4 Ways to Empower Others to Shine

When was the last time you really felt “seen” and understood? Do you remember the feeling when someone you admire, admired you? Can you recall the sense of self-worth washing over you when your leader elevated you because they trusted you, and believed in you? You can’t help but smile, right? As leaders, it is our duty to raise up leaders for future generations to follow. How we do that requires us to S.E.R.V.E.: Self Awareness, Extending Trust, Real Connection, Vision Focused, and Empowering Others to Shine.

Empowering Others To Shine is the 5th and final driver in our S.E.R.V.E. leadership series. Although there is a myriad of skills to teach under this heading, we are going to focus on the top four questions that your people are internally asking themselves. Do you see me?  Do you trust me?  Do you respect me?  Are you investing in me?

Do You See Me?

Because we have already discussed Real Connection, what we want you to focus on here is your employee’s Career Path and Personal Development. If you are implementing the other 4 Drivers of Leadership, you know your people. You are aware of their strengths and weaknesses, where they need to grow, and you know their personal goals and ambitions. Now, you must proactively invest in their development toward not only what they want, but also what you see as their next step in the organization.

We have quite a few clients who, gloriously, have low leadership turnover, so it is to their advantage to keep investing and growing their young talent so they can keep their Top A Players engaged and feeling valued. Retaining excellent talent may be of greater importance now than ever, therefore I would like to suggest one of our many Leadership Labs if you do not know where to start with your people. We have so many clients doing this well and can share ideas on how to help you protect your investment in talent for the future!

Do You Trust Me? 

Obviously, your employee is not going to ask you that question? If they did you might be irritated because if you are living Driver #2 and Extending Trust daily, your people will KNOW your level of trust. This is about the Art of Delegation and Assignment. Delegating is something to be consistently evaluated and updated on your part as the leader. Did you know there are 5 steps of delegation? Most of us go from 1 to 5, skipping steps 2,3,& 4 and then we get disappointed, so we get mad, and give up trusting others to do as good a job as we can. Many of us have experienced this, I know I have. When you are Self-Aware, you understand your unique and beneficial gifts, and when you are disciplined to stay focused on those strengths and in the lane of your highest value, you will lead with Clarity. To venture out of your lane always impedes the flow of productivity and will hinder the progress toward empowering others to shine through the trust you give. It builds trust when we master the art of empowerment through delegation and building on everyone’s strengths, including our own.

Do You Respect Me?

How you conduct meetings speaks volumes as to your level of respect for the individuals around you. Are you creating an environment for all voices to be heard? Do you respect every single person’s time in every single meeting? Are your meetings productive and positive? Do you give incredibly direct and kind feedback or just try to be nice and liked? There are so many questions to be asked when it comes to the science of respect in meetings, but using positive encouragement and direct feedback to bring out the best in your people is the key. From your 1:1 meetings to your team meetings, focus on calling forth the unique abilities and contributions of each person you serve.  Our latest tool, the Working Genius, is exponentially increasing the felt sense of respect in our Shandel Group Team. I love the way it is changing me.

Are you Investing In Me?

People feel cared for and invested in when you hold them accountable. Do you have set standards or values for the organization? If you do and you should, hold yourself accountable to those values as an example for others to follow. Because if you don’t hold yourself accountable to those values, how will you honestly hold others accountable to them as well? When we can have a hard conversation with someone and they feel cared for and loved at the end of it, there’s no greater end result. When people thank you for coaching them, you know you have succeeded. The number one thing we must hold each other accountable to is the company values.

Accountability is so essential to great relationships, but note this is the last point of the last of the 5 drivers for a reason. We must make sure we have done the work of all the other 5 Drivers so we can raise the bar for the entire organization. When we do practice the SERVE model, we have earned the right to hold each other accountable.

Landing The Plane

Scott and I discussed this subject on our podcast LEAD WITH CLARITY, please tune in and subscribe, better yet send in your questions and/or discussion points. Yahoo!

As we conclude Q1, Spring is in the air so take the budding opportunity to make a difference in your world. Many companies are going back to the office (or not), either way, it is a season of getting your team engaged, focused, and inspired. We want them reinvigorated and feeling honored, so they can SERVE and lead your people to greatness. This is our sweet spot and we are here to SERVE you! Get after it, leaders that I love - Q2 is all you!

Be the Best You Can Be Today!

Your Coach,