Leading Your Team (From Any Level)
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If you have any kind of alteration motives, like you just want to get noticed, you want to get attention, you want to get promoted, you want to make more money, you want to outshine your leader. Um here she's going to sniff that out and take you out. You got to come with the real sincere attitude and your motives must be to genuinely help them, serve them, move the mission ford.

You want to serve your leader and help the organization get Better. Hey, welcome to another episode, the trig shell leadership podcast. I am very passionate about helping you grow in your leadership.

And so what I want to do is I want to talk about whatever you want to talk about. We are doing a multiple weekly series answering your questions. Normally we do an episode on the first thursday.

Each month we drop in a one a week. So get ready to go on a journey with me before we tackle the questions. I want to tell you that we do have a leader guide that I want you to get.

If you're not getting the leader guide, you need to get the leader guide go to lifetime church slashed leadership podcast. And we're going to give you additional content, sometimes questions to go over with your team. And i'm going to work really, really hard to give you helpful content to help you grow in your leadership.

Your time is valuable. So many to tell you we're going not going to bring any paid ads. This is going to be packed with practical ideas. My goal is to give you the highest value per minute of any podcast you listen to.

So what that lets go, we're to answer two questions today, and they're both about leading up so many to give you a resource you may want to look at if you'd like to get a free copy of this book, the book is how do you lead? We're not in charge by place dragons. Uh, comment on the youtube page, say I want to lead up, will give away five copies of his book.

The questions today are all about leading up if you want to the chance to win a copy of clays book, adelie were not in charge type of the comment section. I want to lead a two questions on that suspect today. First, rebeca asks, how do you get a strong leader to listen to you so you get a boss and he strong or he's strong, how do you, how do you lead up and get a boss to listen to you? Or Michael ask this, how do you lead up? Well, how do you lead when you're not in charge? This is a very, very common question.

We ve got dozens of variations of the question. Essentially, how do you lead up? And first, let's start with the big picture.

To lead up. Well, to influence a strong leader, you need what I say, three things. You need a very genuine, thoughtful, yet nuances approach you. You want to be genuine. You're going to be thoughtful. And how you do IT and yet you want be really careful to have kind of a nuance approach to lead start with genuine um if you lead up and influence your boss, your direct report, you genuinely need me to care about that person.

You have to need to care about them if you have any kind of ulterior motive, like you just want to get noticed, you want to get attention, you want to get promoted, you want to make more money, you want to outshine your leader. Um here she's going to sniff that out and take you out. You got to come with the real sincere attitude and your motives must be to genuinely help them, serve them, move the mission ford.

You want to serve your leader and help the organization get Better. Then you want to be thoughtful and nuances in your approach if you come in too hot, you'll be the one to get burned. You want to play the long game.

You want to to take your time. You are going to be player's, strategic, um thoughtful, caring. If you do that, you can make a big difference.

So i'll give you five big ideas to think about. I'll cover them all five, and they will talk about one by one. The first thing you want to do is if you want to lead up well, you want to create a climate of unmistakable trust.

Number two, you want to add a value without adding pressure. Number three, you want to learn to scarey empathy with your leaders chAllenges. Number four, don't just point out problems, offer solutions.

And number five, you're going to communicate clearly, concisely and strategically. Let's talk about them one by one. Number one, you wanna lead up well, you don't want to cultivate a climate of unmistakable trust.

And i'll state to some this pretty obvious. But I want to say IT anyway, and that's this, your leader won't listen to you. If here SHE doesn't trust you, they are not onna.

Listen, if they don't know and believe that you have their best interest at heart. And so when you're going to approach you, I want you to think about this. Have you ever been hurt or burned by someone? Course you have, right.

Someone betrayed you. Talk behind your bag. Didn't have your best interest in mind. I went you to think about your boss because your boss has been hurt as well.

And so when you show up, you want to lead in such a way that you actually building trust. Uh, how fast can you build trust in the answers? I'm not sure you do not want to rush IT.

If you coming too strong, too fast, most people tend to push back. So how do you build trust? The basics? Trust is built with consistency over time.

Trust is built with consistency over time. So you're just going to start with the basics. You're going to do your job well, you can do with the excEllence.

You going to show up with passion, you're going to have intentionality. You're going to bring your best every single day and is often as possible. You don't want to just meet expectations, you want to exceed expectations.

