Elevate Your Leadership In 5 Minutes

Imagine you´re an auto mechanic. In your garage are seven cars that aren´t running properly. You need to fix them. If you´re going to be successful – if you´re going to get paid – you need to make those engines run.

Now imagine you´re sitting in a meeting. There are seven people at the table with you. The performance of these individuals needs to improve. If you´re going to be successful you need to elevate everyone´s results. What do you do?

The average leader will use the same method the mechanic would take: he will attempt to "fix" the people around him. And then in the days that follow, he will lament the marginal, if not disastrous results that follow.

A "Fix-It" Society

We live in a fix-it society. The predominant approach to our physical health is to wait until something ails us, and then take an aspirin or have surgery. Additionally, we wait for bridges to fall and roads to crack before we expend resources building stronger structures. And in the office?

In the office the prevalent strategy to influence people is to wait for poor performance, identify what´s wrong with others – and then fix them. The most common approach to "leading" people is thinking that we need to "change them" if we´re going to change our results. This is why most people in leadership positions are called "bosses" rather than leaders.

The results are catastrophic. According to the most recent Gallup survey, 72% of the workforce is disengaged. Additional research shows that within the first eight months a person is on the job their enthusiasm for their work plummets. It doesn´t take a Ph.D. to know what the implications of this are: business result stink.

Ironically, people want to work. They want to be fully engaged and bring a strong work ethic to their job. They want to grow, improve and become as effective as they can be. Yet sadly, once they arrive at the office, they are subjected to the "fix-it" mentality as people try to change who they are.

Can you tell when someone is trying to "fix" you? Undoubtedly yes, as the approach echoes through the worksite: "Let me give you some advice," and "Here´s your problem…" and "Here´s what you need to do…"

It´s Ugly

This is when it gets ugly. Most people, when they perceive others are trying to fix them, respond…by trying to fix in return. We point out the spots and faults of those who would dare point out our own.

The "I´ll fix you – you fix her – and she´ll fix him – while he tries to fix me" approach to doing business dominates every industry. It leaves individuals, teams, organizations – and families – far short of their awesome potential.

People Must Improve

No doubt about it: if results are going to improve, people must improve their performance. Allowing people to move through their work with mediocre efforts only delivers mediocre results. But here´s the key: it´s how people are attempting to get others to improve which distinguishes a few leaders from the majority.

Remarkably, what´s necessary to separate your leadership from those around you does not require extensive training, a library full of leadership books or retreating to a mountain top. It can be done in less than five minutes.

The 4 A´s To Elevating Your Leadership

In the next conversation you have with anyone you can employ four simple strategies and have a greater influence.

1) Awareness. As you listen to what is being said, ask yourself, "Am I trying to fix this person? Am I focusing on their faults? Do I want to manipulate them – or serve them?"

Daniel Goleman, in his book Primal Leadership, uses research to support what most of us know: any change in behavior begins with "being aware." When you are interacting with others, are you aware of what you´re thinking about that person? And are you aware that the person you are interacting with can detect if you are trying to fix them or serve them – regardless of what words you use?

2) Acceptance. Nearly every person knows that, until we accept someone for who they are, we can´t move forward. Not accepting someone as they are is like sitting in a chair in the middle of a highway and demanding that it become a motorcycle. That´s insane, right?

Yet, how many leaders attempt to force people to be a motorcycle – when instead, they are a chair? These people make demands, lecture, and force their ideas on others. And their efforts are in vain.

The unenlightened among us refuse to accept others because they worry that this sends a message of condoning poor performance. Enlightened individuals know that these are two separate acts; the poor performance is unacceptable – and we can accept that it´s a reality. Once this step of acceptance is taken, we can take greater responsibility.

3) Ask. If telling people to improve, demanding our kids to clean their rooms, or threatening others to be productive doesn´t work – what does? Answer: asking the right questions.

Someone once said, "All actions begin as ideas." Duh, right? Yet, this simple truth is the key to new behaviors. Until someone sees something with their own eyes, they are unlikely to grow. And these things rarely happen unless people make the discovery themselves.

By dropping the "telling" approach and moving to questions, we immediately impact short and long-term results. Here are sample questions to move people forward:

What aspects of your work do you feel good about?

What are you doing to achieve these things?

What are the next steps you want to take to move forward?

Why is it necessary to deliver success in these areas?

What ideas do you have on achieving this?

4) Acknowledge. Here´s a quiz: are you likely to change your behaviors and work with someone who is an adversary or an ally?

That´s an easy quiz. There are bosses, however, who fail it. Consider the people you work with. Can you tell which ones are taking the "fix-it" approach with you? It´s a good chance you resist and avoid these people. Conversely, can you tell which individuals are interested in you and have your best interests in mind? It´s likely you see these people as your allies – and therefore you deliver your best efforts.

The number one way to create an adversary is to acknowledge their poor results, emphasize their shortcomings, and tell them what they´re doing wrong. The most effective way to establish an ally is to acknowledge favored results and behavior. Sincere, specific and selective feedback provided to people when they are performing well allows you to effectively predict that you´ll see more of the same – or better – in the future.

Leading Out Of Your Values

Is it possible that most of us learned leadership wrong? Is it possible that we were taught that to get people to improve we were supposed to point out their flaws – and fix them?

The 4 A´s are "a better way to lead," says Matt Reid, President of the Sabroso Company in Oregon. "It´s delivering better results for us. As we get it right, it creates a competitive advantage. And, the approach is aligned with who we are. What more do you want?"

People are not machines. They don´t need fixing. Using the "4 A´s" – awareness, acceptance, ask, and acknowledge – allows you to lead out of your values: to deliver great results by developing great people. Within minutes this approach will elevate your leadership above the norm.