I always thought that in order to be an amazing leader and a successful entrepreneur, you have to be driven, ambitious, extremely creative, and charismatic. While some of that might be true and can definitely help…I am now convinced that great leadership and entrepreneurship rely on a very different set of skills:

People skills.

That’s the takeaway we’ve learned over and over as we listen to the best business leaders: Leadership is no longer about you – it’s about serving someone else. It’s not about how great you are or how well you get the job done. You are now measured by how great your team is and how well they are thriving and doing the work. 

So let’s get practical. If you want to be a great leader in your organization, your title needs to change. From now on, think of yourself as:

Chief Goal Officer. 

Instead of pushing to be that charismatic, driven, creative person who’s trying to get everyone on board your mission, think about THEIR mission. How can you help the people you work with find the best path for THEM, for what THEY want to accomplish?

The worst advice you can give someone is what YOU would do, not what they should do. You’re not them. The thing that works for you might now work for everyone. In fact, it could actually screw them up really badly. 

So what does it mean to step into a new role as Chief Goal Officer? Here are three key elements:

• ONE WORD. It starts by getting to know your people – how are they wired? I’m not saying you’re going to understand everything about them, but start with this: What is their One Word? What is the core value that drives them?

• FIND THEIR AMBITION, If you know what’s motivating them, from there you can look to the future. What is the dream that they’re pursuing down the road? How can you help them get there?

• RUN A PARALLEL PATH. How can you connect their current work to the goal ahead? Make that path visible for them, and be a stepping stone toward their success. So many of us operate like we’re afraid to lose people when we should actually be celebrating – if we do this right, we get to be part of seeing a lot of dreams become reality.

As we wrap up, I would love to hear about what you think great leadership is. 

• Who’s a great leader in your life? 
• What skills do they possess?
• Why does that make you thrive in what you do? 

Please share your thoughts with me and let’s keep learning together!

Related posts:

Does Your Team Know Where You Are Going? How To Write Your Vision Script But Why? How NOT to Write Your Mission Statement