What is it that has some leaders be so effective and the majority of people in leadership have to work so hard at it? I am not saying that the effective ones dont have problems to deal with; thats just life. They are just those œnaturals that have a make-up that has people around them want to play œtheir game.

The problem is that no organization of any size has enough œnaturals to cover the needs. If this is so, what do we do? We train them. People can be trained. The problem may be in how they are trained.

Historically, the person in-charge (Coach, CEO, Owner, Manager, Supervisor, etc.) has expected their people to adapt to them. Because they are the œBoss, everyone should just œdo as I say, because I say so. Any of you ever hear œbecause I say so come out of your parents mouth?

The œBoss may have the authority to sit someone on the bench, reprimand them or even fire them. The threat of that may get people moving. However, you will not get all of their skill, talent and ability. The œBoss may get more short-term results but diminishing performance over the long-haul.

So, how do you become a great leader? First, you will want to initiate actions from an effective contextual perspective. So what would that be? Consider that instead of œdo as I say or œmy way or the highway that you shift to a commitment to each persons growth and development. You are also not running a Democracy. Find out what they think and use all the information you have to choose your direction.

The capacity of the team and each member of the team is what will deliver the intended results. If they are learning as individuals they will have a greater capacity to grow as a team.

You may be thinking, œhow do I do that? Lets say you have eight people who report to you and those eight are going to coach/manage/train the rest of the team. Heres how I would have you begin:

-Find out everything you can about each one (parents, sibs, hometown, work
experience, etc.)
-Find out why they are on our team and where they want to be in five years (or
whatever future number of years works)
-Commit to supporting their effort in achieving that
-Share your vision for the future (organization, project life)
-Tell them what you need from them and get their commitment to deliver
-Hold them accountable for delivering on what they said
-Leave the conversation with an action to take and by when they are going to take it
-Hold them accountable

To do all this you will need to be armed with good questions. The more you are the listener the more effective you will be. I have never learned anything when I was speaking.

Relationship is the key to everything. Nothing builds relationship like showing interest in the other person. Thats the whole person. People bring work home and home to work. Every time you support them they are better able to climb the next hill.

If you want more on this topic go to lulu.com and find these two books I have published there. Microwave Leadership and The Art of Losing will deepen what has already been discussed.