My leadership philosophy is to simply enable my team. Hire the best and help them shine. I have learnt over the years that there are no one-man-shows out there, it is all about teamwork. And how do you create a team that works together? You hire the best and give them the best possible conditions to succeed. Everybody in a team is important. Because if you identify someone in your team who is not important (= not adding value) they should not be there.
So how do you get people to perform and feel loved, seen and safe? Especially when I just told you that everyone must add value to be part of the group in the first place. Isn’t easy then for coworkers to be stressed out, worried that they are not adding value enough? Millions of people are suffering from imposter syndrome already, so why add to fire?
The answer is expectations and feedback. Just because you have a heart-centered leader CEO, that is bending over backwards to provide for his or her team, doesn’t mean that the same CEO won’t be able to have tough conversations, or address the occasional elephant in the room. The key to trust-based cultures is to be clear on what to expect from each team member. Once that is established, put regular feedback in place to quickly adjust any errors, or to swiftly change course in an ongoing project. By having set clear expectations of all team members and working with them in their career and with their personal development, there won’t be any reason to worry.
So, I want to reach out to all CEOs and business leaders out there – dare to trust your team! Dare to let someone outshine you. Dare to lift people up, dare to make yourself obsolete and move on. Yes, you heard me. By being an inspirational leader, lifting others up and supporting them, you will never be out of a job. Simply put – you have good karma. Clinging on to a job because of fear of the next step will not help you, and it will certainly not help your team. Dare to be the enabler, dare to make your team fly, and watch the magic that awaits.
