Brilliant not just because of how much he learned but because of what it showed the rest of the staff.
Tensley was under pressure as the new leader. There were decisions to make changes to initiate. Being seen as a learner and a leader released a lot of external pressure.
You gain influence and trust when those following you know you’re committed to learning and leading.
That’s the secret. Leadership is about influence, and influence requires trust. How can you expedite these as a new leader? How can you continually grow these as a seasoned leader?
Keep learning in public. There’s not as much pressure when you focus on learning AND let everyone know you are focused on learning.
How Much Learning Are You Doing AND Displaying?
When was the last time you experienced your organization as a customer, not the leader? It’s challenging to be the undercover boss, but it’s critical to find a way to experience things from outside of your role.
As a lead pastor, I would “attend” a service from time to time. Rather than arriving at 7:00 am, I’d show up and leave with our regular attendees. Sitting in the traffic, experiencing our parking team, and walking through the hallways during peak moments helped me understand how it felt to attend our church.
Additionally, I volunteered in our church from time to time. Working in the parking lot or serving in our preschool ministry helped me see how we were serving our attendees and how our attendees were experiencing us.
We can all be a CLO. The trick is to make this a leadership lifestyle more than a whim.
Here are some additional tips that may help get your public learning started:
- Read and study leadership, then teach what you’re learning to the team.
- Experience pieces of your organization from the seat of your staff, volunteers, and customers/attendees/clients.
- Seek out a mentor or leadership coach.
- Ask other people to lead learning labs or “lunch and learns” for your team. And attend them!
- Bring in leaders from outside your organization to teach what they are learning.
- Use staff meetings for learning experiences.
- Remain honest and vulnerable with your team. Admit what you don’t know and what you’re trying to learn about, and apologize when you get a decision wrong.
- Communicate to your team when you make a mistake and what you learned from it.
Leaders are learners. That mantra isn’t just a pithy statement. Learning grows leaders, but it grows trust and influence when done in public.
If you want to take some of the pressure off, elevate your learning to the public space of your organization. You’ll be amazed by the response.
This article originally appeared here and is used by permission.
