Do you think yelling and screaming at your star player is really going to get him to perform at a higher level? And yet that is what elite NBA coaches do all the time. This type of leadership is low-level at best. Trying to get a team to accomplish a mission with force, guilt, or obligation is going to yield little to no returns. And what about being too nice? That doesn’t work as a leader either. You’ll get eaten alive when trying to “nicely” lead a team when the pace is fast, the outcome is unclear, and the stake are high.
So how do you lead a high performing team when you’re promoted into a new position, launching a new product, or simply find yourself married with children and needing to be a great leader at home? To lead from a position of effortless strength requires three things:
Create team “enrollment”. By enrollment, I mean that you inspire your team to achieve their goals because they see the benefit for themselves. You cannot get a team excited to do anything if the end result won’t clearly benefit them. And if you try to lead by force, guilt, obligation, or duty, your results will be mediocre at best.
Be relatable. The best executives I’ve worked for and with were incredibly easy to relate to. You actually enjoy working for and being with them. You want to follow and spend time learning from them. Communication with leaders that are relatable is easy and effortless.
Embody the Japanese concept of Mushin — no mind. Do not let fear and ego dominate you or your team. Be firm and fair. Practicing Mushincreates clarity and decisiveness — brings about the ability to see the right path forward no matter what.
If you practice these three steps, I promise you will start leading with effortless strength and achieving results with velocity, ease, and efficiency.
So what do you do to lead effortlessly? Share your “best practices” by posting a comment below or tweeting me @mpveltri. And if you need help building true enrollment with your team, being relatable, or practicing the Mushin Way, also post below or tweet me your question — I promise to get back to you!