Land O'Lakes SVP: Leaders should "help people reach their greatest potential" #leadership #career

Key Concepts

• Leadership as a Choice vs. Followership: The core debate presented is whether leadership is simply a decision to be a leader or if it fundamentally relies on cultivating followership.
• Traditional Leadership Model: The speaker's initial belief that a leader's role is to possess all answers and be consistently correct.
• Modern Leadership Model: The evolved understanding of leadership as fostering followership, enabling individual potential, supporting ideas, and removing obstacles.
• 360-Degree Feedback: A performance appraisal method where feedback is gathered from multiple sources, including peers, subordinates, and supervisors.

The Nature of Leadership: Choice vs. Followership

The transcript presents a pivotal moment in the speaker's career development. While participating in a high-potential leadership development program, the speaker was asked by an instructor, "What makes a leader?" The speaker's immediate and conviction-filled response was, "You choose to be one. You decide to be one."

This answer elicited laughter from the instructor, who then explained the flaw in the speaker's perspective. The instructor stated, "Your answer is why you're in this course. Because if you think being a leader is because you decide to be one, you're going to look behind you someday and there's going to be no one following you."

Evolution of Leadership Understanding

At that stage of their career, the speaker's perception of leadership was rooted in a traditional, self-centered model. They believed that a leader's primary function was to "have all the answers and to be right and to know everything." This perspective was likely informed by the idea that if they had ever undergone a 360-degree feedback assessment, their self-perception would align with this belief.

However, the speaker's experience in the program led to a significant learning and a redefinition of their role. The "hard learning" was that leadership is not about possessing all the answers.

The Cultivation of Followership and Potential

The speaker's evolved understanding of leadership centers on the concept of "cultivate followership." This involves actively working to gain the trust and commitment of others. Furthermore, the speaker now views their role as:

• Helping people reach their greatest potential: This implies a focus on individual growth and development within the team.
• Understanding their ideas: Leaders should be receptive to and actively listen to the ideas of their team members.
• Helping them bring those ideas to life: This involves providing support, resources, and guidance to enable the execution of those ideas.
• Breaking down barriers: Leaders are responsible for identifying and removing obstacles that hinder progress or prevent individuals from succeeding.

Conclusion

The central takeaway from this transcript is the fundamental shift in understanding leadership from a self-appointed position of authority and knowledge to a role focused on enabling and empowering others. The speaker's initial belief that leadership is a personal decision was challenged by the realization that true leadership is earned through the willingness of others to follow, which is cultivated by a leader's commitment to their followers' growth and success. The core lesson learned is that a leader's value lies not in having all the answers, but in fostering an environment where others can thrive and contribute their best.