The 5 L's of Leadership. How to Invest In Career Development and Growing Others.
One of the most important roles of leadership is to grow other others and especially leaders. With that comes investing in their career paths.
After all, leadership isn’t about having followers, it’s about empowering others and enabling their success. Through my own career journey, I’ve found myself most drawn to leaders who believed in me and wanted to help set me on the path for the most expansive growth. And for those leaders, I am most grateful.
Here are 5 ideas on how to invest in the career paths of others.
Listen- Take the time to have real conversations about their interests and what motivates them.
Making the time to actually “actively” listen and hear what is being expressed by way of individual concerns or aspirations is a critical step in understanding what makes a person tick. Try tagging on questions of curiosity- “tell me more about this” and “help me understand what makes this important to you.” The other way of listening is observing body language. Listen to what their body gestures tell you about how excited or deflated they are about different things. The way they act without speaking often speak volumes. Make time to really hear the person fully. It is foundational to understanding them and then helping them.
Learn- Learn what they’re naturally good at, their “strengths” and place them in areas where they exercise those strengths.
Having a team of diverse skills and thinkers is one of the biggest joys of being a leader. There are tools such as the Clifton Strength Finder which help you identify their top 10 strengths, with specific guidance on how to tap into those strengths. There are numerous other tools (a nice list of these at the end of this article) that are helpful in assessing a person’s style and helping them learn how to work it. I recommend the Myer Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for personality assessment) as well as the DISC profile assessment. These tools help the individual learn about themselves and how others perceive them. From that standpoint, being a coach or helping them get coached by others is also instrumental in their growth. Once you have bi-directional trust with the individual, I’ve found that the use of performance evaluations with honest feedback about blind spots, as well as conducting a 360 Degree feedback evaluation helpful.
Look- Look for every opportunity to acknowledge their work, compliment them, and shine the light on them.
While this may seem easy, exercising it consistently is not. One of my favorite quotes from Dale Carnegie is “Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” I don’t know too many people who hate being acknowledge or complimented. Sure, there are those who feel uneasy being in the limelight, however, acknowledgement can be done in private and in person. Building people up by praising them for their good work lights a fire in them to want to replicate that work. It nurtures creativity and unleashes talent that lurks blow the surface. I can’t stress enough the importance of the thank you notes, the 1-line praising comments during a meeting, and certificates/trophies that recognize people going above and beyond.
Level up- Advocate for them behind closed doors- be a sponsor.
This is by far one of the most important things in championing your people. Talk about them when they’re not there (in nice ways) to advocate for their talent and potential. Whether recommending them for a stretch assignment, for inclusion in a high-profile project, or just dropping their name as a person ready for the “next level” when promotions are being discussed- all of these are powerful ways to help create growth paths for people.
Leave- Leave a legacy of growing others, caring about their careers.
I love this saying by Theodore Roosevelt, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” One of the most valuable legacies you can leave as a leader is to demonstrate how to be a servant leader, compassionately caring about others. That’s the secret sauce for success as a leader (in my humble opinion.) As Simon Sinek would say, “Leaders are not responsible for the results. Leaders are responsible for the people who are responsible for the results.” Create a legacy of caring about others as individuals, and their careers. Be that leader that leaves people feeling nurtured and fulfilled. They will exceed your wildest expectations. Only then will your organization experience exponential growth!
Resources:
Clifton Strengths Finder Assessment: https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/254033/strengthsfinder.aspx
Myers Briggs MBTI Assessment: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/take-the-mbti-instrument/
DISC Profile Assessment: https://www.discprofile.com/what-is-disc
360 Degree Feedback tool: https://www.cultureamp.com/360-review-
Positive Psychology Assessment: https://www.viacharacter.org
EQi (Emotional Intelligence) Assessment: https://www.thepersonalitylab.org/eq-test?gclid=Cj0KCQiAsoycBhC6ARIsAPPbeLu4xmmOBIuzEaUSuXzEfoATHl8PkC6hQuHRbNkO4Zx-8O85abbL-fsaAtmNEALw_wcB
