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April 25, 2005

3:32 pm | 0 recommendations | 6 comments

Leading Ideas: Grow the People Around You

| posted by Fast Company staff
"Before you become a leader success is all about growing yourself. Once you become a leader success is all about growing others." -- Jack Welch (1935- ) Former Chairman & CEO, General Electric

Something to consider:

Great leadership is characterized by the desire and ability to grow the people around you. A great leader shifts his/her focus from delivering great results to developing others who can deliver great results. This is the only way that success is scalable and sustainable.

In his new book on leadership entitled Winning, Jack Welch hammers this point home. He believes that the vast majority of a leader's time should be devoted to 3 activities - evaluating, coaching, & building self-confidence in the those around him/her. "Too often, managers think that people development occurs once a year in performance reviews," he writes, "That's not even close. It should be a daily event integrated into your everyday goings-on."

Something to try:

1. The next time a member of your team slips up, take advatage of the opportunity to coach them IN THE MOMENT. (The longer you put it off the less powerful the coaching will be).
2. Have them reflect on the situation and brainstorm other possible paths they could have taken.
3. Guide them to a new path.
4. Let them know you believe in them.
5. Hold them accountable for changing their behavior.

Question: How do you grow the people around you?

Tags: Leadership
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Recent Comments | 6 Total

April 25, 2005 at 9:27pm

Steve
Way TMI.
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April 26, 2005 at 1:18pm

John
Leadership development that Jack Welch talks about is probably carried out in 1% of U.S. firms. It certainly isn't where I work (health care)! Your people are only as good as you make them; if they're not performing, it's your fault; if they are; you all get the credit.
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April 26, 2005 at 5:38pm

Dan Seidman
Wow, some leader. Posted the same thing 7 times! Is that an example of yelling continually at your audience or just a leader without typing or internet skills? Bob, Do you agree? Are there other similarities that might help us all understand how to be a better leader? Is there an "irony" post we can cross-post this to? Dan Seidman, SalesAutopsy.com "One of the top 12 sales coaches in America" (Ultimate Selling Power) Sales Horror Stories now appearing on Monster.com! Author, The Sales Comic Book There is nothing like it on this planet (possibly any planet)! http://www.salesautopsy.com 1-847-359-7860 (central time)
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April 26, 2005 at 5:51pm

Peter Lagoda
Please submit this article to all those people laid off by Welch during his early years at GE. Guess they would find it amusing. On the other hand, when you are strong enough to lead instead of direct people, coaching may be a solution to performance problems.
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April 26, 2005 at 11:57pm

Racer X
Do leaders have competitions to see who can have the longest comment footer 'er plug?
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May 5, 2005 at 8:19am

Gordon Whyte
The leader needs to remember it is not all about him....but the folks that work for him...they will provide the results..sometimes they need a push .....sometimes they need to here the words "thanks"... there are no phases in leadership...you lead...
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