This summer, I listened the Entrepreneurs On Fire podcast with host, John Lee Dumas. He ended each episode by saying, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” to make the point that entrepreneurs should be thoughtful about who they surround themselves with. How does this apply to leaders? 

This Week’s Edition

Who is on your team? How are they influencing you, the leader? Are they raising your average or bringing it down?

Clarify Your Thinking

This concept of averages got me thinking about the role of leadership. We often talk about the fact that leadership is influence, and in the context of a leader’s role, we often assume it’s the leader influencing their team. Does it also work the other way? Can your team influence you? Let’s take a look.

Attitudes are contagious. We feed off the energy of others. We crave a sense of connection. And as leaders, we choose people to be on our teams who support who we are and our ideals.  It is also true that many people are too afraid to surround themselves with people who will challenge them to up their game.  We’ve got to be aware of who’s on our team. Are they upping our average or bringing it down?

Across thousands of coaching conversations, I’ve noticed that many leaders have a “problem child”, that one person who is the hardest to lead. Someone who plants seeds of doubt about the leader’s ability to lead, bringing down the leader’s average.  

Here is a list of a few of those types of challenging team members:   

• The Yes Man – the suck-up who constantly agrees with the boss

• The Naysayer – the one who always sees the glass half empty

• The Boaster – the-look-what-I-achieved braggard

• The Judger – the constant harsh critic of people and ideas

• The Complainer – the nothing-is-ever-good-enough whiner

• The Gossip – the pot stirrer who’s always in the drama

• The Blamer – the accuser who never takes responsibility

• The Apathetic – the unengaged who everyone has to work around

Sometimes the best thing for both parties is to move the challenging person off the team. Other times, that’s not an option. So, what’s a leader to do?  

Old Thinking: This person is draining my energy. I don’t think I can lead them. I’ve tried everything. I may have hit my leadership lid. I doubt I can effectively lead the team with this person in the mix. 

New Thinking: I wonder if I can learn new ways to engage this person. Is it possible to lead them to their next level? Can they change if I change?

Thoughts Lead to Actions

If you want to take your leadership to the next level, improve the people you spend the most time with at work. Lead them. 

If you can change the way you think about what is possible for each person, you can employ a new approach to leading them. See if this three-step process is helpful:

Step 1: Ask the person what their vision is for their role on the team.

• Evaluate their answer.

• Is it in alignment with your vision for the role and the company objectives?

Step 2: Communicate your clear expectations for the role and their performance.

• Highlight the gap between their vision and your expectations.

• Frame the expectations according to the bigger picture and the why.

Step 3: Set periodic and frequent performance check-ins.

• Ask them to tell you how they think it’s going.

• Share your perspective and reinforce what to keep working on.

Boost Your Performance

In the fall of 1727, Benjamin Franklin and a group of friends founded the Junto Club. The 12 members were “ingenious men” who were avid readers and intellectuals involved in their individual improvement and that of society. 

They met Friday evenings to discuss issues of morals, politics or natural philosophy. The club lasted 38 years and was a launching pad for many public projects – the first lending library, the volunteer fire company, the University of Pennsylvania, volunteer militia, Pennsylvania and more. Watch this week’s video to be encouraged to up your leadership average.

What’s Your Opinion?

Do you have room for improvement of your average? Let me know at robin.pou@robinpou.com.

If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!

Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist

We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders. 

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What is “The Confident Leader”?

During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.