Turn ME Upside Down − Key to Success in Leadership

Each year, I have the privilege of being the opening or closing keynote speaker at 25 to 35 conferences across the United States.  Recently, I spoke at a leadership conference with the theme “Turn ME Upside Down!“ The idea was, as leaders, one of our main roles is to turn “ME” into “WE.”

Initially, I thought the theme sounded a bit cheesy. But the more I worked with the Meeting Professionals for this event, the more I realized how wrong I was. Leadership is all about making decisions. WE Leaders focus on decisions that benefit the organization, which helps build momentum, enthusiasm, and buy-in among team members. Decisions made by ME Leaders do the exact opposite. They dampen momentum and buy-in.

Avoid These 3 “ME” Traps

Digging a bit deeper, three decisions that cause leaders to develop a “ME” mentality instead of a “WE” mindset are:

1) Making decisions that are more beneficial for the leaders than the organization.

With this approach, a leader will soon run out of people to lead. The reason? People don't follow selfish leaders. By definition, excellent leadership requires leaders who pursue what is best for the organization and the people they lead. In other words, excellent leadership requires WE Leaders who see themselves as “guides” rather than “heroes.”

2) Making decisions on their own.

The success of an organization depends on its team's buy-in, yet team members won't buy in if leaders make decisions in isolation. Instead of trying to figure everything out on their own, WE Leaders recognize the wealth of ideas and insights within their team and look for ways to tap into the team's collective genius.

3) Believing there is only one way to do things.

Similar to the trap above, a ME Leader thinks his or her way of doing things is the only way to do things. As with the other two traps, when leaders take this approach, most team members don't stick around too long. And the ones who do operate more like automated robots than gifted individuals. WE Leaders, on the other hand, realize that each team member brings a wealth of talent to the workplace, and part of that talent includes new and better ways of doing things.

The three ME Leadership traps above dampen momentum, enthusiasm, and buy-in from team members. Don't fall for them! Instead, focus on making “WE” decisions that empower your team and serve the best interests of your organization.

Photography Copyright: 123 RF Photos / wavebreakmediamicro

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