Leadership Strategies: Setting Your Team Up for Success and Achieving Results

It’s “LIVE2LEAD Season!” Between October 1, 2024, and February 28, 2025, I’m sharing a PREMIER leadership tool that will inspire, encourage, and challenge YOU to be a better leader.

Honing in on LEADERSHIP

In this four-part series, we’re focusing on the core aspects of leadership:

1. ROLE: Understanding Your Role As A Leader
2. RESPONSIBILITY: Communication Basics: The #1 Responsibility of a Leader?
3. RESULTS: Setting You and Your Team Up to Succeed
4. REASON: Leadership Legacy - What Are You Building or Leaving Behind? Intentional Growth

Welcome to the third installment of our leadership series! We’re diving deep into the essential principles that can truly set you and your team up for success. If you’ve been following along, you know that this four-part series explores various facets of leadership, drawing insights from John C. Maxwell’s influential book, Developing The Leader Within You 2.0.

Before we jump in, let’s take a moment to reflect on the definition of influence. James C. George succinctly describes leadership as "the ability to obtain followers." Everyone has the capacity to influence, whether they realize it or not. The best investment you can make today is in intentionally developing your influence for tomorrow.

The Five Levels of Leadership

As we navigate this journey, it’s important to consider where you fit within the five levels of leadership:

1. Position: People follow you because they have to.
2. Permission: They follow you because they want to.
3. Production: They follow you because of what you’ve accomplished for the organization.
4. People Development: They follow you because of what you’ve done for them personally.
5. Pinnacle: They follow you because of who you are and what you represent.

Reflect on your position on this scale. What motivates you to lead?

Today’s Focus: Setting Your Team Up for Success

Achieving desired results should be at the forefront of your leadership approach. In this post, we will highlight three key principles that will empower you to set both yourself and your team up for success.

Embrace Problem Solving

When I started a new position back in 2015, I received a call from one of my new supervisors who expressed her excitement about my arrival, exclaiming, “Andrea is a GET IT DONE problem solver!” This moment reinforced my belief in the importance of problem-solving as a cornerstone of effective leadership.

Life is filled with challenges, and as a leader, it’s crucial to view these challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles. Each problem you encounter offers a chance to learn and grow. Here’s how embracing problem-solving can positively impact your leadership journey:

• Self-Discovery: Challenges reveal your strengths and weaknesses, helping you understand yourself better.
• Team Connection: Tackling problems keeps you connected with your team, fostering collaboration.
• Cultivating Patience: The process of problem-solving encourages patience and pragmatism.
• Mental Agility: The ability to adapt and find solutions strengthens your leadership skills.
• Impact Awareness: Problems showcase how your actions influence outcomes.

As Michael Jr. reminds us during LIVE2LEAD, we can view challenges as punchlines to our success stories. When we embrace intentional optimism, we believe in a brighter future while acknowledging the hurdles along the way.

Serve Your Team

Eugene Habecker beautifully stated, “The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests.” The most revered leaders throughout history, like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, embodied this principle. To enhance your service as a leader, ask yourself:

• What can I do to help others succeed?
• What needs do my team members have that they might not voice?
• How can I improve my ability to serve?
• How will I know if my service is effective?

Respect and recognizing the unique gifts of each team member play a vital role in effective leadership. Serving others purifies your motives and inspires those around you.

Cultivate a Strong Vision

Without a clear vision, your team may struggle to maintain focus and meet deadlines. A strong vision offers significance, motivation, and inspiration. To foster this vision, consider these aspects:

• Do you have a personal vision statement that resonates with you?
• How can you play a role in developing or sharing the team’s vision?

Your vision should be deeply personal; when it aligns with your Core Values, you’ll be more motivated to pursue it passionately. Understanding your Core Values is essential. Avoid imitating others; instead, define your principles to foster sustainable leadership.

Conclusion

In summary, the three principles essential for setting you and your team up for success are:

• Problem Solving: Gain leadership by addressing challenges head-on.
• Service: Build genuine relationships and support your team’s growth.
• Vision: Own your vision to motivate and inspire those around you.

These principles illuminate your motivations for leadership and encourage you to embrace them fully.

As we approach the LIVE2LEAD season, I want to remind you that the upcoming L2L Charlottesville event on Friday, October 18th, will dive deeper into these topics, providing invaluable insights for leaders like you.

The world is in need of more curious, welcoming, and wise leaders—those who understand their core values and lead with integrity. When you embody your unique values, you inspire others to do the same, fostering diversity and authentic leadership across generations.

Up Next…

In our final installment of the leadership series, we’ll discuss the importance of leadership legacy and what you are building or leaving behind. Join me as we explore how serving others and teaching them to serve can create a lasting impact.

I can’t wait to share it with you!

If you are local to Central Virginia—especially the greater Charlottesville area—you can take part in a full-day, live, in-person L2L conference in Charlottesville on Friday, October 18, 2024. Keep an eye on my socials and my website, as we’re looking at up to two more live, in-person events in Central Virginia before the end of February. 

If you’re not local or won’t be able to attend in person, you can still access this amazing content through LeaderPass. What is it? You’ll get 5 days of virtual on-demand access to LIVE2LEAD 2024. This features the speakers you’ll hear at LIVE2LEAD Charlottesville, including Michael Jr., Chris Robinson, Brandon Dawson, and many more! Plus, you can access PAST speakers like Marcus Buckingham, Ryan Leak, Ed Mylett, and Tim Elmore (who I mentioned in my podcast episode Leading Across Generations; that link is in the show notes as well, and this is SUCH an amazing value).

👉L2L Charlottesville: https://www.theintentionaloptimist.com/L2L2024registration
👉LeaderPass:  https://leaderpass.com/pass/live2lead/host?ref=RHYBTBBY