Have you ever asked yourself: “How can I get more out of my leaders?” You’re passionate about your organization so it stands to reason you would want to “get more out of” your people.
So you cast a lofty vision to “get more out of” them. You set BHAG’s (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) to “get more out of” them. You establish incentives to “get more out of” them. Some even use fear, guilt or intimidation to “get more out of” them. But while you may see a short-term spike in productivity you’ll see virtually no increase in loyalty, passion or development of your leaders.
Let’s stop and put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. How would you feel if someone was always trying to “get more out of you?” I would feel used, manipulated, or like a cog in the machine.
What if we took a different approach? Instead of trying to “get more out of”, what if we focused on “putting more into” our leaders?
Putting more into our leaders will require that we not just be PASSIONATE about our ORGANIZATION, we must be PASSIONATE about our PEOPLE.
When you’re passionate about your people you ask questions like: What are your gifts? What are your strengths? What are areas you want to grow? What ideas do you have? What is your passion? What are your dreams? What are your values? What excites you most about our mission?
Once you discover what’s already IN your leaders, then you’ll know how you can BELIEVE in, INVEST in and PUT more in them to help them maximize who God created them to be. And when you maximize what is in them you’ll enjoy the overflow of what comes from them.
Great leadership is more about what you can “put into” your leaders rather than what you can “get out of” your leaders.
What are some ways you’re investing in your leaders?
