November 2023CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8CIO InsightsCXO InsightsIn My Viewo you have a vision of the kind of leader you want to be? Have you considered that having such a vision might be what's holding you back from being a great leader?Dwhen someone quite quits because their side gig starts making them more money than you pay them.Are you ready for all these situations? Or is the hard truth that you are only ready for the situations that align with the kind of leader you want to be? Think back on your career... Was there a situation that didn't go well for you? Ask yourself this question: Were you using your default leadership style in a situation, and it didn't work? Were you trying to impart know-how to an experienced pro that turned out to know more than you? Were you trusting a newbie that was not confident in the role? What do all these situations have in common? The hard truth is that all these are failures of leadership, not the individual contributor.As leaders, we don't reflect often enough on this question: How many times are we the problem? We like to think we are setting our teams up to succeed, but how many times do we unknowingly set them up to fail? Let's suppose you have a younger staff member struggling to make successful changes to the app. What would a leader do vs. what would a great leader do?A leader responds with their default style. If they see themselves as the guardian of high standards, they might respond with a new KPI about change success rate that everyone What Is Great Leadership?JAY GARING, MANAGER, IES CLOUD ENGINEERING, WHOLE FOODS MARKETWhat does greatness even mean in the realm of leadership? Is it about bending other people to your will? Is it about inspiring people? Is it about trust? How about showing people the right way to get it done? What about holding people accountable to high standards? Do great leaders demand outcomes that they know will be tough to achieve?The truth is that it's all of these things, including the ones that make you uncomfortable. In fact, greatness in leadership is especially about the ones that make you uncomfortable. If you think leaders should exude competence and know-how, there will come a point where you end up in charge of something you don't understand. If your vision is to rally top achievers, you'll have a cynic that doesn't respond to inspirational rhetoric and doesn't come around like they do in the movies after a leadership montage. Do you trust your staff to handle the details? There will come a time Jay Garing
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