5. Don’t give all the answers. Do ask the right questions.
Recently, I heard a leader say something like, “You need to say this, this, and this, and do it exactly like this.” How much more impacting could the situation have been if that leader would have said, “What do you think we should do?” How much trust and confidence would that have instilled in that person compared to giving them all the answers? Good questions will get you a lot further than giving all the answers!
6. Don’t skip the relationship. Do invest in the person.
Do you care more about the person you are leading than what you can get out of them? Does this show through the way you relationally invest and connect with them? This doesn’t mean you have to be best friends. It does mean that you need to go the extra mile to show that person you are on their side. You exist to help empower them. Empowerment begins with relationship. Invest!
7. Don’t be a closed book. Do be transparent.
People need to see that you’ve blown it, yet have overcome your mistakes. They need to see that you know how to learn when things don’t go the way you planned. This gives them permission to push their own limits and be bold. If they don’t have this permission, they will coast, coast, coast! Why would they push it if there were no room for mistakes? Lead the way and be transparent. They will follow suit.
8. Don’t just say it. Do live it.
Are you willing to go personally where you are asking others to go? Others will only go where a leader has been personally. Are you truly living it, or are you just giving lip service? Authenticity is pretty easy to sniff out. The unauthentic quickly sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “Wahh. Wa. Wahh. Wa. Blah. Blah.” Live it! Your time on this Earth is short. Get to it and smoke what you’re selling!
