A True Leader surrounds himself with…Leaders!

Un des atouts d’un bon leader est savoir s’entourer de gens de qualité et cet aspect est souvent très sous-estimé. Lorsque les choses tournent mal ou ne vont pas comme on l’aurait souhaité, la plupart pose le blame sur le dirigeant, le leader. Le leader est la tête principale derrière toute organisation et est certainement responsable mais attention ; la cause de l’échec peut être surprenante.

Personne (ou très rarement) ne peut accomplir de grands exploits par soi-même. C’est avec l’aide de plusieurs personnes, communément appelé dans le monde du sport - une équipe, que de grandes choses naissent et connaissent du succès. S’avoir bien s’entourer est souvent où les grands leaders se différencient des dirigeants plus faibles. D’une part, les leaders confiants attireront naturellement plus de candidats prêts à les suivre puisqu’ils possèdent le charisme nécessaire pour convaincre même les plus incertains. D'autre part, ils chercheront et accueilleront les candidats supérieurs de caractère fort à bras ouverts. De plus, ils leur confieront des tâches importantes au sein de l’équipe. Cette confiance dans leurs membres de soutien leur sera retournée exponentiellement et saura créer une culture de haute qualité. Par conséquent, l’organisation prospérera et se développera plus rapidement. Bref, un leader sérieux sait que la confiance et la responsabilisation sont des ingrédients clés de la culture gagnante de toute équipe qui cherche à connaitre du succès à long terme.

On the other hand, weaker leaders will have more difficulty convincing people to follow them. It’s a fact that human beings tend not to follow people they don’t trust. Also, less confident leaders push away strong-minded people. They usually say that they don’t “need” them, or that “they can take care of it themselves”. While from the outside, this can look like strong leadership, it’s quite the contrary. Weaker leaders are usually uncomfortable around strong-willed people, they don’t like to have them in their surroundings. Either because they’re intimidated by them or because they are literally scared to lose their position to them or to a lesser extent their authority. By pushing away strong people, they usually create a very low-key and quiet support team that has little or no drive to think outside the box and therefore, push the organization upwards. Although this creates an easier and more comfortable environment for the leader, nobody is striving for greatness, or challenging others. They just end up doing what they’re told, nothing more, nothing less. In this kind of “comfortable” culture, speaking up is discouraged or frowned upon, removing the all-so-important empowerment factor from the equation. This lack of empowerment typically erodes trust and renders success almost impossible.

 In Daniel Coyle’s book “The Culture Code – The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups”, Mr. Coyle visited several organizations recognized for their good culture (San Antonio Spurs, Navy SEALS, Pixar, etc.). He concluded that a quality culture is something that is not “inherited” but something that needs to be worked on every day. He also found out that to achieve a healthy and productive group dynamic, you must create a comfortable environment, a “safe zone” in which everyone is comfortable sharing their thoughts. What struck me the most about this book is how important good culture is to success, it’s huge. If any group wants to be successful, it must have a good culture and clearly, this starts with the leader. The leader is responsible for creating an environment where trust and empowerment are at the core, and even if a member doesn’t agree with the leader, he will feel comfortable speaking up knowing he will be listened to and considered. Alternatively, without this type of culture, members will internalize and individualize their goals, making it very hard for the team to succeed.

In short, a strong leader will surround himself with quality, strong-willed people whom he will not only listen to but encourage to challenge him. It’s during these regular, sometimes uncomfortable, challenges that breakthroughs often occur, not in a comfort zone where everyone does what they’re told. Be bold, be confident, be a leader!