The Leadership Imperative Every Leader Must Understand but Many Don’t
A leader asked me, “What’s the most important leadership idea?” He was searching for the “one thing” every leader must understand.
The most important leadership idea is an imperative every leader must embrace – Understand people. Learning that leadership is about people transforms leadership.
4 Ways to Understand People:
Understanding people involves viewing them through the lens of their aspirations, motivations, potential, and shortcomings (AMPS).
#1. Aspirations:
Put people into situations that express their hopes for the future.
Create a personal file for each employee. List their personal goals, desired achievements and definition of the “good life”.
#2. Motivations:
Offer assignments that energize people.
Discern and record everyone’s internal motivators like autonomy, mastery, growth, curiosity, challenge, and connection. Include external motivators like recognition, financial gains, advancement, and performance incentives.
Tip: Notice when people light up. Ask, “I notice you just went bright. What’s going on for you?”
#3. Potential:
Build opportunities that maximize strengths.
Potential relies on individual strengths and untapped abilities. Notice and record when people consistently deliver remarkable results. What strengths make that possible?
Tip: Ask team members to list the top 3 strengths of everyone on the team.
#4. Shortcomings:
Don’t put people into situations where they consistently struggle.
Weaknesses don’t produce great results. Notice and record when people struggle to meet expectations. When are they disappointed or frustrated? Observe their response to various challenges. Explore any fatal flaws that hold people back.
Tip: Transparency requires trust. Practice vulnerability. Accept the good and bad of everyone on the team. Hiring the wrong person occurs when they can’t meet basic job requirements.
Understanding a person AMPS their enthusiasm.
3 Questions That Enable Leaders to Understand People:
- Who do you aspire to be like?
- What makes you proud?
- What’s your favorite project?
Tip: Ask the second question. What’s important to you about that?
Author’s note: Uncovering the most transformative leadership idea depends on the person asking the question. Answers can vary.
What one thing must every leader understand in order to succeed?
Dan, good points.
I come at it from a slightly different angle.
To understand people, I focus on these four areas.
1.Thinking–what are they currently thinking and why. What is their self-talk? What stories get repeated in their head?
2. Feeling–what are they currently feeling and why.
3. Successes–what’s working well and what does that say about their strengths. What do they want to do next–job wise and career wise?
4. Setbacks–what is the biggest problem they currently face? What caused it? what have they learned about themselves? What’s their plan to resolve the issue?
Thank you for sharing your wonderful insights, Paul. Pure brilliance. My favorite is what does success say about your strengths. Although they’re all useful points.