The Invisible Force That Activates Results
One thing leaders can do right now to accelerate the development of their team. It’s simple, just not easy.
By Jayson Krause, Managing Director of Level 52 & Author of The Science Behind Success
Most leaders stunt the growth of their people and don’t even realize it. There is a perspective shift and specific actions you can take to unlock a new level of performance that compounds over time.
YOU AS THE INVISIBLE FORCE
Most leaders are playing the wrong role for their team members. It’s ok, it’s never too late to change. But first, you need to understand your role differently. This new lens is often a game-changer for individuals who exercise it in our Accelerated Leader Programs.
I am going to set the stage by taking you into a space filled with grunting voices and clanking metal plates. We are observing a high-performance gym, but we aren’t watching the chiseled athletes as they activate force against resistance. We are observing a critical input in the success of an athlete, and that is the spotter. That person who stands behind them while they lift. The role of the spotter is essential but so easily missed if you aren’t looking for it.
What does a bad spotter do? A bad spotter is a lazy, distracted one who has good intentions but negatively impacts your growth. Most of the time, bad spotters are looking at themselves in the mirror, admiring what other people are doing, or more worried about their own advancement. Bad spotters will see when you are struggling and grab that bar and rack it for you. They’ll smack you on the shoulder and get the satisfaction of a little bicep workout themselves. Too many leaders lead and support their people this way. You grab that problem from your people and lift it for them, stunting their growth and stealing your time.
Now what about a great spotter? They will watch you struggle. They will champion you and remind you why you can do it, even when you doubt yourself. They will resist the temptation to grab that bar, even though it would make things easier, and will instead ask you to give more. They might put their fingers on the bar to give you a sense of security while you search to find the power inside of yourself to push it up and reach levels you never thought you could. The only time a great spotter grabs that bar and lifts it is when you are at risk.
Great leaders spot like this. They champion their people to go through the discomfort so they can find the strength and resourcefulness to push things over the finish line themselves. It grows capability, confidence, and creates more time for you, so you can work less in the business and more on the business.
What does ‘spotting’ look like in your business world?
Great spotters in the business world demonstrate a few critical inputs that transform the expression of their people. They listen, ask high-impact questions, create clarity, and design intentional relationships. As positive deviants and meaningful masochists, they resist the temptation and validation to solve all the problems and let their teammates struggle to find the solution themselves. They let them lift their own weights. If you are like most leaders, you might be thinking, “But what if they are choosing the wrong thing and put the business at risk?” This is where your self-management comes in. If something presents a great risk to the company, you need to help lift the metaphorical bar. Don’t put your business at risk, but also discern whether or not a little failure can actually be the pain that facilitates the next leap for the people on your team.
Being a great spotter is a critical input that will transform relationships and results. Be one. Get one.
3 STEPS TO BECOMING A GREAT SPOTTER
Being a high-performer in anything come down to the fundamentals. These three steps are so simple, most people dismiss them, but the ones who really get it, work on them. Every. Day.
1. Listen
I don’t need to teach you how to listen. You know how to listen, but what you likely don’t know is where to focus your attention, which is a foundational part of the skill. When used right, listening is a fundamental, keystone skill that leads to many more wonderful leadership skills.
2. Curiosity
Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it will act as lifeblood to your leadership and the meaningful culture you are creating. You’ve probably lost most of it. That’s just what happens when you develop a powerful expertise. You naturally accrue more answers than questions, and the unintended result is that you lose your curiosity and seek to appraise rather than explore. But the pursuit of greater understanding relies on curiosity being a foundational part of your leadership. It’s an essential input that comes from discovery listening and then forming high-impact questions.
3. High-Impact Questions
What are high-impact questions?
They are extremely curious, often about one of the last words a person said.
They are open-ended, meaning they can’t be answered with a yes or no, and often start with the word ‘what’.
They are short and simple. Long-winded questions rarely create impact.
Let’s take a common situation and apply discovery listening, curiosity, and high-impact questions.
Someone from your team comes to you with a problem they are challenged with. You self-manage your expertise and get curious about it. Remember, your job is to have the person exercise their thought process, not to steal the learning opportunity away from them.
You ask: What’s challenging about it for you?
They respond with something like: It wasn’t what I was expecting from them and I’m not sure what to do.
You ask: What are you sure of?
They respond with a long pause and then say: I don’t know. (Which is a really easy way to get lazy about something and it generally is a covert operation designed to get you to solve their problem for them.)
You ask: You’ve been here a while and understand the business. I know you know something about this, so what DO you know?
They respond with: I know that I can do a better job of communicating beforehand so this doesn’t happen again.
You get curious and ask: What would better communication look like next time?
You can then continue to drill deeper and clarify the core issue, helping them do the lifting to solve their own problems.
You see the difference? Normally, you’d probably give them a prescription, tell them what to do to get them out of your office, and then move on to the next task. Listening and asking high-impact questions takes a little bit of time up front, but after a while, you’ll notice that your people are suddenly capable of so much more. They’ll start coming to you with more complex issues that actually require thought partnership rather than the little ones that steal time away from you and growth away from them.
People hire me to be their executive coach mostly to listen and ask the simple questions other people in the business won’t and don’t. Start to do this for your people and you will elevate awareness to different heights, and that deeper understanding will create a greater expression of their talent which leads to better results.
Want to learn more? Go Deeper?
Then download a free sample of my latest book, The Science Behind Success – What every leader needs to know about mindset, influence, culture and performance.
The Science Behind Success shares the tips, strategies, and lessons I’ve learned working with leaders from Singapore to Silicon Valley to deliver meaningful leadership. Over a decade of research and experimentation is distilled into relatable anecdotes and actionable tools for you to change your environment and change your results.
Whether you are a senior leader responsible for billions of dollars, an emerging leader starting your career, or part of that overlooked middle band of management seeking to be better, The Science Behind Success will help you get clarity on your leadership impact, give you the compass to stay steady during chaos, and the tools to accelerate your career, impact, and legacy.
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