Decades ago, I studied with a professor who taught me that “Life is simple…once you understand its complexities.” Profound thought, if you think about it. Similarly, leading is simple, once you understand the complexities. Effective Leaders CARE! That’s it! If you do, you will! CARE and lead, that is. Here’s what it takes.
Effective Leaders are COMPASSIONATE. Two key complexities of being compassionate are being there and being empathic. When you’re NOT there, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, you’re not leading. You can’t! When you ARE there in those four areas, you’ll have the opportunity to lead. You still may not accept the opportunity, it’s always your choice, but at least you’ll have that choice. Effective Leaders always accept the opportunity. Being empathic requires understanding. That’s all! NO JUDGMENT! That’s the hard part. You have to accept your followers for who they are, not compare them with who YOU are.
Effective Leaders ACKNOWLEDGE presence and presents. You can’t imagine the power of greeting someone, especially eye-to-eye. The eyes don’t lie. They express compassion, or not. Letting someone know that you know that they’re there is critical to being an Effective Leader. And expressing to them that they’re valued because of the gifts they bring to the team will last way longer than the expression itself.
Effective Leaders RESPECT their followers. On THEIR FOLLOWERS’ terms. We often attempt to show respect on OUR terms. That doesn’t always work. How do you show respect? Ask! “I want to refer to you as (fill-in-the-blank). Is that okay? I want to be respectful. Please tell me if it’s not.” Once you have permission or guidance on how that person sees you as respectful, practice it until it becomes habitual.
Effective Leaders EMPOWER their followers! Okay, no one empowers anyone. That’s a myth. People empower themselves. Telling or making someone do what you want isn’t leading. It’s coercion. Inspiring and equipping your followers to empower THEMSELVES to be their best selves is empowering. When you do that, people will follow you.
See how simple this all is? The complexities are practicing these key components in a consistent way, and with the INDIVIDUALS you intend to lead. We often think that a title or rank or status makes us leaders. NOPE! It doesn’t work that way. The ONLY thing that makes a person a leader is if he or she has followers. Nothing else! If you do what I just suggested, you’ll have followers, which will make you a leader. It’s that simple. And the more you do these things the sooner you’ll become an Effective Leader. Effective Leaders CARE!
¡HEIRPOWER!
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