A Key Aspect Of Leading - written by Lori Marcoux

In advance of each customized in-house facilitation that Phil and I design and lead, I send both the executives of the organization and the emerging leader participants of the course a questionnaire to determine what results they most want to take away. Without exception, one common theme is that the executives want their people to take more initiative rather than seek permission and emerging leaders want the executives to do less "hand holding". They all want the same thing yet both groups are stuck in their most comfortable and "safest" way of doing their jobs.

I believe one of a leader's primary jobs is to grow other leaders. This is accomplished through training, coaching and mentoring, all of which are for naught unless I hold emerging leaders able.

With regard to holding people able, too often I see "veteran" leaders jumping in to help emerging leaders who might be slow out of the gate rather than being on standby for when they ask for help. This tactic is the same as smothering a plant with a plastic bag and stunting the plant's growth.

In my opinion, regular hand holding is unnecessary and usually harmful. Emerging leaders miss out on what would otherwise be learning opportunities and growth experiences. At the same time, I am not focused on what is most important in my leadership roles, my highest and best use.

Holding others less than able occurs in a variety of forms - withholding feedback, withholding invitations to participate at higher levels, providing solutions to challenges rather than allowing others to find their own answers, and sometimes completing tasks or assignments for others, to name a few. The prices that accompany this kind of behavior include emerging leaders losing confidence, dimming down, unconsciously withdrawing, becoming less productive, and often feeling victimized.

In my experience, people are, typically, more knowledgeable, more creative and more resilient than others assume. Given appropriate training and resources, I think people are capable of exceeding their own and others' expectations. Letting people complete assignments, particularly in ways other than how I would do them, learning from missteps as well as from successes, provides extraordinary leadership growth opportunities.

Growing other leaders requires invitation on my part. This, I believe, is an exercise in consciousness. I invite my people to give and ask for feedback, to ask for help in finding their own solutions, to ask to participate at higher levels with more complex assignments and to challenge themselves to perform at their best. Once I think I have done this, I do it again. And again...

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