Management Through Other People

Leadership Workshop (4 of 12) – Lead Through Others

Leading at Light Speed is an excellent leadership book by Eric Douglas showing you step-by-step how to implement 10 Quantum Leaps that build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.

Quantum Leap #3 is all about Leading Through Others.

To maximize your impact, you have to lead through others. For the leader, this means it is critical to recruit and hire the right players, delegate responsibility to them, and provide them with the tools and systems to succeed. Consequently this means getting rid of players who can’t successfully adapt. Each player on the court needs to elevate the others, especially in this technology driven environment. Understanding the habits of highly effective teams is critical. Being a leader requires you to, continually watch the team’s dynamics, bench the players who aren’t making progress, and let those who make themselves ready play a starting role.

Giving the secret to her cooking, renowned chef Alice Waters often said, “always start with the right ingredients.” When asked why he liked combining one or two superstars with a bunch of younger, unknown players, L.A. Lakers coach, Phil Jackson commented: “They elevate each other’s game.”

“Get the right people on the bus,” is how Jim Collins puts it. Leading at light speed means finding good people and giving them what they need to succeed. Unfortunately that is an easy thing to say, but a challenging thing to follow through on. This chapter will give you some of the tricks. Leading through others instead of thinking about yourself takes a shift in logic. Jim Collins uses the example of Wells Fargo and Bank of America to illustrate the difference.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank had similar revenues and profit margins. Bank of America was directed by a leader who, by dint of his strong personality and commanding nature, had assembled a passive team of “yes men.” Ahead of the curve, Wells Fargo CEO, Dick Cooley, was able to gather together one of the most dynamic management teams in the industry. At Wells Fargo, people posed tough questions to one another and weren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. They felt free to challenge each other’s thinking. Those relationships are based on trust between individuals not dictatorship.

In the early 1980s, banking deregulation took place, triggering a revolution in the industry. The industry’s established profit margins were in jeopardy. Seeing the changes coming, the Wells Fargo management team focused on cutting costs. They recognized that banking was becoming a commodity business, with thinner profit margins than before. “Run it like you own it,” became their mantra. In contrast, BofA reacted slowly. The country club culture continued over time. No one challenged the status quo. The outcome? Over a span of fifteen years between 1983 and 1998, Wells Fargo’s stock smashed BofA’s by 500 percent.

“We” leaders surround themselves with the right people. They have sense enough to pick good people and to know what needs to be done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. We leaders aren’t focused on controlling every decision. They aim to delegate. Empowering people creates an environment where they are engaged and feel free to ask tough questions and give conflicting opinions. Good leaders see such an atmosphere as a positive sign that change is in the air, and they welcome the kind of friction that they know will keep sparks flying.

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