I first heard this statement by Allyson Byrd from Money Movers International. An executive coach and true sensation. I was lucky to attend her transformation program and have learned so much about mindset, leadership, and transformation. As leaders, it is our job to develop the people in our team; develop their skills, coach them, and teach them. Leaders also need to know their team members well. They need to know what they value and how they work best. It is through getting to know them that a good leader is able to understand how to manage conflict, crisis, and lead them to success. In order to give honest and direct feedback, a leader must include opportunities to reconcile and make things right. Otherwise, feedback is no longer constructive.
We don’t evolve in isolation. We need each other to grow. Leaders are teachers. This way of re-conceptualizing leadership helps in understanding that the people in our team need to, first, feel safe, and second, know they can recover before it’s too late. One way of creating a safe container for this relationship is by modeling honesty, vulnerability, and being open to challenging the process. Another way of creating a safe platform is to model our vision and have clear values. Allow people to meet you where you are, as a leader, knowing that you will meet them where they are. Teams thrive when they feel safe.
Transparency and meaningful communication is key to any successful relationship. This applies to a team and to an organization. It is all about relationships. And, although some leaders are good about the bottom line, making money, they also need to be good about communicating how they will do this effectively as a team. The hardest part about being a leader is that they make the final decisions that impact the team and the bottom line. This is not about feelings, this is about harnessing the concept of a collective brain. There is no leader out there that can reach their goals on their own. We all need a team, and if we were all good at everything, we wouldn’t need each other, which is not the case in any organization. Leaders are required to make important decisions, give feedback, and orchestrate a dance that takes into consideration the perspectives and skills that the team possesses.