Compounding leadership III

Most leaders create value by solving today’s problems.  Compounding leaders create value by leaving behind capability that continues creating value after they’ve moved on.
     
𝗔 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸. If leadership compounds…𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻? It rarely happens by accident.
 
At MuleSoft, our CEO often talked about 𝗽𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀.

Whenever you solved a problem, you also looked for the opportunity to improve the process, document the learning, build the playbook or simplify the system.

The next person travelled faster because someone had taken the time to pave the road.

I’ve noticed two habits that consistently create this effect.
     
𝟭. 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺.

My coach always used to say "𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳".  Making improvements and fixing today’s issue matters.  But before moving on, ask: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯?”

Then improve the process.  Capture the learning.

Make the next occurrence easier to solve - or prevent it altogether.

𝟮. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀.

Processes matter.  Systems matter.  Playbooks matter.
But none of them improve themselves.

Every coaching conversation,
every delegated decision,
every opportunity for someone to exercise judgement
....𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.

That capability doesn’t disappear when the leader moves on.

It stays behind - and continues creating value.

Perhaps that’s the biggest difference between consulting and coaching.

Consulting often leaves behind a better process.
Coaching leaves behind better judgement.

The strongest leaders do both.

They improve the system while increasing the capability of the people who run it.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀.

Not by creating dependency.

By creating capability.