Develop the Leaders Around You
Watch & listen to this 25-second video to Develop the Leaders Around You.
Every leader needs a coach!
The problem church planters, pastors & leaders face is understanding the value of having a coach.
- Read this 2009 article from the Harvard Business Review entitled: “What Can Coaches Do For You?”
- If you are seeking a coach; this article provides research on the do’s and don’ts of a good coach.
- CAUTION – don’t get distracted by the context the article is written from, nor with the business-side of coaching.
If you would like to connect with InFocus please click here to schedule an appointment.
Leadership Make-Over with Gary Reinecke & Micah Dodson
Learn what your leadership strengths, weaknesses and how to move forward in your development in 2020.
- January 14, 2020
- 8am PST/11am EST
- ZOOM Login https://zoom.us/j/9512192304
#6 Develop your Leadership Effectiveness – REVIEW
LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW
Life-long learners constantly cycle through a developmental process to sharpen their leadership skills. It may be intuitive or it may be intentional. But the 6 steps are real: LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW. The sixth step in the leadership developmental process is REVIEW: review the progress, people and success of a project.
It is important to pause and review. The three aspects of review mentioned above will help the team improve their performance in the future.
- Progress – what changed?
- People – who contributed?
- Success – how to celebrate?
The most important aspect of the REVIEW process is to identify ways to improve in the future. They may be tiny adjustments or large scale interventions. The idea is that over time, significant change is possible.
Here is a real and present project that InFocus is involved in called COLLECTIVES, which are focused learning intensives to train you, and the leaders around you.
The first Collective was launched last Spring. After launching our first one on Disciplemaking and the second on Church Planting, we considered ways to improve. One of the changes we are introducing in January is our pilot Online Leadership Development Course. That means we will not only have the live course; but we will make a training kit available to leaders who want their entire team to experience the training together, through a series of videos.
We arrived at the idea when a need in the Collectives surfaced. It has been extremely helpful for leaders to go through the course. However, when the leader attempts to introduce the concepts to their team, there is a gap. That gap can be filled when the team engages in the Leadership Development process together! For more information on what is coming up, please click here.
The discipline of reviewing each Collective and surfacing needs along the way have accelerated our development. Without the important aspect of capturing the learnings and incorporating new ideas, most teams will keep doing the same things over and over again – expecting different results!
REVIEW is one way leaders create high-performing team.
This brings our blog series, Developing Your Leadership Effectiveness, to an end. As a gesture of appreciation in next week’s blog I will post an assessment for your use based on the six developmental steps we’ve been discussing: LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW. Look for that next week.
Until then, I wish you a very Happy New Year!
#5 Develop Your Leadership Effectiveness – EVALUATE
LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW
Life-long learners constantly cycle through a developmental process to sharpen their leadership skills. It may be intuitive or it may be intentional. But the 6 steps are real: LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW. The fifth step in the leadership developmental process is EVALUATE: know how and when to evaluate team member’s performance to ensure the vision, the goals and the team member’s contributions are on track.
Here are 6 things you can do to keep your team on track:
- Point out the difference between the present situation and agreed upon expectations
- Describe specifically the negative impact of the individual’s performance
- Ask the person for their view of the situation
- Ask the individual for ideas on how the situation could be corrected, and then add your own if necessary
- Agree on action plan for improvement and a date for follow-up
- Express confidence that the individual can correct the situation
Evaluating is an important step in the Leadership Development Process. But Evaluating in itself is not enough. In fact, going to a workshop, listening to a podcast or even receiving a degree in leadership does not guarantee a person can lead. I’ve found that many people have knowledge but lack the experience of actually leading a team. Applying the knowledge and learning from success, as well as failure is critical in the developmental process.
InFocus is responding to this need through Live Courses called Collectives. These “just in time” courses are designed for leaders who are in the trenches of developing the leaders around them. Each course will engage participants in the 6 Step Leadership Development process above through a combination of group interaction and 1-1 coaching. Learn more about the 2019 Collectives.
The next step in the journey to develop as a leader is – Review. Review occurs on the team as well as the individual performances of it’s members. This is where we will pick-up next week.
Related Leadership Development Resources:
Effective Leadership Storyboard
Leadership Skill Builder
#4 Develop Your Leadership Effectiveness – DECIDE
LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW
Life-long learners constantly cycle through a developmental process to sharpen their leadership skills. It may be intuitive or it may be intentional. But the 6 steps are real: LEARN-EMPOWER-ASSESS-DECIDE-EVALUATE-REVIEW. The fourth step in the leadership developmental process is DECIDE: know how and what to measure to ensure the vision, the goals and the team member’s contributions are on track.
Goals can be measured in four key areas:
- Quality
- Quantity
- Cost
- Timeliness
I’ve had very similar conversations in both the business and ministry context. It seems to come down to this – You measure, what matters! Quantitative data are easier to come by. For instance, the number of widgets made and sold OR the number of bodies in seats. Cost and time are concrete. Qualitative measure are a bit more complicated to track; but can be done. Bottom line, effective leaders track the measures that are the best indicators of, or lack of, progress against the goal.
In their book “The 4 Disciplines of Execution” the authors introduce Wildly Important Goals (WIGs). From their experience, the challenge comes not to create the goal; but when the team executes the plan to reach the goa! To support leaders, the authors break down Wildly Important Goals (WIGS) into Lead and Lag Measures.
Lead Measures are focused on the outcomes you are aiming for in the WIG – these are:
- Predictable – if you accomplish this, then you can expect certain results (“this” then “that”).
- Influenceable – something you can influence.
- A good Lead Measure might be: Double the revenue of our organization.
Lag Measures are focused on one of the following:
- the goal OR
- measures a result.
- A good Lag Measure might be: Quarterly Participator Report.
I’ve found it extremely helpful to distinguish between Lead and Lag Measures when coaching leaders. The exercise helps clarify what they are aiming at in their WIG and understand the strategic activities a team must execute to reach their goal. Here are five questions for you to use as you coach and empower the leaders around you!
5 Questions for Your Reflection:
- What is your WIG?
- Which are Lead Measures?
- Which are Lag Measures?
- How will you gather the data?
- When was the last time you assessed your team’s Wildly Important Goals (WIGS)?
Deciding is an important step in the Leadership Development Process. But Deciding in itself is not enough. In fact, going to a workshop, listening to a podcast or even receiving a degree in leadership does not guarantee a person can lead. I’ve found that many people have knowledge but lack the experience of actually leading a team. Applying the knowledge and learning from success, as well as failure is critical in the developmental process.
InFocus is responding to the need to help leaders empower their team through Live Courses called Collectives. These “just in time” courses are designed for leaders who are in the trenches of developing the leaders around them. Each course will engage participants in the 6 Step Leadership Development process above through a combination of group interaction and 1-1 coaching. Learn more about the 2019 Collectives.
The next step in the journey to develop as a leader is – Evaluate. Evaluation occurs on the team as well as the individual performances of it’s members. This is where we will pick-up next week.
Related Leadership Development Resource:
Effective Leadership Storyboard