Given that (measured from responses given in Legitimate Leadership workshops) approximately 70% of people in leadership roles are takers (that is, they are here to “get” results out of people rather than give/care and grow people), what should be done about these people who are already in leadership positions?
At Legitimate Leadership we believe that leaders who are in the relationship with their people to “give” to them rather than to “get” results out of them have seven possible “gives” at any point in time.
A challenge in leadership is to develop the capacity to suspend control – to fight your need to control the outcome. But incrementally suspending control is necessary if you are to empower your team members to become the best that they can be.
Legitimate Leadership does not support the notion that there are any leadership roles that are more difficult or more impactful than others. At every level the responsibility of those in authority is first and foremost to care for those in their charge, to enable them to make an above-and-beyond contribution and to realize the best in themselves.
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Question of the Month
By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.
Question: Given that (measured from responses given in Legitimate Leadership workshops) approximately 70% of people in leadership roles are takers (that is, they are here to “get” results out of people rather than give/care and grow people), what should be done about these people who are already in leadership positions?
Answer: In response to this reality, Legitimate Leadership has developed a methodology which does not work in all cases but clearly enables a shift in the majority of people in leadership roles from being here to take to being here to give. This process has the following steps: Read the full answer by clicking here
By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.
At Legitimate Leadership we believe that leaders who are in the relationship with their people to “give” to them rather than to “get” results out of them have seven possible “gives” at any point in time. These seven are: Care, Means, Ability, Censure, Discipline, Praise and Reward.
When leaders are getting the Reward “give” right, their direct reports would “strongly agree” or “agree” to the following two statements (when responding in a Legitimate Leadership leadership survey):
1. My current level of remuneration positively acknowledges my contribution.
2. Those (in the team) who contribute the most are most highly rewarded.
Leadership Leadership has agonised on how to word the first statement simply because we have found in practice that people are very reluctant to agree that they are happy with what they are being paid.
ARTICLE: THE ROLE OF THE COACH IS TO WATCH THE GAME
By Angela Donnelly, Director, Legitimate Leadership Canada.
A challenge in leadership is to develop the capacity to suspend control – to fight your need to control the outcome. But incrementally suspending control is necessary if you are to empower your team members to become the best that they can be. It also provides an opportunity to practice maturing your intent by shifting your attention from outcome to process.
Suspending control is not simply a behavioural practice to change. Intent is what ultimately drives behaviour and is where the change needs to happen.
The workplace is in some ways similar to a sports game.
VIDEO: BEING MIDDLE MANAGEMENT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT JOB IN THE COMPANY
By Simon Sinek, American author on leadership, and motivational speaker.
COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO BY WENDY LAMBOURNE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Legitimate Leadership does not support the notion that there are any leadership roles that are more difficult or more impactful than others. At every level the responsibility of those in authority is first and foremost to care for those in their charge, to enable them to make an above-and-beyond contribution and to realize the best in themselves. At every level the challenge and the opportunity is to determine the calibre of those who report to them directly. The CEO should be judged on the quality of the executive team, middle managers on the excellence of those in first line manager roles and first line managers on the excellence of those in the front line.
What is different though is the unique value add of each level in the hierarchy. Hence the timeframe, the degree of impact, the contribution, differ. CEOs have different issues to focus on and deal with from those at other levels in the organization.
What is important therefore is that everyone in the line of command makes an exemplary direct AND leadership contribution. That is the recipe for both short and long term organizational success.
OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO: The infinite game is not the absence of finite games. The infinite game is the context within which finite games exist. But if you’re ignorant of the existence of the infinite game and all you’re ever playing is finite (but you are in fact in an infinite game) you will do damage. Jack Welch once said long term is simply a series of short terms. No it is not – because if all you do is play short, short, short, short, short, then eventually you create long term damage. You do damage to your culture, you do damage to your clients, you put so many cheap ingredients in your product you destroy the quality of your product and eventually it catches up with you.
I think middle management is the most difficult job in a company and it’s also the place where the most change and the most impact can happen.
ARTICLE: REWARD – IT’S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY!
ARTICLE: THE ROLE OF THE COACH IS TO WATCH THE GAME
