The Leadership Mindset That Changes Everything

What is the One Mindset That Separates Great Leaders from Poor Leaders?

It's a question that has intrigued me for most of my life. I almost hate to admit it, but I've spent more than forty years in the business world. During that time, I've coached and consulted with hundreds of leaders. Those conversations revealed one unmistakable mindset that consistently separated great leaders from poor ones.

Poor leaders focus on themselves. Great leaders focus on building into other people.

Everything they do flows from that single differentiator. And that mindset is eventually revealed through predictable behaviors.

Behaviors of Poor Leaders

Defensiveness - They become defensive because they're afraid others will discover they're not as capable as they appear. To compensate for this fear, they constantly remind others of their irreplaceable talents. They frequently point to the number of projects they're involved in or claim certain projects wouldn't have succeeded without them.

Control – Poor leaders tend to micromanage projects and people instead of letting their managers manage. They distrust others, hoard decision-making, dominate meetings, occasionally talk negatively about others, and become the biggest bottleneck in their organizations.

Finger Pointing & Credit Stealing - When a risky situation or difficult decision arises, they tend to stall for time or create unnecessary complexity to cloud the decision-making process. If a project fails, they point fingers to ensure that they maintain their fragile façade. If a project is successful, they will claim that victory as their own. Both behaviors diminish the people around them.

Job Protection – When a leader gets into job protection mode, they hoard information. They tend to become the sole gatekeeper to pertinent knowledge and restrict access to important information. This tactic makes the team reliant on them, because nobody else can move forward without their input.

Egotism – In an attempt to overcome their insecurities, poor leaders beat their chests and crave recognition. They struggle to share credit and frequently remind others how great they are. They try to insert themselves into the center of almost everything going on in the organization. They create cultures that depend on them and fail at successfully growing other leaders.

The end result is the team's capacity never grows beyond the leader's capacity.

Great Leaders Think Differently.

They build cultures that allow success to spread far beyond themselves. They build competent leaders who drive the company forward.

Behaviors of Great Leaders

Secure in who they are - They know exactly who they are and what they bring to the organization. Because they don't need to prove themselves, they don't mind surrounding themselves with people who are smarter than they are.

Empower Others - Instead of controlling every decision, they trust people with meaningful responsibility. They create an environment where others are allowed to think, innovate, make decisions, and learn from their mistakes.

They Build Complementary Teams – They surround themselves with talented people who help drive the company forward. They are comfortable letting their key personnel make important decisions or create innovative solutions.

Humility – They understand their strengths and weaknesses and aren't afraid to admit what they don't know. They celebrate the ideas of others and give credit freely.

They focus on Multiplication - They develop future leaders instead of future followers. They TEE (teach, train, equip, empower, and evaluate) their teams up for success so future leaders can emerge.

The End Result

Higher achievement. New leaders emerge throughout the organization. Innovation increases, ownership expands, and the team's capabilities and capacity continue to grow. Exponential multiplication and continuous improvement become part of the culture.

The true measure of great leadership is how valuable you make the people around you.

So let me leave you with one question. Be honest with yourself.

Do the people you lead exist to make you more successful...or do you exist to make them more successful?

The answer will tell you everything you need to know about your leadership mindset.