All leaders

What would happen if everybody in your organization was a leader?

I know what you’re thinking: sheer chaos. Everybody would be doing what they want to, all random and disorganized.

But in fact, it would be healthy thing to think about your people that way. Let me explain.

People have different job descriptions, right? They play different roles on the team?

And you want them to feel accountable for doing good work and maximizing their positive value?

This is where it can be useful to think about what it means for a worker to “own” a particular area. I would imagine that you’d like them to feel a sense of ownership, because it can be inspiring and cause them to feel accountable.

But it would be even more inspiring to feel that you “lead” in a certain area. You’d feel even a touch more accountable – not only for your own actions, but also to help others align with what you’re doing.

The challenge, obviously, is that if you tell someone to “lead” an area, then they might start telling others what to do – reducing the effectiveness of the entire team.

So YOUR challenge, heading all this up, is to put guardrails around what it means to lead in a smaller area or topic. It’ll look like:

• “You can lead decisions on this topic, but never forget that it’s about positive results for the entire organization. Alignment is key.”
• “Let’s work to figure out the key relationships you need to work with – customers, suppliers, and peers. These categories are crucial!”
• “Here’s how I will measure your results: ………..”
• “Here are the rules we need to operate within: ………….”
• “I’m always here to help and support you succeed!”

In my career, I’ve always had the greatest satisfaction when my boss laid down good groundrules and then supported me in making decisions to have the best positive impact.

And you want inspired and productive people, right?