LeaderVantage: 7 Essential Steps to Peak Leadership
LeaderVantage: 7 Essential Stpes to Peak Leadership
Kevin crouched near the edge of the cliff, 2,000 feet above the valley floor. Still slightly out of breath from the last leg of his climb, he surveyed the vast forest below him, the denseness of the trees, a lower summit off to the right, and a river running through it along the highway far below. From this vantage point he could see miles and miles of largely undisturbed woods and rugged terrain. It was beautiful yet overwhelming to take it all in.
He was reminded of why he decided to hike to this peak in the first place; the need to find solitude and think about the overwhelming amount of information he was managing as CEO of his company. Strategic decisions needed to be made about the coming fiscal year, and while he had a capable team, they tended to focus on their individual piece of the organization.
Kevin felt accountable for integrating it all into a comprehensive plan. As the leader, he had the vantage point of seeing the implications of everything in ways that others didn’t. But he was beginning to think more about that responsibility. How can he effectively use his vantage point to be a better leader, and to get better results with his team? What fundamentals did he need to think about to make a positive impact on the business? (more…)
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This is a conversation I’ve been engaged in with multiple leaders over the past month. These are individuals trying to move their careers forward and balance their own desires and interests with the expectations of others in their environment around appearance, style, communications and behaviors.
How many times have you attended an event and purchased raffle tickets to win something of value but with one hitch? You must be present to win. You couldn’t just show up for a little while, leave early and hope to learn or hear something interesting or to engage with someone who might be a mutually beneficial business connection. You had to stay…until the end…because that’s when the winners were announced. Even if you didn’t win a prize, you had a greater opportunity to gain something of value from being there until the very end.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a billion-dollar business and thousands of employees, or under a million dollars in revenue and 10 employees, you’ve had to perform multiple functions as your business grows. Your role has stretched from tactical to strategic and spanned multiple functions and responsibilities. But even as you successfully maneuver these challenges and the business grows, you must evolve from being a Jack or Jill of All Trades, performing functions that exceed your capability and capacity; to becoming a Master of One, performing work that aligns with your purpose and expertise.
“What if we’re wrong?” That was the question a senior leader asked his CEO as they were discussing business strategies and plans. “We probably are,” she replied, “but let’s move forward nonetheless.”
Jake was elated. His COO had just called him into his office to give him the good news. The executive committee approved his promotion to VP of Client Services. This was the promotion he had been working towards for the past five years. It had even come a bit sooner than expected as his predecessor resigned several weeks ago to take a position with another company. He wanted to call his wife immediately to share the good news, but she was on an airplane returning from a west coast business trip. Instead he had to rush to pick up his two sons and take them to their after-school sports activities. He was scheduled to be on vacation over the next two days and looked forward to the long weekend to get his mind in gear and prepare to step into the new role. It would be effective one week from today and the announcement would go out on Monday. 
How many times have you had a medical issue you considered to be minor, and instead of going to the doctor, you googled the topic, asked friends or family for advice and visited the drug or grocery store for solutions to address it. All of this only to realize after a period of weeks that you really needed expert help. Even if you had health insurance, you didn’t want to take the time to visit the doctor’s office, get a prescription, go through a medical procedure, or worse, hear news you didn’t want to hear. This “bad news” might range from a firm directive to change your eating or health habits, or worse, a condition left untreated has reached a serious state. It now requires greater intervention, greater disruption of your “normal” routine, and significant stress to manage through it all. You took a risk and now you’re dealing with the consequences.
Supporter relationships are evidenced by business interactions that are more transactional. Supporters focus more on what they are getting, rather than what they are giving. Supporters emphasize the importance of clients’ understanding and valuing their expertise. They tend to receive more crisis calls as a reactionary response from the businesses because something hasn’t turned out as expected.
Everyone has a purpose, but not everyone will recognize it and fulfill it. And one of the biggest reasons why is because they won’t have the patience to go through the process to see it come to pass. Joe is a good example of how practicing patience and preparation ultimately led to fulfilling his purpose.