1 Question Guaranteed to Make You a Better Leader

Posted by Perspect

Focus your energy on helping other people succeed. Turn the mirror towards them so they can see how great they are versus how great you are. 

In Marshall Goldsmith’s instant classic What Got You Here Won’t Get You There he has an important quote on what it takes for successful people to make the leap to become a great leader. By focusing attention on others, successful people help, mentor, coach and lead by example.

“Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others.”

At some point in everyone’s career, they feel a sense of happiness and gratitude for the success they have experienced. Sure, we invest in ourselves, we push ourselves, we motivate ourselves, but in the end, it’s others that help us achieve what we have become. Showing others gratitude, thanking those who have helped you along the way in-person or in public to ensure they know how you feel about them.

Success is rarely realized by one’s self. The best way to celebrate success is with others. Which leads us to another question, how do you create more success as a leader?

By focusing on others more and more. The best leaders are selfless, they put their needs after everyone else’s. They serve the people they work with. True leadership is service to others. Want to be a better leader at home, work, with friends? Serve them.

Want to know how you can best serve them? I challenge you to ask this question to those you care about and want to see succeed:

• What can I do to be a better ________ as it relates to you and me?

Where _______ = Mom, Dad, friend, colleague, boss etc. This one question is guaranteed to make you a better leader, ask it often.

Then sit and listen actively for the answer; don’t comment at all – just say thank you!  If someone gives you a gift you don’t say, “gross gift, stinky gift” – you say “thank you”. Feedback (feedforward in this case) is the greatest gift you will receive as a leader and seeking it out has to be a daily part of your leadership journey. You don’t have to implement every piece of feedback just like you don’t have to love every gift – that’s what regifting is for 🙂  

If you want to get a few ideas sooner try this free Leadership Assessment here.