How to Leverage the Power of LEADER'S MATH to Multiply Results

The first act of leadership is obvious. To obtain followers. The second act of leadership pays the biggest dividends. To develop leaders. Any leader that develops leaders makes the shift from follower’s math to leader’s math. 

Here’s how it works.

Leaders who just develop followers grow their organization or department one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiply their growth, because for every leader they develop, they also receive all that leader’s followers. Add ten followers to the organization and you have the power of ten people. Add ten leaders to the team and you have the power of ten leaders times all the followers and leaders they influence.

That’s the difference between addition and multiplication

LEADERS WHO DEVELOP FOLLOWERS ADD ONE AT A TIME

LEADERS WHO DEVELOP LEADERS MULTIPLY THEIR GROWTH

Leaders Who Develop Leaders Look For the Gold

Successful leaders all have one thing in common. They know that acquiring, developing and keeping good people is a leader’s most important task.

An organization cannot increase its productivity—but people can! The “asset “ that truly appreciates within any company is people. Systems become dated. Buildings deteriorate. Equipment wears. But people can grow, develop, and become more effective if they have a leader who understands their potential value.

The bottom line is that you can’t do it alone. If you want to be a successful leader, you must develop other leaders around you. You must establish a team. You must find a way to get your vision seen, implemented, and contributed to by others. Developing leaders is a process and will require a time commitment on your part and the on the part of those you are developing. When you calculate your investment of time with leader's math you’ll see how leadership development pays off.

It takes a leader with vision to see the future leader within the person. Michelangelo, when questioned about his masterpiece David, answered that the sculpture had always existed within the stone. He had simply chiseled the rock around it. Leaders must have the same kind of vision when viewing potential leaders. Some of the qualities to look for in a person include the following: positiveness,  hunger to grow , follow-through, resiliency, integrity, discipline, humor, “big picture” mindset, dependability, work ethic, teachability and gratitude.

There is something much more important and scarce than leadership talent: It’s the ability to recognize leadership talent. One of the primary responsibilities of a successful leader is to identify potential leaders.

Andrew Carnegie was a master at identifying potential leaders. Once asked by a reporter how he had managed to hire forty-three millionaires, Carnegie responded that his leaders had not been millionaires when he hired them. They had become millionaires as a result. The reporter wanted to know how he had developed these men into valuable leaders. Carnegie replied, “People are developed the way gold is mined. Several tons of dirt must be moved to get to an ounce of gold. But you don’t go into the mine looking for the dirt,” he added. “You go in looking for the gold.”

Anyone can see people as they are. It takes a leader to see what they can become, encourage them to grow in that direction, and believe they will do it.

Check out our related post: 

The Pygmalion Effect: Sooner of Later Leaders Get What They Expect

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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