I was driving down Brown Road in Southern Maryland on my way home in late October. It is a very curvy road lined with trees that seem as tall as the sky and, today, I was so encouraged by the beauty of all the fall colors. Something was different though. I couldn’t stop thinking about how easy it was now to see each tree in an amongst the others because each one was so uniquely colored. I could see each one’s shape and their size; each leaf and could now imagine where all of their branches were. Why couldn’t I see those individual trees before? I realized it was because before all I could see was green. Just a whole lot of green.
When I got home I pulled up this picture from Lake Solitude in New Hampshire and realized this is what I was used to seeing. The trees used to be all green and they just blended together like in the picture. They just became one big mass outlining a mountainside. I lost the perception that each one of those trees was an individual tree; one that is uniquely different than another. It made me think of those people we lead. How the whole team, like the mountainside, takes on an overall shape, but if we could see the different colors of each individual or tree (see the picture near the title of this blog) then we would lead each individual differently.
I think this is how we, as leaders, become as we lead people each day. It sometimes can get monotonous. So much so that we begin to see people as all the same when we should really be seeing them as unique individuals; as if each are a different individual person in a forest of trees.
But how do we lead each one individually and as a team? I believe we have to lead the team by giving them the mission and continually communicating the vision of what it looks like to accomplish the goal. Individually, I believe there are 3 Leadership Take-aways that we can use to reflect and act on to lead each individual uniquely.
““Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.””
INSPIRE THEM: We need to help them see who they could be and then help them reach that goal. Theodore Roosevelt said that you should “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you will help them become what they are capable of becoming.” I think this is exactly right. So many people just see themselves as a green tree in the middle of a massive forest. We, as leaders, need to help them see that they are an individual tree. The same in many ways to others, but in so many ways different.
EMPOWER THEM: We need to develop them as individuals. To do this I believe we need to delegate work to them so that they learn from experience.
CHALLENGE THEM: Finally, we need to encourage them in the areas of their strengths and also provide them honest constructive feedback. Please believe me when I say this, we need to give six or more encouraging words with every one challenging one. Let me say that again; 6:1 encouraging to challenging. Be positive, but authentic.
I would encourage you to take time to write down the names of those people that you lead. Make some notes on where you see them in 5 years; their future vision. Write down what their strengths and weaknesses are. Figure out how you can delegate work to them so that they continue to grow toward that future vision. Plan time with each one regularly to get to know them more authentically, to discuss their dreams and see how it marries up with your vision that you saw. Then finally, give them some feedback to help them grow into that vision. I think the more we lead each of them uniquely and well, the more they will grow to become the most colorful tree on the whole mountainside.
