Several years ago, I started to really get into leadership books. All have been very helpful for me in many different areas, but the one I’m reading now (“Developing the Leaders Around You” by John Maxwell) takes a little bit of a different approach compared to many of the others. Instead of a self-help approach, it’s more of an others-help approach. I’ve never heard someone refer to a book as being an others-help, but this one really is. It’s all about helping you (the reader) help others.
Meanwhile, I was listening to a podcast this evening that also hit on helping others. The hosts made a great analogy, likening helping others with lessening the load of a heavy backpack. They mentioned that each of us carry a backpack with some amount of weight in it. Throughout life, we will have opportunities to help shoulder the weight someone is carrying (a struggle at work, a loss in the family, etc.). That act, be it listening, lending a helping hand, covering a shift…it helps the other person, but can, oddly enough, help us.
What has stuck out to me, lately, is how much of leadership is focused on others. John Maxwell argues that “The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”. When I first started reading this book, it kind of threw me off a little. I’m a big believer in servant leadership, but Maxwell really takes it to another level. He even goes as far as to say that some of the people we lead and develop will go on to be better at leadership and/or some other skill, than we are. Stings a little bit, doesn’t it? At least it does for me.
There was an entry-level NWS forecaster I was helping train for a couple of years and it was really neat to see how quickly this individual progressed during that time. It brought a lot of joy to me to help shoulder that extra weight in their backpack (the extra weight that often comes with a new job). Towards the end of that initial training time, I remember a point when I realized this forecaster was basically climbing the mountain on their own. I’m a little embarrassed to admit it, but I recall thinking that this person was going to be more skilled than me at this rate. I started running into a little bit of a self-conscious wall. The focus began shifting away from training a fellow coworker, and instead to an unhealthy focus on myself.
I’m sure that John Maxwell knew this would be an issue for some of his readers, like myself, and I'm so glad he addressed it. He points out that “To be a great developer of people, you must be personally secure, because taking…people to the height of their potential may mean they will pass you by.”. This forecaster was passing me by and I had to be ok with that. Why? Because that's what leadership is about.
What I’m seeing more and more is that leadership is not about being better than others at something, it’s not about being a higher grade, it’s not about getting extra freedoms or having fewer people to answer to. Leadership is about others. It’s about serving others, it’s about providing resources, it’s about giving opportunities…it’s about setting others up for success. For me, it’s giving up radar (which I love doing) and, instead, doing routine duties (not as exciting) so that someone else can have an important learning opportunity. It's about giving up my favorite sit-stand workstation because it's vital to another forecaster's success on a midnight shift. It's about having that tough conversation about a disagreement or problem. It’s about effectively leading a shift in a way that makes the environment as peaceful as possible, even when things are going sideways. “Lead people, manage things” John encourages. Sometimes leadership is about being hopeful and helping keep morale up, a task which can be very difficult!
And no, this doesn't mean you never focus on yourself. John points out that there is an important
aspect of leadership that does involve ourselves. Are we learning, are we improving,
are we leading effectively? I would add...are you taking time for yourself to just rest and relax at times. Those are important questions to regularly address. What has struck me, though, is that leadership is not about my position, popularity, or level of technical skill. The challenge for me is daily making sure that my actions and motivations stem from a genuine care for others.
Looking around, some of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with are the ones who made leadership about others. Those are the leaders who have had the greatest impact on me, and that is the leader I want to be.
