Ask Your Team To Support Your Ideas
Have you seen a war movie? Remember the scene where soldiers are crouched in a foxhole as bullets fly and shells explode around them – until one person grabs a weapon, yells “Follow Me!” and charges out against the enemy!
Is that person a great leader? Perhaps. Or he might be plain nuts. It’s dangerous out there!
Real leadership comes when the second and third people respond to the challenge and follow. They are the ones who create momentum – they are the leaders that move the team to meet the challenge.
There are two lessons to learn about leadership from this scene:
1. Leadership isn’t about noise.
Leadership is about a well-chosen target and creating momentum to reach that target. To be a real leader, see where smart leaders are leading and help them create momentum to achieve a worthy objective. Volunteer to be part of a team facing a valuable challenge and – even though you aren’t attracting the attention of a noisy leader – you’re actually helping your team make progress toward a well-chosen result.
2. Leadership is about people.
If you’re the one about to make noise, before you charge into battle make sure that you’ve got reliable people primed and ready to support you in creating momentum. “Yeah, let’s go!” “I’ll help!” “Great idea – let’s make it happen!” A smart leader meets recruits before meeting the challenge.
Whether you’re the first or the second person out of the ‘foxhole,’ remember that leadership isn’t about noise you make, it’s about people you inspire and a target that they understand and care about.