THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP #5 - GIVE PEOPLE AN OPPORTUNItY TO SUCCEED

Following on Episode #4, you can't do everything, so give your people an opportunity to do things and give them the credit. A leader's job is locate the bright spotlight, the place where achievement is visible and recognized and then step out of it. Yes, I said step out of it. Human nature is for leaders to take credit for the teams' achievements and that is also natural for the corporate hierarchy encourage the same behavior. Instead, put your people in the spotlight. Give the people on your team an opportunity to succeed, a project that they can own and then give them the credit.

If you're a successful leader, you've had the accolades, your time in the spotlight. People know who is on your team and sharing success should be easy for you. Remember that your past and continued success as a leader, and the recognition that comes with that, will likely be due to the work of the team under your leadership. 

As a leader, you need to push your team to do things that are outside their comfort zones, ask them to do things they might not be ready for quite yet. If they trust you, believe that you are standing right behind them the whole time, guiding them, they will succeed and so will you. That's your job as a leader. 

Give people an opportunity to succeed. Guarantee their success. Make sure they have all the information, context, and resources they need to be successful. If they do all the work and you go up on the stage and get the recognition, they are going to be discouraged. So, if they did the work and they own the project, let them go and stand in the spotlight.