“You don’t build a business – you build people and people build your business”
Zig Ziglar
Do you have people in your team? How are they performing? Are they helping build your business? Or maybe they’re making it as difficult as possible for you to build your business and you feel like you just haven’t yet cracked the leadership code. Maybe you’ve resigned yourself to believing that solopreneurship is the only way forward for you? But you can’t build a business that functions without you, without the team involved, can you?
That’s why we have Mr. Levy. The legendary leadership coach that have turned businesses around in 6 months in front of our very own eyes. Read what he has to say about leadership and building unstoppable teams.
A massive thank you to Dr. Meiya – the owner of Financeium Magazine – who have allowed us to publish an excerpt from the article that first appeared in Issue 03 of his magazine.
Leadership is a Teamsport
In the good old days of pre-2019, in a world where the only constant we were challenged by was Change, we can now add another in the form of Uncertainty. These two factors, besides many others, are making it increasingly difficult for business to forecast future growth and is calling on Leadership to relook and rethink how they are paving the way forward to creating the highest probability of achieving their desired outcomes, making Leadership, without doubt, any organisation’s most competitive
advantage.
The intensity with which the world is experiencing Change and Uncertainty is a Global Arena in which few have played. It
demands that organizations be more agile than ever, making it nigh impossible for Leadership to take this on single-handedly,
emphasizing that “Leadership is a Team Sport.”
Leaders need to see themselves firstly as a member of the team, then as a Leader.
How each of us performs to the requirement of the role we signed up for impacts the team, making one position no more or less important than the other when working as a High Performing Cohesive Team. The differentiator, however, lies in the Huge
Responsibility that sits squarely on the shoulders of Leadership, something they need to be extremely mindful of when signing
up for this position.
Within this highly competitive Global Village, leaders’ challenge is building High Performing Cohesive Teams,
Steven Levy
which proves to be the difference between mediocrity and excellence.
The time requirement is not optional
Building a high-performing team will require the one commodity that is precious to us all – TIME from Leaders! – Time to create a culture aligned with the organisation’s Vision, Mission, Values, and Strategy, built on a Foundation of Trust.
Based on the above, I have a straightforward definition and two simple rules for Leadership:
The Definition of Leadership
Leadership is being responsible to those you lead. Leadership is not being responsible for those you lead.
Two rules of Leadership
#1 – It starts with you!
#2 – It’s Not About You!
Let’s briefly unpack each of the definition and rules for clarity.
A leader is responsible TO his team members NOT FOR them.
Leadership assumes ultimate responsibility TO all stakeholders, ensuring the desired outcomes are achieved.
While everyone is responsible for their own goals they aspire to, they have chosen the organisation as the vehicle that will be the
provisor for them to achieve these. It is Leadership’s responsibility to create an environment where everyone feels safe on
board the vehicle and ensure that it is well equipped to support everyone to do what they do best in the seat they occupy.
Each individual, in their respective seats, is responsible for making full use of what has been made available to them or requesting further support from Leadership to create the highest probability of reaching or achieving their desired outcomes.
Cohesiveness requires everyone to be “On The Same Page,” and in this regard, Leadership has a responsibility to Share the Vision – where they are heading; the Mission – how they will get there; the Values – defining the behaviour and influencing the decision making; while travelling this journey.
Rule #1 It starts with you
Leadership has been called upon to do some intense introspection and follow that famous statement, “You cannot lead others if you cannot lead yourself.” They will effectively lead others when first taking time to understand themselves, be fully aware of who they are, where they lead from, and live the organisational Values aligned to its Vision/Mission.
Rule #2 It’s not about you
Business is not about people; it’s about the “Right People.” Leadership is a privilege bestowed upon those who are intentionally committed to growing their people, to grow their business, and developing a culture that, when aligned to the SHARED Vision/Mission and Values, lives on beyond the tenor of the Leader.
Optimising Human Capital requires Leadership to make time to unleash the potential that lies inside every member of the team by focusing on developing strengths and managing around weaknesses, ensuring those they lead have the right tools and support for them to perform at their best.
Steven Levy
Read the rest of this fascinating blog post on how to become a true leader that conquers the world with their team in Financium Magazine – Issue 03. Access it here.
Many thanks to Dr. Meiya and Mr. Levy who gave us permission to publish this valuable excerpt on our blog.
