Before leadership can be scaled in our organizations, leaders must first scale leadership in themselves.

In our ever-changing, highly complex world in which change is happening faster than we are, leaders will be woefully ineffective to move their organizations forward if they do not expand, magnify, maximize, and grow themselves first – at work, in their homes, and in their communities.

If you want to scale leadership and become the leader you’d most like to be, then begin by asking yourself an important question:  Am I thinking more about myself or more about others? If truthful, most of us are more concerned with self-interest than we are with the interest of others. Self-interest, however, isn’t the way to create a climate where others want to be. To create such a climate, we must be willing to turn our attention to others’ interests and begin to think about how our daily behaviors and the decisions we make impact others. 

Ask anyone to think about the best boss they’ve ever had and why. Guaranteed, they will talk about what that person did to make a positive impact on them. They will tell you things like, “That boss…:

– knew who I was

– greeted me each day

– spoke to me by name

– asked for my input

– listened to my ideas and concerns

– empathized with my struggles

– coached and encouraged me through the difficult

– mentored and trained me well

– told me the truth, even when it was hard to hear

– communicated respectfully

– inspired and motivated me

– made me feel special and valued

– gave me opportunities to stretch myself in new ways

– allowed me to make mistakes and learn from them

– helped me to grow

This list goes on. I know these are things they’ll say because I have asked that question to hundreds of people over the years. Those are just some of the things that they told me. Do you see the two words that are repeated again and again in those comments? “Me” and “my.”

To scale leadership in ourselves, we must be willing to look within to reflect on where our interest lies – with self or with others. 

Only when we come to the place where we see ourselves honestly, with all our strengths and flaws, and embrace all of it (recognizing that growth is a life-long journey), will we be on way to scaling leadership. Only then, with an eye on serving others with respect and dignity, can we ever begin to close the gap between where we are as a leader and where we want to be. 

Scaling leadership within begins with becoming courageously authentic, someone who is willing to help others by serving them in the most truthful way possible. That sometime involves having those tough conversations. 

Highly effective leaders do not cower in a corner and avoid sharing the thing that can help an employee grow. We may not like conflict or perhaps are even afraid that the employee won’t like us for confronting them with the gap between their performance and expectations, but it must be done. Regardless of how uncomfortable, we have those conversations face-to-face. We don’t leave notes on their desk or send them a letter or discuss our displeasure concerning their job performance with others hoping things will improve. In a face-to-face meeting we speak the truth in love.

Remember, we can be soft on people while holding hard conversations. When your motive is to help others (exactly the motive of truly effective leaders), they read your heart before they can ever hear your words.

Scaling leadership within ourselves demands that we discover how to become courageously authentic, courageously truthful leaders who put others before ourselves and always communicate with respect, maintaining the dignity of others.

“Organizations do not transform—people do.” ― William A. Adams, Mastering Leadership 

(c) 2021  Mary Jane Mapes   All rights reserved.

NOTE: If you are interested in scaling leadership within yourself or within your leadership team, we can help you. Contact me directly at https://[email protected] or call me directly at 269-720-6398. We are here to serve you.