A Reflection on 5 Things A Leader Should Give Their Team

Today on the podcast, Brian Schubring and I are discussing an article we both read before the COVID-19 pandemic called, 5 Things Every Leader Should Give Their Team in 2020, by Mike Myatt. Brian found this article in the RealLeaders magazine while at an airport. It’s both timely and practical. The five things are both incredibly simple, and also hard to implement.

In this episode, Brian and I will summarize each point, then offer our take on them through a Strengths-Based Lens. Brian and I have these conversations A LOT. One of us will read a book or article, hear something on a podcast, NPR, or watch a TED Talk, dissect it, and put our own take on it. This time, we decided to record it. After you read the article and listen to our take, we’d love to hear yours! Drop us a line here or comment below.

The Five Things Summary

The introduction to the article says this,

The tone from the top matters, and the beginning of a New Year presents an excellent opportunity for CEOs to reexamine how they’ll lead going forward. With 2020 now a reality, chief executives can choose to usher in more of the same, or they can use the changing calendar to reimagine, reinvent, and reshape their culture. I’ve always believed the most valuable gift a CEO can give their team is the ability to make a meaningful impact on culture. The following are five things any chief executive can and should do for their team in 2020.

Mike Myatt

I always say that sometimes we need to be reminded more often than we need to be taught. Meaning, most of us know what we need to do when it comes to matters of leadership. We’ve all heard the lessons, read the books, and probably have a good sense for implementing best practices. But, when it comes to actually do those things we forget, get busy, or can’t figure out how to do it in a way that makes sense.

1. Focus on Leadership Ubiquity

The dictionary defines ubiquity as, “the fact of appearing everywhere or of being very common.” This is basically what Myatt means; he says everyone can lead. “Leadership isn’t, or at least shouldn’t be, a scarce commodity.”

Leadership Vision was founded on the idea that everyone is a leader and everyone has influence. It may be within a particular context or in certain relationships, but when anyone is influencing someone else, we believe that they are in that place of leadership.

2. Make a Co-Investment

This one is about a leader or an organization’s ability to reinvest into their people and into their teams.

Making a co-investment is a way to demonstrate trust in your people. You trust their intuition. You trust their wisdom. You trust when they express what they need. It is also a way to promote innovation because oftentimes people will make a request of leadership because they have run out of resources or they need to gain something else to achieve their expertise. It also gives a team leader the opportunity to affirm alignment. Leaders often reinvest in things that align with an overall vision or objective.

3. White Space

“Have you noticed how some leaders are frenzied stressed and always playing from behind?” I know I have! This one is about creating margin in your life.

This one really hit home for both Brian and I. As leaders, how do we personally create some white space in our lives and for those people we are leading? The article suggests using Mondays as a day for no meetings to get caught up.

4. The Gift of Great Talent

Myatt here writes, “CEOs either create a talent advantage or they operate at a talent deficit. I’ve always believed that leaders deserve the teams they build, and I’ve yet to be convinced otherwise.” We believe much the same.

There are many leaders who fall into the trap of trying to find digital solutions to talent problems. If communication is bad, getting the next greatest team messaging platform isn’t going to fix it if the team doesn’t know how to communicate with one another. “Stop putting the focus on technology and put it where it belongs: on talent and relationships.”

5. Read, Read, and Read

This one is so obviously important, it’s almost silly to mention it. However, how many of us are not reading on a regular basis? Reading inside and outside of our specific areas of focus and discipline. Reading journal articles, magazines, etc.

We would even extend it beyond reading just to expand our capacities. We really need to be consuming all sorts of information in various forms of media if we want to truly help ourselves and our people grow.