Leading is Living the Experience

I’ve just completed a program with the leader of an organization whose humility and confidence was profound. She participated in the program on Business Development with her direct reports. In a very demonstrative case of “leading by example,” she was willing to be coached and learn right along with them. It made a difference.

Here’s what her participation illustrated:

* Caring about the experience her direct reports were going to go through

* Courage in being the first up to experiment with different business development techniques we talk about in the program

* Humility in being coached in front of her team

* Commitment to developing her team

Further to this she realized the profound impact she has as the leader and the large impact she has in her team’s development. Through her own experimenting, she now has a shared experience to draw from as she shapes her team’s behavior. She also clearly sees the strengths and developmental areas of each person on her team. This is essential to building a team of green berets in business development.

Leading a team is all about making a difference with people and having people understand what’s mission critical. You’ve got to persist with your team to illustrate your devotion to development. The good ones will follow your lead from this behavior. Take heed of the ones who don’t!