Leadership Impact: The Power of Lifting Your Team
#LeadandLift | Episode 93 | Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath
As a leader, it’s not enough for you to be successful, you need to help your people be successful as well. That’s a quote from John C. Maxwell, and in relation to that, I’d like to pose these questions for all of us to ask ourselves today: are you successful? Have you invested in yourself to learn and grow?
Your ability to lift others to success is what makes you a leader, not your title. Therefore, every bit of time you’ve invested into your own growth as a person and as a leader is an investment that ultimately benefits the people that you lead.
In the same way, if you do not invest any time into growth for yourself, then you are doing a disservice to the people that you lead. If you yourself do not grow, then you become a hurdle for others’ growth. At the end of the day, if you can’t help yourself, you certainly can’t help anyone else.
I understand that it’s difficult to hear that, but I hope that the sting of that statement will encourage you to strengthen and build upon the foundation of your own self-growth.
How Crisis And Overwhelm Spreads Beyond The Office
People become what they see in you. If you are not growing and investing in yourself, then the team will also not grow. That’s when performance issues start popping up. Simple issues that could’ve been resolved immediately become one big fire that spreads throughout the organization.
At that point, you’ll be spending most of your time putting out blazing fires when they could’ve been tiny, little sparks. When the team’s performance drops, the burden is placed on your shoulders. Management will seek accountability from you or if you are the CEO, you’ll see a drop in revenue and client retention.
But that’s not all of it, the issues will also follow you all the way to your home. When you are stressed and overwhelmed, it gets difficult to reset when the day is done. When you go through the front door, the crisis comes with you and your family will be able to feel it. Therefore, the overwhelm can negatively affect your relationships.
I’ve seen this happen a lot in the corporate world. Rarely do I ever see leaders who are truly committed to self-growth and team high performance. Most of the time, leaders say they do have high-performing teams, but they don’t really know what it means.
The Consequence Of Bad Leadership
The reason why a lot of leaders we see in the workplace are ineffective is that most of us wait till we get the title of leader before we even begin to figure out what it means to be one. However, the truth is that you don’t need a title to become a leader.
John Maxwell defines leadership as influence, nothing more and nothing less. That means that as long as you are influencing someone, then you are a leader.
“Step into that power and start learning how to be a good leader. So that when you get that opportunity, when someone believes in you and taps you on the shoulder for that role, you can shine in that role, and you can lift your team.” - Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath
When a new leader starts out, their priority must be on how they can improve their leadership in order to make the team perform better. The problem is when a new leader decides not to learn, but rather just let the members figure it out. They don’t take ownership, they tell themselves and others that they are “busy”.
The members are going to see what the leader is doing, things will start slipping through the cracks, and nothing ends up getting done.
That is the consequence of bad leadership. The leader should address the issues, they should make time to discuss them with the team and identify what can be done in order to complete the project. Instead, some decide to merely put more resources and more people into the project, neglecting to look for the root of the problem itself.
Every opportunity you get is a growth opportunity so why would you not learn the skills for that role so that you’re prepared to move to the next role? Leadership is a skill and it can be learned. It’s not something that you’re born with, you grow and develop into the role.
How To Develop Into A Leader
It is ideal for you to already be learning how to be a leader even before you’ve been given a leadership position or title, however, if you don’t know yet what it means to be a leader and you are already in a position where you are in charge of other people then know that you are in the right place. Continue to walk the path of learning and growth.
Commit yourself to learning more about how to be a leader. Invest in training the skills that are related to being a good leader. Learn about personal development, motivation, communication, and more. Keep learning.
Leaders who neglect to learn put themselves and their team at a disadvantage. You may have been skillful in something and that skill that you have might’ve put you in that leadership role, but what got you here won’t get you to where you’ve got to be. It’s not going to take you to the next level. You’ve got to grow beyond what you already can do.
In order to maximize your growth and your potential, you’ve got to hire a high-performance coach.
You don’t have to journey alone. It is simply more effective and more enjoyable to take the journey of growth with a coach and a community. You are responsible for a lot of things, and that’s why you need someone to keep you in check, keep you accountable to your commitment, keep you on track toward improvement, measure your growth so that you know that you are getting somewhere, while also helping you maintain your relationship with your family.
You want to be able to deliver for your team and deliver for yourself, so I would recommend that you get a high-performance coach.
Avoid insanity, embrace clarity
Doing the same thing expecting a different result is insanity. Don’t learn this the hard way, do something different because your role this time is different. The change starts from within. In order for you to become better, you must commit to learning more and invest in yourself by learning from a coach.
A coach will help you gain clarity on your role and your project. Leadership is like being a captain of a rowing team. If you don’t have clarity on your goal, then you won’t have any clarity in your direction. Everybody will start paddling to wherever they believe is the right place.
The leader’s job is to set the direction of where the team must paddle towards. They must also set the rhythm so that the movement of the boat is consistent and efficient.
Making a difference in the lives of your team
Another responsibility you have as a leader is to deal with issues within the team. Even if you set a good example, some may still lack performance and fail to take ownership of their role and tasks.
As the leader of the group, you’ve got to take action. You’ve got to bring it to their attention, have a conversation about what’s going on, and keep them accountable.
If you don’t correct people, then they’re going to keep rowing in the wrong direction and it’ll start to form bad habits in their work. Correct them while it's early so that they can pivot in the right direction and keep going there.
As a leader, you are not only responsible for correcting the team’s bad habits but for their growth as well. Invest in training for your team, help them grow and get better.
The greatest benefit of creating a truly efficient, high-performing, and reliable team is that you’ll be able to safely delegate tasks and trust them. This will improve the overall process of your team.
“As a leader, you're responsible for the team. If you help them grow, they can become better. And by them becoming better, you're gonna have less to do.” - Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath
Every dollar spent investing in the growth of your team is money well spent.
When you are a leader, the spotlight is on you at all times. Your team, your family, your bosses, and the whole industry is looking at you. Commit to becoming the best leader that you can be. It won’t only change your life, it will make a difference in the lives of the people you lead.
Gift For YOU!
Do you feel you’re being as productive, influential and successful as you want to?
Are you struggling to stay focused, to get ahead, or to better influence your team or customers?
Have you reached a plateau in your progress and struggled to breakthrough to the next level of joy, power and achievement? I can help!
Sign up now for a gift of 60 minutes of High Performance Coaching where we cover the six principles of high performance you can use to better master your body, mind and ability to be more productive and persuasive.
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Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath
Coach
Hi! I'm Chabidaye Jaglal Ramnath, your Certified High Performance Coach. You know when high achieving moms in leadership desire more joy, fulfillment and confidence in their personal life and business? I deliver that through high performance coaching. I am so happy that our paths have crossed!
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