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Lead, don't follow

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Lead, don't follow is the most important phrase you'll ever hear in your career.

When you take it to heart & live by it, you will see the difference in your prospects.

You'll find that doors that were previously closed will open.

You'll find resistance to your ideas will be easier to bypass.

You'll find your colleagues will trust you more readily.

So why don't more people do this?

Because it can feel uncomfortable.

Presumptuous.

Even pushy.

But as a leader of people for 10+ years, I'm telling you now that it isn't.

Good leaders want you to lead more, not less

Today, you will learn:

• Why leaders want you to make more decisions yourself
• What a bad question to your boss looks like & how to avoid it
• How to lead without being an arse about it
• Why leading (not following) will take your career further & faster

Let's dig in...

Leaders want you to make more decisions yourself

Leaders have to make decisions every day.

Some are easy, some are hard, but they still have to make them.

Every time a team member comes to them with a decision that needs to be made, they have to divert from other things to make it.

It is enormously draining.

The bigger their team, the more often it happens and the more draining it is.

Good leaders do not want to make all of the decisions themselves.

The level of exertion required to do that would be enormous & they know it is not sustainable.

They want you to make decisions for yourself; to lead, not follow.

What should I do now? is not a good question

A typical question from a team member:

This thing has happened. What do you want me to do?

This puts all of the emphasis on your leader to assess the situation fully & present you with an answer.

In short, you're just piling the problem onto them.

Despite the fact that:

• You know more of the details of the problem
• You have more recent hands-on experience of that sort of problem
• You already have an opinion on what should be done

So why are they a better person to make the decision than you?

Honestly, they probably aren't.

How to lead without being an arse

Offering a route forward doesn't mean you have to be bullish or rude.

When you use a structure like this, you'll cover off all of the important points of leading, not following:

• Set out the essential details of the problem
• Explain why it is a problem as clearly as possible
• Outline your recommended solution
• Explain how / why it will solve the problem
• Offer them a chance to say no but not a requirement to say yes
• Set out a future review point (if a longer-term impact)

For example:

Why leading (not following) will accelerate your career

​Anthony Soltero summed this up really well recently:

People who lead are gold-dust because they:

• Get things done faster & more efficiently
• Demonstrate the understanding of what actions to take
• Showcase their ability to judge cause & effect

But most crucially, they make their leaders' lives easier.

You will not find a good leader on the planet that doesn't want that.

Every worthy leader out there wants that kind of person on their team.

That is how you advance in your career; you become the kind of person that everyone wants on their team.

The more in demand you are, the greater the opportunities you will have for advancement.

The basic economic principle of supply & demand.

The last word

When you find yourself about to say What should I do? to your leader, stop.

Think if you could make a recommendation instead.

Then use the template above to set that out.

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Lead, don't follow - properly applied, it will change your career.

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Until next time,

- M

Matt Scaysbrook

​Find me on LinkedIn​

Whenever you're ready, here's 3 ways to take your effectiveness journey further:

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