Part 6 (1/2)
Beliefs That Help a Leader Move
Up to Level 3
Most of the people who fail to move up in leaders.h.i.+p don't make it because they never understand the importance of building relations.h.i.+ps with the people they work with and gaining their permission to lead them. The Permission level is foundational to good leaders.h.i.+p, but it is not your ultimate goal. If you have gained the confidence of those you lead, and are recognized as a person who cares about them, then it's time to start thinking the way a Level 3 leader does. To begin that s.h.i.+ft, keep in mind the following three things.
1. Relations.h.i.+ps Alone Are Not Enough Although the Permission level may bring you and your team great satisfaction relationally, if you stay on Level 2 and never advance, you won't really prove yourself as a leader. The good news is that if you've connected with your team, you now have some influence with them. The question now is: What are you going to do with that influence? True leaders.h.i.+p takes people somewhere so that they can accomplish something. That requires a leader to connect people's potential to their performance.
2. Building Relations.h.i.+ps Requires
Twofold Growth
For relations.h.i.+ps to be meaningful, people must not only grow toward each other but also grow with each other. Growing toward each other requires compatibility. Growing with each other requires intentionality.
If you are married or in a significant long-term relations.h.i.+p, then you probably understand how these dynamics come into play. When you first met your partner, you moved toward one another, based on attraction, common ground, and shared experiences. You established the relations.h.i.+p. However, a relations.h.i.+p can't last if you never go beyond those initial experiences. To stay together, you need to sustain the relations.h.i.+p. That requires common growth. If you don't grow together, there's a very good chance you may grow apart. Similarly, if you are to have any staying power as a leader, you must grow toward and with your people. Just because you've developed good relations.h.i.+ps with your people, don't think that you're done on the relational side. There is still more work to do.
3. Achieving Vision as a Team Is Worth
Risking Relations.h.i.+ps
Building relations.h.i.+ps with people can be hard work. But to succeed as a leader, you have to be willing to risk what you've developed relationally for the sake of the bigger picture. Leaders must be willing to sacrifice for the sake of the vision. If achieving a vision is worth building a team, it is also worth risking your relations.h.i.+ps. Building relations.h.i.+ps and then risking them to advance the team creates tension for a leader. That tension will force you to make a choice: shrink the vision or stretch the people to reach it.
If you want to do big things, you need to take people out of their comfort zones. They might fail. They might implode. They might relieve their own tension by fighting you or quitting. Risk always changes relations.h.i.+ps. If you risk and win, then your people gain confidence. You have shared history that makes the relations.h.i.+p stronger. Trust increases. And the team is ready to take on even more difficult challenges. However, if you risk and fail, you lose relational credibility with your people and you will have to rebuild the relations.h.i.+ps. Risk is always present in leaders.h.i.+p. Anytime you try to move forward, there is risk. Even if you're doing the right things, your risk isn't reduced. But there is no progress without risk, so you need to get used to it.
The bottom line is that you can slow down early in your leaders.h.i.+p to build relations.h.i.+ps on Level 2, or you can forge ahead, trying to skip straight to Level 3-but if you do, you will have to backtrack later to build those relations.h.i.+ps. And you need to recognize that doing so will slow your momentum, and it can actually take you longer to build the team than if you did it the right way in the first place.
The key link between people and the company is the leader they work with! That leader is the face, heart, and hands of the company on a day-to-day basis. If that leader connects and cares, that makes a huge difference.
Level 3
PRODUCTION.
Making Things Happen Separates Real
Leaders from Wannabes
The Production level is where leaders.h.i.+p really takes off and s.h.i.+fts into another gear. Production qualifies and separates true leaders from people who merely occupy leaders.h.i.+p positions. Good leaders always make things happen. They get results. They can make a significant impact on an organization. Not only are they productive individually, they also are able to help the team produce. This ability gives Level 3 leaders confidence, credibility, and increased influence.
No one can fake Level 3. Either you're producing for the organization and adding to its bottom line (whatever that may be) or you're not. Level 3 leaders are self-motivated and productive. As a result, they create momentum and develop an environment of success, which makes the team better and stronger.
Another benefit of leaders.h.i.+p on Level 3 is that it attracts other highly productive people. Producers are attractive to other producers. They respect one another. They enjoy collaborating. They get things done together. That ultimately creates growth for the organization.
Some people never move up from Level 2, Permission, to Level 3, Production. Why? They can't seem to produce results. When that is the case, it's usually because they lack the self-discipline, work ethic, organization, or skills to be productive. However, if you desire to go to higher levels of leaders.h.i.+p, you simply have to produce. There is no other way around it.
The Upside of Production
You Now Have Leaders.h.i.+p Credibility
With the addition of Production, leaders.h.i.+p really begins to hit its stride. Having built a foundation of strong relations.h.i.+ps, leaders who get results dramatically improve their team and organization. There are so many upsides to Level 3. Here are six of them.
1. Leaders.h.i.+p Production Gives Credibility