Effective Leaders Know How to Share

“If I don’t do it myself, it won’t be done properly.”  As a leader, if you subscribe to any version of this belief — the idea that it’s got to be done by you and you alone — then you are not leading effectively.  You are leading — probably holding a vision, moving towards a specific objective — but you are failing to recognize that success requires a team approach.  Ask anyone who’s made it big in any industry — even in individual sport — and you’ll discover that they’ve enlisted the help of others to get them to the pinnacle of their success.

This can seem counter-intuitive, I know.  If you hold a leadership position, then the buck stops with you, so-to-speak.  And that sort of responsibility can lead to a sense of needing to do everything yourself.  However, the most effective leadership strategy involves a shared approach to the task at hand.  There’s a willingness to inspire and empower others to support you in achieving the objective — and even a willingness to let them find their own approach to what needs to be done.  In other words, effective leaders do not micromanage.

If you’re a leader, and you’re feeling the weight of your role in any way, shape, or form, I would invite you to look at your approach to leadership.  Are you holding the responsibility solely on your shoulders?  If so, it’s time to start divesting yourself of the burden.  Because shared leadership is where it’s at.