“Vested Interest… “

 

Shared by Kristina Smedley

I received an email from a colleague the other day that first made me proud and then really made me think.

He said:

“I was thinking about Managerial traits and how I hope to be if I am ever in a Management position. The vested interest you show for everyone (not just your employees) in both career and personal development is something I really do aspire to. It is a rare quality in leadership and coming from someone who has directly benefited from this trait of yours, I can’t tell you how appreciative I am; as I’m sure others are as well. Just wanted to say thank you and Happy Friday!”  

To be honest, I think I’m actually a fairly poor “manager” by corporate America’s standards.

I despise keeping tabs on my teammates, don’t like reviewing weekly files, providing weekly updates, or attending weekly meetings.

I should probably put all of this on my own development plan. 

Leadership, however, is a different story.

Having a vested interest in those who choose to follow, is a visible behavior of the Mindfluent^® Leader. Passionately Serving others is one of the Mindfluent^® Leader’s deeply held internal values. And Fiercely Optimistic, in the face of challenges and setbacks, is a key characteristic.

Serving others requires me to have their best interests at heart. Sometimes, this is not what people what to see or hear.

It means setting high expectations and then listening and allowing others to find their own solutions. To allow a great deal of freedom, but also candid conversations when needed.

There’s no ‘easy answer’ or ‘I’ll show you the way’ or ‘here, just do this.’

This makes it difficult for teammates to know exactly what they should do. Or what ‘I want them to do’. I just want them to figure it out.

It forces experimentation. Failure. But also personal and team success.

I hate hearing excuses or blame games.
These conversations end quickly or are turned around.
So, I’m not that fun to vent to.

Then, there’s the optimism. Wow, that really annoys people sometimes!

Life can be hard for all of us… and harder or easier based on how we look at things.
Again, constant negativity, complaining, and showing up as a victim doesn’t cut it with me.

I know these are keys to outstanding leadership.
I expect this out of myself, out of my team (who are also great leaders on many projects throughout our company), and of other leaders.

If I need to push back in meetings; I will.
If we are treating employees like machines; I’ll fight it.
I get my hands in “too many things” and I have an opinion at work when it comes to how we all lead.

Other “leaders” (but I would just call them managers) don’t like this.
They don’t like that I disagree with them or challenge their old school ways.

They don’t like when I challenge their constant monitoring and oversight, requiring strict adherence to policies such as only working from the office (even on the weekend!), getting multiple levels of approval on basic outputs, having everything reviewed by them, or knowledge workers being required to meet a daily productivity metric.

To name just a few.

In their eyes, I’m the bad manager. And maybe, by definition, that’s true.
But growing as a Mindfluent^® Leader has proven to be successful and is frequently confirmed, such as in the email quoted above.

I care deeply about unlocking the potential of others and of myself – in that order.
To do this on a broad scale, leadership styles must change.

And I know that our Mindfluent^® Leader journey is key to this success.

And so I’ll continue… my vested interest in my teammates’ potential, in my own personal development, and in spreading Mindfluent^® Leadership.

 

#FiercelyOptimistic

#PassionatelyServing

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