Great leaders create more leaders by teaching, coaching, and mentoring their people. Research shows that lack of mentoring causes talent loss. A leader's real success is measured by students who surpass them, not by their own achievements.
Be a dedicated teacher, coach, and mentor. This might be the most important part of the program. Great leaders are always effective teachers. I believe with all my heart that the only way to become a great leader, an effective leader, is to teach and mentor others, to help them become leaders too. Tom Peters once said, "Leaders don't create followers, they create more leaders." You create leaders by being a dedicated teacher, coach, and mentor, by helping people realize their full potential. Is this a new paradigm in leadership? Charles Mance and Henry Sims seem to think so. In many modern situations, the most appropriate leader is the one who can lead others to lead themselves. We call this powerful new kind of leadership super leadership. I agree with them, but it's not a new type of leadership. About 2,500 years ago, Lao Tzu said this: A leader is best when people barely know he exists. When his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, "We did it ourselves." The idea of expanding your potential by empowering others is not new, but it's certainly an idea that deserves a revival. I'm sure Manson Sims would acknowledge Lao Tzu's contribution. They also say, "The super leader becomes super through the talents and capabilities of others. As self-leadership is nurtured, the power for progress is unleashed." Manson and Sims may very well be black belts. They sure think like one. So why don't more leaders embrace the role of teacher and mentor? The Institute of Organizational Development cited the Stanford University study that revealed a big problem in business leadership today. Another critical area of development for CEOs was mentoring skills, developing internal talent. Another critical area— this just might be your most important role as a leader— cultivating, developing, and nourishing the talent, skills, and abilities of the people you serve. What happens if you don't help other people develop? Well, these days they quit. They move on to better opportunities for growth and development, and they do it quickly. One problem is that many leaders feel threatened if they develop the talents and skills of others, especially if they think those people are going to take their jobs. The best sensei, or leader, measures success by the student or follower who surpasses his own talents, skills, and abilities. In this type of transformational culture, there's always room for growth and development at all levels. When the sensei, or leader, plays an active role in teaching, training, and mentoring others to exceed his skills, There's no threat. There's respect. I've trained many people who've become much better martial artists and leaders than I'll ever be. That's not a threat. That's my job. A few years ago, I noticed something very interesting happening around me. I never asked for it. It just started happening. Before my students became black belts, they would call me sensei. They still had a sense of dependence and deference toward me. As I promoted my first black belts and then later As I promoted students to higher ranks and recognized them, not just for equaling my skills and abilities, but in many cases exceeding them, something changed. Some of these students started to call me Master. As I promoted the student, the student elevated me. Best of all, as the student excels, my role changes. It shifts from simply teaching technique to mentoring and coaching that student to even higher levels of performance. That's how you empower an individual, and that's how you cultivate a powerful organization.
Why AI-Only Customer Service Is Failing Customers | Danny Snow on Keep It Human
