Here are some quotes which I’ve read over the past few months.
Everything rises and falls on Leadership (John Maxwell)
So goes the leader, as goes the culture. So goes the culture, so goes the company. (Simon Sinek)
In most organizations, the bottleneck is at the top. (Peter Drucker)
How to update theses statements to a harsh reality? What is it to be a leader of a group of individuals?
The vast majority of leaders have, to a certain extent, slowed down the investment in their own development. The excuse provided is lack of time. I am asking you the following question: Can you not do it? It is true that the fact that you now find yourself where you are is an indication that some good things have been accomplished. But do not forget that to be good is the number 1 enemy of being better, perfect or exceptional. Is it sufficient to be good these days?
Life is designed for moving forward. In our view, a leader should invest at least 10% of his salary in continuous training as well as the development of skills. The business will always be limited to the strength of his management team. Here is where Peter Drucker’ s quote acquires its meaning: the bottleneck is always at the top.
For a high-performance culture, it all begins with a high-performance team. To be accomplished, the main function of a leader is to coach/mentor his team. To communicate relentlessly. It’ s more important to repeat one’ s message than to provide guidance. But yes, we know, it’ s not sexy to work on our team’ s development. The results aren’t as concrete as the construction of a building, the purchase of a piece of equipment or the acquisition of a major client.
Which leadership style will be required in order to achieve this level of performance?
A leadership of a servant. But yes, the owner, the entrepreneur, the leader, it’ s up to you to be at the disposition of your employees, of your team and not the other way around.
Not at all obvious, you will agree. It’ s really against all logic. Very often, our society puts the entrepreneur, the president and his management team on a podium while a company is nothing without its employees. Imagine the global effect of putting in place a high-performance team philosophy on a business.
We have a lot to learn about professional sports teams. A very competitive environment, but very public, who applies more pressure on its required leadership.
Every year. teams battle it out for the highest honours. After a season, regardless of the results, they have to do it all over again. The teams aspire to the highest honours, and to deserve it, they need to evolve and improve.
Therefore, what are your thoughts? Are you ready to assume the role of servant leader? Are you ready to invest yourselves in your team’s development as well as your own? Are you ready to make way for new players having the necessary traits leading to the success of your business according to your maturity cycle? Are you ready to be vulnerable by surrounding yourself by people who are more technically competent than yourself?
Some good questions to ponder over the summer.
Don’t forget, we can only grow when we find ourselves outside of our comfort zone.
Marc-Andre Alary
CEO
DirecSys
