Speaker 1 00:00:04 From Roman leadership. I'm Oscar Roman. This is learn, reflect lead leadership and d e development from mission driven individuals and organizations. This is develop others get results.
Speaker 1 00:00:21 When I stepped into my first leadership position, I thought I had to do it all perfectly. I also thought I needed to have all the answers. Developing others wasn't on my radar because I focused on getting the job done. How well do you think that went? It was a disaster. I lost trust with others, wasn't getting results, was overstressed and was overworked. It was enough to make me want to quit my job. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever got to that, that point where, where you just wanted to lead, wanted to give up, and just because you were, I don't know, doing too much? Well, my new manager changed my outlook, right? Everything changed when I got a manager who truly prioritized my development instead of just holding me accountable to tasks. The principal I worked under at the time, Cliff Clain, taught me that the best leaders developed those around them.
Speaker 1 00:01:20 Since then, I have directly managed dozens of individuals and be indirectly responsible for developing hundreds of others or thousands if you include my former students. Cliff used to reference Greg Popovich, longtime head coach at the nba, San Antonio Spurs and is coaching constantly. He pointed out how Coach Pop didn't just develop his players to win games, but rather to win at life. As evidenced by the number of them who have gone on to have successful coaching roles across the nba. I believe a true leader can partially measure their success through their coaching tree. In my direct coaching tree, I'm proud to have played a role in descendants of some of my former direct reports into two current school principals, through district level administrators, three school level administrators, and many others who have continued to excel in their roles. I know through firsthand experience that developing others directly leads to improving student achievement results. If it's so clear then what gets in the way, what do you think gets in, in the way for you?
Speaker 1 00:02:22 You know, there, there are some myths of developing others that I wanna address because a few beliefs can often get in the way of a manager developing their people. The first of all is around time. The myth can be something like, I don't have enough time to develop others. You think you need to dedicate too much time or time that you might otherwise be spending on unnecessary work. The fact is, developing others will save you time by developing other skill sets, you're supporting their growth and teaching them skills that will enable them to take on responsibilities previously on your plate. The next revolves around skill. The myth could be something like, I don't know how to develop others. You don't even know how to start the development process of the people you lead. The fact is that there are countless resources that can help you learn how to develop others. If you like to engage in your learning, there are countless books, podcasts, and courses you can take. You can also hire an outside party with experience that can guide you through it all. The third category revolves around the misalignment and what development looks like. So a myth could sound something like, I know I'm developing others because they're doing their job well. So you, you think they're successful Completion of their work is all the development they need. The fact is that developing others involves more than supporting them in their current work. It's about supporting them for their future job or future project. Great developers of people are constantly thinking about what's next? Not just what is.
Speaker 1 00:03:57 Then we come to greed. So this myth could sound like, if I develop them too well, then I'll lose them. You don't want people to get too good to quit and leave you having to hire and train their replacement. The fact is that developing others will promote loyalty and encourage people to continue working for you. It takes a lot for an employee to leave a manager who's been so invested in their employee's development. When a time comes for an employee to move on, their loyalty might even push them to take it upon themselves to recruit, hire, and train their replacements.
Speaker 1 00:04:29 Then we come to insecurity. This could sound like if I develop them too well then I'm putting my job at risk. You aren't confident enough in your abilities to have a developing high quality staff member working right below you. The fact is that developing others will place you in a spotlight too. A client recently shared with me how certain people in his organization keep getting promoted because they are known to be great developers of people. And lastly, it's not my job. You know, this can sound like it's my job to give results, not develop others. You think it's your sole purpose to focus on the tangible work projects that you oversee. The fact is that these days, the greatest results will come from a well developed team. As an individual employee, you just need to worry about your work. As a manager, you're responsible for much more getting done, but it would be nearly impossible to do it all alone. How do you think you should start this, right? This work to become a developer of people?
Speaker 1 00:05:31 So the way I would start it by first, by building trust, now have three ways you know for you to do that. The first is to be honest and vulnerable with yourself. You need to get clear on what's holding you back from developing others. Is that a mindset issue? A skill issue? Once you know the root cause, you can address it. The second is to know your team's strengths and weaknesses. You can't develop others if you don't know what they're good at and what they're not good at. Just by knowing their strengths and weaknesses, you'll be more vigilant for opportunities where you can give them targeted feedback. And the last one is to know where your team wants to go. A great teacher plans their lesson with the n n mind. What should their students know and be able to do? By the end of the lesson?
Speaker 1 00:06:15 A great leader needs to know where their team wants to end up to help them get there. And then the next thing after building trust is to build skills. You do this by developing yourself first. It'll be challenging to start developing others if you aren't setting yourself up for success and you aren't developing yourself. Today's access to nearly unlimited and many free development tools, such as articles and podcasts, means you have no excuse to skimp on your development. You can learn the basics of coaching the most. Effective coaches constantly provide their direct reports with clear guidance on how to perform opportunities to act independently and give them regular feedback on their performance. And lastly, outsource for development. Even the most outstanding performer can benefit from a great coach. Find people in your organization who might be willing to serve as mentors for yourself and your team.
Speaker 1 00:07:06 You can also contract coaching firms like Romano Leadership to support your work. You know, I wanna close by saying that you don't need to obtain results at the expense of developing your employees. By focusing on your team's development. You'll be happier, your team will be happier, and results will come your way. What's important is that next step. Think about the midst of developing others. Which one gets in the way for you, and which step between building trust and building skills is one that you wanna take on to make sure that you are becoming a great developer of people so that you and your team can get great results. That's it for this episode of Learn, Reflect Lead. Thank you for watching on YouTube or listening via podcast. If you're interested in more, you can find
[email protected] or connect with me on LinkedIn, ABER Romano leadership. If you like this episode, please share it with your friends. Subscribe and leave a review. I'm Oscar Romano. Until next time.
