The Metiss Group's Blog

In 1928, Dr. Eduard Spranger wrote the book “Types of Men” in which he introduced six common motivators we all have.  Of the six, Spranger argued everyone has two about which we are most passionate.  One of the six motivators is Social – our desire to make sure society is a better place and to give back.  People with this altruistic passion are particularly moved by all the public support for breast cancer awareness. It’s hard not to notice all the different signs of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; the pink is everywhere.  No doubt many of your direct reports are feeling the urge to give back and participate.

If your organization is compelled to participate in societal causes, let the passionate Social direct reports champion your efforts.  The energy and passion they create is contagious and the whole organization benefits.  However, as Spranger points out, not everybody has a passionate Social.  Don’t assume everyone will embrace the cause and respect those who choose to be less involved (there will be plenty of other non-Social initiatives they’ll be passionate about).

Empower your benevolent direct reports to champion your organization’s Social purposes, and your whole organization will succeed.

What would you rather have: a strong leader of a team of producers, or a weak leader with a team of superstars?

History is filled with examples of teams of underdogs that unexpectedly go on to accomplish great results.  Conversely, there are examples of seemingly great teams filled with stars that fail to meet expectations.

The difference is leadership.  Effective leaders are focused both on getting the right people AND getting people right.  Getting people right is taking the talent you have and getting the most out of them by challenging each team member differently and leveraging their collective strengths.  John Wooden won 10 NCAA basketball championships in 12 years not just by recruiting the best players but by getting the most out of them.  How many times have we seen the number one draft choice in professional sports fail?  Leadership almost always trumps talent.

Empower your leaders to get their people right and you’ll experience more success.

Every leader can tell you about the hard working, tireless group of employees that helped them start their business. The leader realizes they would not have experienced success without the contributions of these loyal workers.

Unfortunately as the business matures and changes, the people with whom you start your business are not necessarily those with whom you grow your business. The skills required to launch a start-up are different from those needed to grow. Even after the business has passed them by, most leaders are reluctant to displace the loyal group they started with.

A leader owes it to the organization and their loyal but underperforming employees to move along without them. This doesn’t mean their departure shouldn’t be treated more favorably than others, but they do need to be moved on.

Probably the best example of this was when Bill Gates realized Microsoft had outgrown him and he replaced himself as CEO with Steve Ballmer in 2000.

Empower yourself to challenge your loyalties and you’ll be a successful leader.

If you have children and have sat through one of their graduation ceremonies, you know the mixed feelings you experienced; a mix of joy, sadness, and pride – pride for the accomplishment of the graduate and pride for the contributions you’ve made to the graduate’s success.

You should feel the same pride for your direct report’s achievements.  If you continuously challenged your direct report to develop while providing resources and removing obstacles for their success, you should feel deep pleasure and satisfaction.  In fact, the resumes of leaders today will often include the development and accomplishments of their direct reports, as well as their own accomplishments.

Empower your direct reports to succeed and revel in their accomplishments.