, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.”
Let’s delve a bit deeper into the origin of the term “deliver.” It stems from the Latin dēlīberāre, meaning to set free, to liberate. You can’t deliver by fettering your people. Paradoxically, to deliver, one must let go.
This concept of liberation is the breakthrough idea in Jack Welch’s legendary pronouncement that “What we are looking for are leaders at every level who can energize, excite and inspire rather than enervate, depress and control.”
The “old school” of managing said: Control people. Stay on top of them. Now we know that the most effective leaders set their people free to do what they do best so that they can deliver the desired results.
Recent organizational effectiveness research is pointing very consistently toward the key to this liberation. In a word, engagement. Gallup and other similar workplace research organizations are saying that the more engaged a workforce, the higher the productivity –and the profitability– of the company.
The research is also saying that there is one variable, among all the factors that influence employee engagement, that has the biggest influence: the quality and effectiveness of the company’s managers.
Let’s delve a bit deeper into the origin of the term “deliver.” It stems from the Latin dēlīberāre, meaning to set free, to liberate. You can’t deliver by fettering your people. Paradoxically, to deliver, one must let go.
This concept of liberation is the breakthrough idea in Jack Welch’s legendary pronouncement that “What we are looking for are leaders at every level who can energize, excite and inspire rather than enervate, depress and control.”
The “old school” of managing said: Control people. Stay on top of them. Now we know that the most effective leaders set their people free to do what they do best so that they can deliver the desired results.
Recent organizational effectiveness research is pointing very consistently toward the key to this liberation. In a word, engagement. Gallup and other similar workplace research organizations are saying that the more engaged a workforce, the higher the productivity –and the profitability– of the company.
The research is also saying that there is one variable, among all the factors that influence employee engagement, that has the biggest influence: the quality and effectiveness of the company’s managers.
As the saying goes, “Employees don’t leave their company. They leave their manager.”
Terrence Seamon has over thirty years of business experience in leadership development, management training, team building, and organizational change, in both internal as well as external consulting roles. Terry has a Master’s degree in Education from Rutgers Graduate School of Education, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Human Communication from Rutgers. His main interest areas these days are change and transition, job search coaching, stress and wellness, employee engagement, and leadership development. You can find him on twitter at tseamonand on facebook at Facilitation Solutions.
For more guidance on Leadership, read Terry's book Lead the Way
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