Leadership for Unprecedented Results

People want to be productive.

When I work with small business owners and executives, I really try to emphasize this point over and over again because it’s not always obvious (or even believable) from the outset, but it is true.

People want to be useful and productive. When people get their jobs done, they feel more productive, they have a greater sense of self-worth and accomplishment, and they relate to themselves as being more capable. The key to leading people to produce unprecedented results is embracing this basic truth about people, no matter how counterintuitive it may seem.

The reason why this works is because of the way this belief affects the work environment. As leaders, our job is to provide an environment that challenges people with opportunities to be productive and capable, so that they succeed in their jobs and produce results.

If we surrender to the belief that people actually want to be productive and successful, our role as leaders changes from something like getting people to do something they don’t want to do,

to something like…

providing structure and training so people can succeed at what they really want.

This little shift in the way we as leaders go about our jobs makes a giant quantum leap in the quality of the culture, or the work environment, which in turn affects the way people perceive and relate to expectations for productivity and performance.

How does that work exactly? Consider the following…

A) How would you describe or characterize your communication with someone who you believe does not want to do what you want or need them to do?

What are you likely to say to them? What are you likely to expect from them? How do your expectations affect your view of what that person will or will not accomplish?

B) How would you describe or characterize your communication with someone who you believe is personally committed to being wildly successful at their job, no matter what you throw at them?

What are you likely to say them? What are you likely to expect from them? How do your expectations affect your view of what that person will or will not accomplish?

The differences should be pretty obvious. The point is that by embracing the fundamental notion that people desire to be productive, you shift your own perception of what those you lead are capable of producing. This, in turn, influences the conversations you have with them, the quality of leadership you provide, and the expectations you have for their productivity and performance.

All of these changes in the environment create a set of conditions where people can explore their potential and begin to produce unprecedented results.

Possibly related: