Each leader has a primary lens they view their organization through. The primary lens is buried deep within each of us. For some, the primary lens is that of self. The job of leading becomes something that is about protecting the self, boosting the self, soothing the self. Leadership becomes a way to feel better about our station in the world. We use it to become (or remain) significant and important. These people leave wreckage in their wake. For others, the lens we view our organizations through is the mission. These people look at the organization and weigh their behaviors as to how effectively they can push the vision and the mission forward. The self gets put behind the team. These people leave success in their wake. I submit that the only way organizations can win the future of work is by having leaders who are looking through the lens of mission.
With your teams, don’t get out of the way, do this instead
"Get out of the way!" I often hear some version of this sentiment when talking about building a culture to incentivize high performance teams. "You have to find the right people, equip them, and then get out of the way." People who talk about getting out of the way...