When you’re a leader, you may feel that you have to be all-knowing. You think you have to have all the answers and make all the decisions.
The truth is that when you lean into knowing what you don’t know, you become stronger. Admitting that you don’t have all the answers is not a sign of weakness; it’s an indicator of
strength. No one person knows it all, nor are they expected to know it all. Frankly, when you find that person who believes they know it all, feel for them, as they now have no place to go and nothing to learn.
A sign of a great leader is a leader who builds an association of people around common interests and goals and empowers them to run their organization as if they are the owner.
These are the three key people you, as a leader, need around you to succeed.
1. Your Doppelganger
Hire and develop that person who you trust to think and act like an owner. You cannot make every decision and be in every meeting. So you need someone who you know is acting and
making decisions that are in line with your outlook and business goals. In other words, you need a person who believes in the company and cares about the success of the company as much as
you do.
2. Your Shortcoming Advisor
There’s always one area leaders struggle in. For some, you may struggle in more than one area. Maybe technology isn’t your strong suit or corporate communication or finance.
Wherever you struggle as a leader, you should find an expert in that area who can be the person you turn to to fill in those knowledge gaps. You should feel confident to go to that person as a
trusted advisor in any area you aren’t as knowledgeable in. This can be more than one person for more than one area, but this person is someone you can trust.
3. Your Truth-To-Power Person
Every leader needs a person who has a pulse on how your people are feeling. Not every leader has the charisma and bandwidth to engage at all levels of employment. But having a person
close to you who knows who is struggling and where there is weakness in the operations is key to retaining top talent and continuing to produce at a high level. This is a person you trust to
understand the operations of the business. A person who can speak candidly to you about where problems are bubbling.
When you build your leadership team around you, you not only propel your success but also empower your highest performers to excel. Keep in mind that these people can have
other key roles in the company, but the support they bring you in these areas is vital to your success.
In the end, you have to be comfortable with and accept that the biggest thing you don’t know is what you don’t know. Once you accept it, embrace it, and it becomes who you are, you can begin to transform yourself into a high-character and higher-performing leader.
Take Your Leadership Skills to the Next Level with Tighten the Lug Nuts: The Principles of Balanced Leadership. https://tightenthelugnuts.com/
LOOKING TO BOOK A SPEAKER FOR YOUR NEXT EVENT?
Let’s work together. I am a practitioner as well as an educator and motivator, and an experienced senior leader and CEO with over 45 years of boots-on-the-ground experience. I led one of the largest rebranding initiatives in franchising history – The UPS Store, revolutionizing the $9 billion retail shipping and business services market.
I believe that none of us can achieve success without some help along the way. For each of us, there is a person, a mentor, who we are grateful towards and who can help us get to
where we aspire to be. Sharing stories and experiences as a speaker is a way of recognizing the value of these experiences and giving back to the next generation of leaders. It also is a way of demonstrating in words and deed the value I am placing in mentorship. As for me, I have been fortunate to have worked with and mentored by some incredibly special people, and none more
incredible than Coach John Wooden.
I have broad experiences to share that can help others as they grow and take on new challenges. During my time as president of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, I integrated over 20
acquisitions that became UPS Supply Chain Solutions. I steered UPS’s entry into the health care industry and created the mantra, “It’s a patient, not a package. ®” With the ability to see a clear
vision of the changing business landscape, the passion to develop strategies, tactics, and metrics to drive desired results, and the passion to develop the Best, The Brightest, Most Informed, and Best People in the industries they serve.
Please give me a call today at 610-322-0720 or email at [email protected]
THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY PODCAST SEASON 8
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Check out Rocky’s leadership library podcast.
For more information visit our website https://www.3sixtymanagementservices.com/. My book,
Tighten The Lug Nuts, will also serve as a workbook for these important topics and discussions.
