Leadership is involving is the third in this short series. In case you have missed the first two, here are links to those articles. The first one was Leadership is . . . Modeling. And the second one was Leadership is . . . Teaching. But today I want to focus on involving others through our leadership.
After we have modeled our convictions, purpose and plan and then shared with others where we are headed and how they can be a vital part of that process, then we must begin involving people.
It is not enough to plan and structure things. It is not enough to have goals and action steps, we must involve and engage people in the actual implementation. Involving begins during the previous stage of teaching/learning because it simply won’t work to tell others what the vision and plan is and how they fit in it without giving them opportunity to contribute to the formation of the vision and plan.
Even if you have the leverage of certain extrinsic motivators, you and your organization will simply not achieve great results if you merely give people a list of expectations. As leaders we need to involve people in every part of the process from the brainstorming session to the recruitment of the team to the development of the process and to the analysis of the “success” of the plan. We must involve people not only by letting them have a seat at the table but seeking and welcoming their ideas and insights all along the way. Involvement should create ownership and produce far greater results than any one person can achieve alone.
Photo credit: B Tal / Foter / CC BY-NC
Photo credit: Baltic Development Forum / Foter / CC BY
Photo credit: EU Social / Foter / CC BY-NC-SA
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