I am a huge NASCAR fan because a) I am from the Southern
U.S. (so that makes it almost obligatory along with obsessing over college
football!) and b) I once lived in beautiful Concord, North Carolina which is
home to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. I recently heard NASCAR commentator Pat
Patterson make a comment that eventually a NASCAR driver will either be IN DEMAND or
IN THE WAY! He was talking about a driver’s eventual results and performance on
the track which got me thinking out loud that as leaders we are always under
the same scrutiny.
To explain this concept a little further, Pat was
explaining that in a professional driver’s career that they will either continually
improve to the point where they are IN DEMAND by fans, corporate sponsors,
media, etc. or they will plateau and become a member of the “also ran” club
where they rarely win, get noticed, and just ride in the pack and get in the
way of the faster drivers. To be clear, leadership is NOT about doing things just to be noticed but I believe that
unless we continually improve our skills and capacities as leaders, then we
start to become IN THE WAY of our teams and endeavors.
Here are some differences between the two:
IN DEMAND -
- Take Responsibility
- Continuously Improve
- Empower Others
- Innovate
- Are Sought for Their Advice and Knowledge
- Create More Leaders
IN THE WAY -
- Take Credit
- Plateau their Skill Level
- Micromanage Others
- Work by Formulas
- Are Approached for their Permission
- Collect Followers
You can begin to tell the difference between the two
states of leadership by looking at this list above and it is important to note
this can happen to any leader regardless of their age, time in the job, etc. In
fact, the best leaders I have observed were ones well into their careers that
had developed great instincts as to when their teams needed them to STAY
INVOLVED or GET OUT OF THE WAY! This does not mean they disengaged from their
teams, rather the relationship changed from directing to coaching. This was
empowering to their direct reports in that they could have the freedom to excel
and the leader had the freedom to innovate and think “next steps” which kept them
always IN DEMAND!
The great news is that everyone of us has the ability to
always stay IN DEMAND but it requires a process. Staying IN DEMAND requires us
all (especially me!) to:
Assess where we are in the In Demand versus In the Way
spectrum
Determine where we need to improve
Develop a growth plan accordingly and
Repeat the cycle as needed.
As always if I can help you and the
people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would
invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the
training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact and help you stay IN DEMAND! Also, as a
bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will
send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your
organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to
your organization!
Yours in Leadership,
Bill Faulkner
Principal Consultant –
Out Loud Strategies
Independent Coach,
Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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