The Secret to Developing Authentic Leaders on Your Team is One Thing
The worst leaders fail to develop others. (Zenger and Folkman) But you can’t leverage weakness to develop strength.
Growth is energized by purpose and strength, not weakness and coercion.
Authentic development:
Warren Bennis taught that leadership is becoming yourself.
The secret of developing authentic leaders is helping them become themselves.
Authentic development uses purpose, talent, and strength as levers for growth.
Aspiration dilutes authenticity when growth and development cause people to forget who they are.
Adopt practices that express who you are to become who you aspire to be.
Example:
My signature strengths are:
- Creativity.
- Love of learning.
- Honesty.
- Gratitude.
- Fairness.
Forgiveness is one of my lesser strengths. (I love how the VIA Institute labels a weakness as a lesser strength.)
“How might I be more forgiving?” is a useful question. But it neglects an opportunity for authentic development.
The first question of authentic leadership development concerns purpose. “Why does developing forgiveness matter?” The second question leverages strength.
Creativity is my top strength. I am my truest self when I’m exploring ideas. A question like, “What are some creative ways to practice forgiveness?” allows me to tap into my authentic self.
Another question might be, “Which of your strengths are most relevant to your personal development?”
Foundation:
Use what you have to develop what you don’t have.
Successful development avoids using weaknesses as levers to develop authentic leaders.
Essentials of leadership development:
- Use purpose to energize growth and development. Why does development matter?
- Knowledge of strengths is essential to encouraging development.
- Spend most of your energy developing strengths.
- Develop weaknesses that sabotage strengths.
Development that neglects strengths is unstainable.
You must apply strengths to personal development opportunities to promote authentic growth.
How have you seen leadership development go wrong?
What makes leadership development work?
Bonus material:
Developing Leadership Qualities | CMOE
The 4 Vital Keys To Developing Others (forbes.com)
How have you seen leadership development go wrong?
Those who lack patience tend to quit and move on if they don’t get what they want is some cases, some will wait their turn when opportunity presents itself. not everyone can drive the train all the time. So the development of leadership takes time and effort.
What makes leadership development work? Individuals who have a clear vision of were they want to go, know how to get their and are willing to put the effort into finding themselves and helping others follow the same path. leadership is not for everyone, many prefer to just get by without the responsibilities that come with the hat. For me it was a gentle push ” if you don’t lead today we don’t get paid and everyone goes home”, Circa 1976. I chose to learn and lead, never regretted taking the plunge. Was I afraid? Not really, just uncertain off what I was about to start, but those who pushed said “Don’t worry we will help you”! So the development began.
How have you seen leadership development go wrong?
When you find that “Leadership Development” actually means “training to be a hatchet man”…
2 things that I have seen hamper leadership development are
1) a by any means necessary approach. Ruthlessness sacrifices care and sincerity. I have not seen an effective leader who is insincere and does not care about those she/he leads
2) the knock off version of psychological safety – unconditional praise and coddled low performance
I think the big challenge of leadership development is helping people develop their diagnostic skills so you know the appropriate thing to say or do.
Providing too much (direction, coaching, delegation, feedback, etc.) is as bad as providing too little. Providing precisely what is needed is a leadership talent that takes experience and reflection to develop.
I think good leadership is sometimes more about accentuating the strengths more than developing the weaknesses.
I have heard that you cannot be a good leader if you are untrue to who you are. Those that use their personal strengths to help those around them are the ones that will inspire. Being dependent on trying to improve only the weaknesses won’t get you very far. This concept reminds me of the Clifton Strengths method of leadership, where you define your strengths and you develop them to become the type of leader that works for you.
One way I’ve seen leadership development go wrong is the leader helping others develop assumes the team members want to be just like them or have the same qualities and capabilities. Individuals may have difficulty developing others who have much different signature strengths.
For example, if my signature strengths are creativity and the love of learning but members of my team are stronger in social intelligence and humor, I may not be able to show personal experience that can help guide their personal leadership journey. Leaders must be able to recognize the limits of their own strengths and help their team members to maintain their unique strengths. Just because I don’t have personal or professional experience in zest or bravery does not mean my zestful and brave direct reports should be only directed toward growing in ways that are meaningful to me. A good leader recognizes each team member has their own leadership journey even if it’s going in a much different direction than our own.
The following quote in this blog is an excellent point, “Growth is energized by purpose and strength, not weakness and coercion.” If someone does not want to grow when given the opportunity, then that is on that individual. As a leader we must inspire and give opportunities for successful growth, but we must not coerce someone to grow on their own. If someone is not motivated, leaders must look to inspire motivation, but not force them to be motivated. It will result motivation on the outside and around that leader, but when that individual is alone, there is no motivation. As mentioned in the blog, it is important for leaders to identify how someone can grow to fit that individual’s, “talent, purpose and strength as levers for growth.” Once identified then the purpose, talent and strength can be developed in that individual.