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Let’s talk a little bit about leadership. When I had my first management job, I remember thinking how cool this was going to be to manage people and build a department. I started making tons of to-do lists for all of the people that worked for me because I thought that’s just what a manager did. Give orders. But I was wrong.
A lot of the reason I worked this way is because of how I saw those around me working. The higher-ups would talk in meetings and plan projects and simply give the work to their employees. One would even make people redo a project over and over again because he thought this would help them grow. But managing is so much more than just divvying up daily tasks to people working for you. It is about holding a space for them to rise up to their highest level.
Micro-managing is not a good way of leadership and I knew this early on. It puts a damper on your energy and your creativity and most days made me want to quit. The only interaction from your leader is daily harping which is very frustrating.
Even now, when I work with new business owners, I continue to see this way of management. They bark out orders, they have to be in control, they want their employees to be task masters and get frustrated when they can’t “make people” do their job. To them, if people aren’t doing their jobs it makes them look bad, largely because they don’t have confidence in their own abilities to lead. If you can see yourself in a positive light and show up every day with that mindset, it will inevitably impact those around you and you will be able to better interact with your staff.
It takes time to be a good leader. Time and practice to learn and develop the skills it takes to really guide people to be their best selves. So if you want your business to grow, that is directly on you and how you grow as a leader. You have to be willing to let go of some things and travel into that unknown terrain so that you can lead others there as well.
Something I like to tell people is that there are four things that will help you to create an environment that will empower people to rise to a higher level. The first is taking full ownership. Let them take responsibility for their job and to own it instead of telling them how to do each and every aspect of it. Give them the chance to step up and really rise to the occasion. Those who don’t maybe don’t belong in this business.
The second is mastering their skills and taking them to the next level. Your staff cannot learn by following orders, by redoing projects over and over for the sake of doing it over. They learn by being encouraged to do new things, to challenge themselves to be better people and be supported along the way.
The third is the ability to be creative and bring more innovation to the business. You do this by letting people try new things, by letting them have a take on something or coming up with a solution for a problem. You will find that everyone has a different perspective on things that you may not have thought of before. No one has all the answers, but the more you have the more you can innovate.
The fourth and final is giving people a sense of purpose. Have them understand the bigger picture, their part in it, and how it all relates back. There is nothing worse than people thinking they are just a number. When they realize what the purpose of the business truly is and how they contribute to it is when they will rise to the occasion.
Taking all four of these things into account will create more empowered and confident employees that see themselves more as partners in the grander vision. You won’t have to yell and micro manage because the people who work for you already take it upon themselves to own their jobs and constantly strive to be better.
If you enjoyed this episode and in some way, it inspired you to start taking action, I’d love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Send me a DM on Instagram @theresacantley and let me know what your favorite part was.
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If there is a topic you would love me to talk about or a question you may have, send it to us at theresa@theresacantley.com and we’ll feature it on one of our future episodes.
LINKS:
Episode 45 – Stop focusing on the how and get future focused instead.
Episode 44 – 5 BIG Lessons learned from 2019.
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