Whether you made a conscious choice to become a leader or assumed your first leadership position due to circumstance, think back for a moment to that time. Where did you get your image of what a good leader looks like, or how they behave? What beliefs about leadership led you to become the leader you were then — and helped shape the leader you are today?
Whenever someone tries to influence the behavior of another person, they are engaging in leadership. There are two kinds of leadership roles: the life leader, such as a spouse, partner, parent, friend, coach or volunteer, and the organizational leader, such as a business owner, executive, manager or supervisor. This means virtually everyone is a leader in some aspect of their life. And, every leader has a story to tell about their influences, values and expectations around leadership. We call this story the person’s leadership point of view.
In his book, “The Leadership Engine,” Noel Tichy explains that effective leaders have a clear, teachable point of view they are willing to share with team members and colleagues. When I spoke with Tichy and reviewed his research, it was clear to me that sharing this leadership point of view could be a valuable tool for leaders who wish to develop trusting relationships with people around them. In fact, my wife, Margie, and I teach a course called, “Communicating Your Leadership Point of View.”
Margie and I understand that when leaders reflect on, write about and share their leadership point of view, they get a clearer picture about their own intentions as a leader. Thinking deeply about not only your origins as a leader, but also how you want to be seen and remembered as a leader allows you to become more intentional in your leadership and align your actions with your values. However, this is not all about you. Sharing your leadership point of view allows others to know you better as a person and as a leader, forging stronger bonds and improving relationships.
My goal in this short article is to help you develop your own leadership point of view. Figuring out your unique point of view is like writing a course on yourself. It allows you to clarify your thoughts on leadership to show consistency between your values, your words and your actions. More importantly, carefully thinking through and writing out your leadership point of view in story form will help prepare you to share it with others.
Elements of your leadership point of view
When thinking and writing about your leadership point of view — your beliefs about leading and motivating people — you should focus on the following elements.
First, think about the key people and events in your life that influenced your beliefs about leadership. What did you learn about leadership from these people? How did your experiences impact your leadership style and prepare you for a leadership role?
Choose and define three to five values that guide your behavior as a leader. These will be core beliefs you feel strongly about, drawn from people and experiences that influenced your life and leadership. Clearly defining what each value means to you enables you to consistently live that value. For example, health is one of my core values. Here is how I define it:
“I value health and know I am living by this value
- Anytime I treat my body with love and respect;
- Anytime I exercise;
- Anytime I push my body to expand its present limits;
- Anytime I eat nutritious food.”
Determine what you expect of yourself as a leader, what you expect of your people and what people can expect of you. If you live up to your expectations of yourself as a leader, how will you behave? If your people live up to your expectations of them, what will that look like? Can your people expect you to exemplify leader-like behavior; i.e., can you walk your talk?
This isn’t an activity to rush through. You need to spend thoughtful, reflective time thinking deeply and writing about the people and events that helped shape who you are as a leader, the leadership values that guide your behavior and your expectations of yourself and others — your leadership story.
Why write a story? Because people relate to and remember stories. It would be easy for you to read a list of your values to your team, but that probably wouldn’t have much of an effect on them. Sharing a story about actual events is a very personal and authentic way to communicate. Stories paint a picture that allows people to relate to you and feel personally connected to you.
A quick note: When Margie and I teach this course, it involves a relatively small cohort group. As they work on this exercise, they coach each other and provide feedback during the process. Participants have told us the cohort approach helped them open up, accept vulnerability and really connect with their colleagues in a safe space.
Sharing with others creates strong connections
So often in organizations, people don’t understand their boss as an individual — what kind of person they are, what their needs are or what’s important to them. When your direct reports hear and understand your leadership point of view, that problem is solved. They benefit from learning where you’re coming from, and recognizing your expectations of them and what they can expect from you.
Sharing your thoughts on leadership forms a trusting bond that strengthens your relationships with your people. Effective leaders today absolutely must create genuine partnerships with people they lead — because leadership is not something you do to people; it’s something you do with people.
I hope you are able to get started soon on crafting your leadership point of view and sharing it with others. It’s a powerful experience. I guarantee it will help you rediscover some of your core beliefs about leadership and bring back some fond memories. Perhaps you’ll even learn a few things about yourself. And when you share your leadership point of view with team members and colleagues, you’ll build close, trusting connections that will help you, them and your organization flourish together.
