Keys to Leadership Success by Ella Kimbrel
Have you ever worked for a leader who takes all the credit for the good things you accomplish and blames you when things go wrong? Me too. I wish all leaders were great, but the reality is that they are not, and instead of pointing fingers, I first look at myself. While I do not always get it right, I do try to be a good leader. I have had some great wins with my teams over the years, but I have also had some losses.
Early in my career as a new leader (before I entered the world of HR), I held each member of my team to my own high standards thinking this was right. My relationship with each team member was solid, and we enjoyed much laughter and fun…at first. When it came time for me to do my employee evaluations – the first time ever for me, those high standards that I imposed on my team taught me a lesson. I gave every one of my direct reports low scores because they worked differently than me, not as fast as me or as organized as me. I could accomplish twice as much work as some of my team members, so in my mind a few of them were falling short of meeting my expectations…my really high expectations.
A couple of my employees cried during the performance review. I was devastated to have hurt them. I later learned that my team’s performance reviews were among the lowest scores in the company. I was so arrogant and prideful. I destroyed the laughter and love with my team and of my team with one stroke of a pen. I tried to apologize to my team members and confess the error of my ways. A few were compassionate and forgave me. One employee did not, and that one hurt me the most because I felt the closest to her. I left the company shortly after that for unrelated reasons, but I will always remember that experience of being a bad leader and how poorly I led myself and my team.
All these years later, and having led several teams, I have learned so many more lessons to go along with that first difficult one. I thought I would share some keys to leadership success that I have discovered in an effort to help you understand that we are not alone in making leadership mistakes nor are we defined by them. We can move ahead and experience success once again. I have learned that the most impactful keys to leadership success include self-reflection, a willingness to learn, humility, solid mentors, and for me, prayer.
When a successful leader makes a mistake, she owns it. She does not seek to assign blame, rather she seeks understanding. How did the mistake happen? What can be learned from the mistake? What steps need to be taken to remedy the mistake? How do those impacted by the mistake feel and how can she make it right? How does she avoid repeating the mistake?
If someone on the leader’s team makes a mistake, the successful leader walks alongside that employee asking the same questions as above and helps that employee recover. She does not make the employee’s mistake a part of the employee’s future but allows the mistake to slip away into the past after gleaning all the best lessons from it as they begin repairing or rebuilding the employee’s reputation. It is important to note here that there are some mistakes that cannot be overcome. A wise leader will seek counsel in a situation like this and exhaust every opportunity to salvage her reputation or that of her employee, however, in some cases, the best decision is for the leader or the employee (or both) to move on.
When a successful leader makes a mistake, she is not prideful or arrogant. She willingly accepts responsibility for her mistake and seeks to make things right. That is not to say that she becomes a doormat. Mistakes serve to remind the successful leader that she has not arrived at some pinnacle of perfection but that she still has work to do. The successful leader knows that she should always be growing, learning and aspiring to add value to others.
There are times when a successful leader must accept the responsibility for the mistake of a member of her team. This can be a real challenge for me because I think to myself, “Well, if he had just done things my way, this would not have happened.” But here is the thing, if I do not allow my teammates to make mistakes, how will they learn? I cannot possibly control every step of each teammate. I delegate the work and make sure everyone understands the task. I do my best to remember to communicate my expectation. (Remember, uncommunicated expectations will never be met.) Then I get out of the way.
A successful leader is ready for mistakes and is willing to let them happen. And when they do, that successful leader stands beside their employee coaching, redirecting and cheering him on to the next thing. A successful leader does not beat up the employee or assign blame. She looks first to herself to evaluate what part, if any, she played in the employee’s mistake. Together, with her teammate, they move forward.
For me to be a successful leader, I pray. I pray for myself, each member of my team, and the company for which I work. I pray that pride will not hinder me. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride can be ugly and career limiting.
I also pray that others will see Jesus in me. In and of myself, I am not great or strong or even successful. Without Jesus, I am not good for anything. In Matthew 5:12 Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Now friends, I can be salty, but that is a different kind of salt. What I see in this passage is Jesus reminding me that I need to stay close to Him so that others will see Him in me. It also reminds me that if I lose effectiveness as a leader, I am no good to my team.
In closing, for me to be the most successful leader I can possibly be, I must remember that I will not always get it right, nor will my team. I must remember to embrace my mistakes but not use them to define me. Also, I must not hold the mistakes of my teammates against them but help them learn and grow through those times. Self-reflection, learning, humility, mentors and prayer are keys to any success I might experience. There are so many more I could share but I feel these few are vital. I hope today’s post encourages you to live life abundantly as you walk through the days and weeks ahead. Most importantly, I pray that you stay close to Jesus, the most successful leader ever. And if you do not know who Jesus is, or if you want to learn more about Him, let me know. I will tell you all about Him and how you can come to know Him too.