How do you drive for results?

How do you drive for results?

For those following A Cause Greater’s recent blog series on developing your personalized leadership development plan, thank you for engaging in this conversation. Not only has it been one of our most well-read blog series, it’s also one of our deepest dives into your leadership development that we’ve ever taken.

Of all of the business skills needed in today’s marketplace, how you drive for results has many people perplexed. I grew up in an era when Gordon Gekko proclaimed that greed is good and Alex P. Keaton taught us to always wear a suit even around the house. Not exactly the best role models.

I much prefer Ed and Peter Schein’s concept of Humble Leadership, Tricia Hershey’s writings on Rest is Resistance, and Parker Palmer’s reflections in his book Let Your Life Speak to impact my leadership. Each of these authors have much more to offer than Hollywood ever could.

As you develop your leadership plan and consider your approach to driving for results, it can be helpful to consider naming and writing down your leadership philosophy. A leadership philosophy sounds complicated and something only certain kinds of leaders would consider developing.

I’m here to tell you that you already have a leadership philosophy and that you use that philosophy every day.

Your leadership philosophy impacts how you drive for results. I’ve boiled my leadership philosophy down to five important concepts…what I call my Oak Trees. As a leader, I value:

· Caring for those around me

· Listening deeply to others

· Being and doing things together

· Being transparent in my leadership

· Building momentum collectively around a shared purpose

This leadership philosophy impacts how I drive for results. I can’t act like it don’t.

In Ginger Lapid-Bodga’s book, What Type of Leader Are You?,  she names six important components in developing your skills in driving for results¹. These skills are:

1. Setting overall direction and establishing common goals

2. Creating workable plans

3. Assigning tasks effectively

4. Expecting, measuring, and rewarding high performance

5. Providing ongoing stewardship

6. Evaluating results and utilizing what you learn from the evaluation

As you consider these six components that build your skills in driving for results, which one gives you the most challenge? Which one would you erase if you could?

When we reflect in this way, we create moments that provide visibility into our growth and development as leaders. These moments are precious and essential because they create space to learn.

Mind how you go,

Lon

Lon L. Swartzentruber

Design Group International
Managing Partner & CEO

PS: If you would like to talk with me about your leadership journey, please give me a call me at 616.516.9870, or schedule a 30-minute discovery call , or simply email me at lons@designgroupintl.com.

¹ What Type of Leader Are You? Ginger Lapid-Bodga, McGraw-Hill, page 35

PSS: See the below image that recaps our leadership journey thus far:

If you wanted to go deeper, please read:

A New Way to Think, by Roger Martin

Infinite Game, by Simon Sinek