The Footnotes Blog

Photo belongs to James R. Howard

Leaders are not specialists. They are not experts.  Good leaders know there are smarter people than themselves out there in the world, and the key to being a good leader is being able to identify who the real experts are. Where leaders excel is in their ability to motivate these experts to work with them on the leader’s team. The phrase “jack of all trades, but master of none,” is frequently used as a pejorative, but a good leader should have enough functional knowledge of relevant topics and disciplines to know what they don’t know, and when it’s time to find a knowledgeable authority.

Photo belongs to James R. Howard

A good leader’s job is to effectively manage teams or groups of people towards a common goal, but this goal is threatened by leaders who don’t know when it’s time to let go of the reigns and let someone else take the lead. Being an overbearing boss, or a helicopter parent could threaten the morale of your team or bring about frustration from an anxious teenager.

Photo belongs to James R. Howard

Being unable to let others take the lead, when necessary, robs good leaders of another critical skill, namely flexibility. Leaders will often find themselves sorting out roadblocks or problems brought forward to them by other members of their team or organization, so they need to be able to adapt quickly when problems arise or deadlines approach. That’s why I’ve been saying it’s important to have a team that trusts each other; you can’t let go of responsibilities if you feel like your team isn’t going to get the work done right the first time. Once you have members of the team you can trust responsibilities to, good leaders know they have the flexibility to address higher order tasks and objectives necessary for the team or organization to achieve their goals.

Photo belongs to James R. Howard

If you find yourself in a situation as a leader and you can’t trust your team to take greater responsibilities over time, you have a serious problem. From the start, you will be spending more time making sure your team members stay on track with their activities, and you might find yourself intervening more often in their work. You might find yourself having to clarify expectations frequently or that you have great difficulty in communicating effectively with your team. Spending more time on their responsibilities means less time spent on yours. Check out my previous post where I talk about the importance of building trust.

Photo belongs to James R. Howard