Dr. Katie Ervin is AVP of Strategic Alliances at Park University & Founder/CEO of Catalyst Development. Focused on motivation/satisfaction.
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As leaders, we must pay close attention to who we have in our circles. Who do we trust to speak for us? I often see good leaders fail because they don’t have a strong circle around them. We need to be very careful about who people see as our “in the know” people. When we make the wrong choices, it can damage our leadership.
I worked for an organization that hired a strong leader with a great reputation. The leader was on the executive team and had a largely influential role in the organization. He began by doing some great listening and had great conversations, leading many people to quickly believe that this was a great hire. He could do big things in the organization — it seemed only a matter of time.
After a few months, the circle of people he was engaging with shrunk and closed off completely. He stopped having these relationship-building conversations and had a few tight advisors who became his voice. Those in the organization figured out who the “keepers of the keys” were and knew that to get anything done they had to appease his “people.” The other challenge that was his group all looked like him; there was no diversity — no women, no people of color and no one with a different social-economic background.
As the leader went throughout his first year, he quickly lost his influence. Those in the organization felt that he was not authentic and did not really care about getting to know other people. People felt that if he engaged with them he had an agenda. They voiced concerns that he was just interested in gaining power. The CEO was shocked by the fall from grace. How did he come in with such potential and now was seen as someone who only cared about the “cool kids” inside and out of work? Where did this all go wrong?
Based on my experience, here are a few important tenets you can follow to be a true leader:
1. Always own your voice. Know who is speaking for you and what they are saying. That does not mean you can’t delegate but make sure you're very clear in your expectations.
2. Don’t delegate relationship-building. When we trust our delegates to build our network, we set ourselves up to have no network. Our delegates will have a stronger network and those people will be loyal to the person they have a relationship with. Make sure you’re getting to know your people.
3. Get out of your comfort zone. Look around and make sure you have voices that are different than yours. Make sure all people have a voice in the decision-making process. When we make decisions in a vacuum, we might feel they are great decisions but only because those around us convince us they are good.
4. Be humble and authentic. Leadership is a responsibility, not a privilege. We succeed in leadership when we are humble enough to admit our mistakes and understand we are only successful with having a strong team around us. We cannot know everything about everything. Build a strong team, and listen when your team is honest with you.
Leadership is not easy, but it is important. The impact of a leader on those around them and on their organization is powerful. We need to make sure that we are constantly growing personally and professionally. Understanding that a title does not make you the smartest person in the room or your voice any more valuable is vital. Surrounding yourself with people who understand the greater good of the organization is more valuable than one person’s personal growth. Challenge yourself, challenge your circle and do what is right, not what is easy.
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