3 Steps to Powerful Empowerment

A strong leader empowers their people. An empowered team will always out perform a team that is led by intimidation. But empowerment is both an art and a science. It is usually a mixture of intuition and fact that guides us to begin empowering others. It is also a skill that you should never stop developing.

Here are three key reminders on empowerment:

1. Recognize you can’t empower everyone. This is usually a mistake of an inexperienced leader. Many have a desire to become an empowering leader, and immediately want to empower everyone on the team. It does not work. Not everyone is ready, able, or deserving to be empowered.

2. Choose people to empower carefully. If you want to empower someone, their success becomes your success. Invest in people that have the knowledge, skill, and desire to be empowered. If someone only possesses two of these three traits, they will be lacking in their success.

3. Invest your time and energy in their success. This is the most critical step. Many times we empower, but fail to follow through. Consider the first time you empowered your son or daughter to drive the family car. How did you know they were ready? How did you train them? How did you help them and transition them to be a successful driver? I am sure you did not just throw them the keys, say “here you go”, and walk away. When you empower anyone, you must take the time to verify they are ready, prepared, trained, and have a proper transition plan before they are on their own.

The rewards for empowering others can be great. Every empowering relationship should result in a win for both parties. You cannot maximize your leadership without it. As James B Stockdale has said, “Great leaders gain authority by giving it away. “

3 Steps for Asking Great Questions

Asking great questions can unlock opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable to us. Asking great questions help us connect with others, build better ideas, and provide new perspectives to grow our awareness.

But how do we become better at asking better questions? Here are three steps to consider in using questions to expand your capabilities:

1. Preparation. The best questions require preparation. You must invest some time to think and possibly research the person or subject under discussion. You can consider history, current events, challenges, resources, etc. Then put your thoughts into the form of probing questions.

2. Listening. After you have completed your preparation, and have reached the point where you can ask questions, ignore the temptation to read your questions. In fact, ignore your prepared questions and just listen. Allow the conversation to dictate the appropriate questions. Be present and fully in the moment for the discussion.

3. Get Out of Your Head. Don’t analyze the discussion from your perspective. Don’t put the conversation in terms of you. Stay focused on the other person, and ask questions that reflect your true and genuine interest in the subject.

It is counter intuitive to prepare and then ignore the preparation. But if you don’t, then you risk being perceived as scripted. And if you fail to do the preparation, you will not be able to ask the best questions when the opportunity arises.

We often don’t think of asking questions as a skill. But it is a very important skill that can be developed, and utilized, to open the doors of opportunity.

Are You Ready for Your Next Opportunity?

preparationIt was Benjamin Franklin who said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” When opportunity arrives, it is too late to prepare for it. The time to get ready is now.

Personal growth is a choice. However, John Maxwell tells us that growth is the great separator of those who succeed long term from those who do not.

To take advantage of an opportunity it is not enough to be in the right place in the right time. You need awareness and preparation. So what are you doing to prepare yourself for your next opportunity? Here are a couple of things to consider:

1. Set aside time to grow in your calendar daily. Growth requires effort. Growth doesn’t happen automatically.

2. Decide on your areas of growth. What will help you achieve your dream? Your purpose? Where is your passion?

3. Apply what you learn. Growth is not effective without application. Integrate what you learn in your daily life. Take risks. Stretch yourself. Embrace failure with a plan to learn and grow.

As you grow take advantage of the opportunities as they come to you. Larger opportunities usually appear through taking smaller opportunities. If you are waiting for the perfect opportunity, you miss many opportunities that could lead to your success.

This approach seems so simple and necessary. It makes me wonder why more people don’t prepare. If you need help getting started, let’s talk.

A Lesson from Abe Lincoln

lincoln3I was part of a group of John Maxwell Team members that had the opportunity to watch and study leadership lessons from the movie, Lincoln, starring Daniel Day Lewis. John played the movie, but stopped after nearly every scene to teach leadership lessons that were brilliantly displayed.

In this article I am going to demonstrate three of many lessons we can learn from Lincoln.

Lincoln surrounded himself with great leaders. His cabinet was filled with strong powerful characters. A weak, insecure leader will surround themselves with weak people. Lincoln was an even greater leader because he was secure in surrounding himself with with these strong people. A great leader is willing to have the best people around them even if sometimes those people are hard to lead. Lincoln was challenged by his cabinet every step along the way. It made him better.

Lincoln used the influence of others to lead. He needed help from Preston Blair, the opposition, to succeed. Strong leaders are humble and ask for help. They don’t ask for agreement. A great leader will always need to use the influence of others. You will never get to a point that you don’t need it. A strong leader learns how to build consensus without compromising their goal or values.

Lincoln heard over and over that passing the 13th amendment was impossible. A great leader is optimistic despite adversity. Leaders must be dealers in hope. Hope that is backed by strategy and a will to win. When you become a leader you cannot be controlled by other people’s emotions. You do not give up compassion, but you must be committed to your vision.

There are countless lessons in the life of Lincoln, and they are captured beautifully in this movie. It is a movie that should be watched more than once. After you enjoy the picture, you can watch it a second time to focus your attention on the leadership principles. All of the main characters were great leaders, but Lincoln was the greatest among them. I hope you get chance to enjoy this movie several times.

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