Some executives think that leadership is only about momentum and results. The best leaders, however, do more than move us forward. They also help us rise above who we are so that we can move closer to the person we can become. The best leaders lift us up. They elevate our standards, ethics, and performance by creating opportunities for personal transformation.
Human growth and development require constantly advancing from who you are to who you want to become. In order to do that, you first must discover who you truly are, and this is a big challenge for most people. Without knowing who you are, how can you ever know what to transform about yourself? Open-door leaders promote personal transformation by helping us know ourselves better, by holding us accountable to our own potential, and sometimes, by hitting us upside the head with the left hook of reality. The most powerful means of promoting personal transformation, though, is through the examples they set for us as role models.
Role Modeling Personal Transformation
There is no more powerful influence on the culture of a workplace than the behavior of its leaders. Leaders set the behavioral tone of the organization, so it’s important that they keep evolving and growing. This means purposefully doing things that are uncomfortable that create opportunities for their own development. It’s much easier to follow people who embody the values they are asking us to live up to. Sometimes opening the door for transformation is simply a matter of pointing a person in the direction of their potential and holding steady until they reach it.
Could You Be a Velvet Hammer?
One of the most effective ways to increase the likelihood of a personal transformation in others is to give straightforward feedback. Open-door leaders give us the kind of feedback that takes courage to deliver and even more courage to hear, and personal transformation is almost impossible without it.
Some people pride themselves on being brutally honest. But brutality almost always puts up people’s defenses. The open-door leader provides feedback in a way that gets through to people so they can put the feedback to work and transform their behavior. The balance is one of assertiveness and diplomacy. Before delivering tough feedback, be thoughtful about what you want to say. Make sure it is absorbable and digestible so that your words will be met with reception and not defensiveness. Being a velvet hammer is not about making them feel ashamed of themselves or afraid of you. The point is to communicate assertively and respectably so that the other person benefits from the feedback. Deliver your honesty without brutality.
How a Follower Made Me a Leader
Very few people have the courage to give their boss upward feedback. Respecting authority is one of our earliest lessons. So, when faced with an abhorrent boss, most people bite their tongue, which only further enables the abhorrent behavior.
Open-Door Leaders Move Us Toward Self-Transformation
Socrates advised us to “know thyself.” It is, of course, very good advice, because it is hard to change yourself if you have no idea who you really are. But knowing yourself and transforming yourself based solely on introspection is next to impossible. Open-door leaders serve us best when they help us see ourselves in a different way. By being a good role model, opening the doors to allow us to experience transformation, holding us accountable to our own potential, and giving us direct and diplomatic feedback, open-door leaders help us transform from the person we are to the person we’re capable of becoming.
As a leader, do you lift those around you? Find your place helping others through the journey of personal transformation.
This post is based on an excerpt from Leaders Open Doors.