So you're not just going to do what they ask you, but you're going to do a little bit more and what to do. And if you're demonstrating that you're reliable, you're valuable team player, you care about the mission, you have integrity, you've got a real works ethic, you're building trust, your building trust. So the first thing with the heart to serve, with just good performance and a total buy into the mission, you're creating a climate of unmistakable trust.

The second thing you want to do, if you want to add value without adding pressure, add value without adding pressure, like what what do you make rather cape? If you want to lead up, you want to ask yourself, how can I add value to my leader without adding work to their plate? How can I add value to them without giving them something more to do? And honestly, this is a very common problem.

We see an overly enthusiastic leaders. I want to lead up, you know, whatever is like, hey, boss, S Y, Y box, y box, hey, how can I help you give me three things I can do to make your life easier day. You can take anything off.

They are play at that point. What you do is you gave them an assignment. You came in and said, give me three things to do, and I have to stop a gog.

Okay, let me think for a little while. And you do that with a good to heart, but honestly is not helpful. And that's a very common approach. And I want to beg you, don't approach that way.

What you want to do is you want to ask yourself, how can I add you? Where can I D value? What can I do? And so how you design where you can to add value, you're going to watch and listen, watch and listen, watch and listen.

You wash for anything that frustrates your leader, anything that this wearing them down, you're going listen to anything that you could look at. And well, I think I could do that for them, or I could take that off of them. And you going to watch and listen.

You to watch and listen, you can look for anything that you could take off of them to ease their load. And here's a little secret. I wanted to know about leaders, even the great ones, and I would say maybe even especially the great ones.

And I want to hear this, many leaders struggle with asking others for help, literally like you want to help them, but they are like they are. They don't want to put something more on you, and they don't want to burden you that I want appear weak and an insecurity. But but all of us have a, many of us struggle with asking for help.

So what do you do? Well, if you see a need that you can be, don't wait for them to ask you. Just say, hey, would you mind if I did that for you? That's good.

What to ask IT, would you mind if I did that for you? Not let me take IT command. Would you mind if I did that for you and they may say none, no, no, really.

I've got IT. And often times just how they're to come back. What you want to do is you want to just show appropriately, not weird person, but appropriately, that you're really eager to help.

Adrian on my team does this with me to say, hey, you want to take that off of you like, um, no, I got this like, hey, i'm kind of weird this way, but I love that kind of thing. Could I IT IT would be a lot to me if I could do IT for you? Like, good.

Oh, SHE loves that kind of thing. And so SHE like, literally, we will talk me into trusting her with IT. And she's convincing me that she's genuinely happy to do IT. And so you want to do something like that. Now, if you can take something off your leader, that's a great place to start, but don't stop there once you've done IT.

Whatever is the project you made, the call you handle, that you ve got the the files organized, whatever is what I want you do, I want you to let them know that you did IT at least do IT all the time at first, because what you're going to do is is actually still on their mind, even though it's in your hands, is still on their mind. And so you're doing what I call rap back communication. You've done IT.

Now we're rapping back, coming back. I'm wrapped back. The difference between a pretty good leader can trust and great leader you can trust is often just wrapped back communication.

It's just, hey, you can check this off. Your list is handled and you don't have to be annoying. You want to burst in another off is gone.

I got that you want to do that and often times is just a text or an email or a note on the desk is not you're interrupting their flow. You're just saying, hey, check this off your list. Got IT done and IT eases their mind.

Once you have built trust, you've done that for a while, three months later, six months later, whatever. You may take off communication because they know when they give IT, he has done. But early on, I don't know.

So when you do IT tell them is done, and when you commit to something, oh my god, is deliver, don't ever say I got this and don't have IT deliver. And again, as often as you can not just deliver, but do even more that even Better. So if you want to effectively lead up, be a leader your boss can trust every single time.

Now let's say you do three things for your boss. And SHE doesn't say thank, thank you. Don't get your feelings heart.

She's about something else on your mind. You know, she's focus somewhere else to remember this. You're not serving to get noticed.

You're serving because you care. Keep your heart pure. If you serve consistently with the right motives, you will earn influence over time.

You're disturbing. So what are we going to do? You wants to lead up.

First of all, you're going to create a climate of unmistakable trust. You are dependable. Your trust word that you care, you show up.

You have integrity. You get things done. Number two is you're going to add value without adding pressure.

You're not come in and saying, yeah, five things I can do. No, you, hey, can you modify? Take that off of you.

Number three. Is this number three important? You're to learn to sincerely empathy with their chAllenges. You're to learn to, as best you can to feel what they feel and understand what weight on them. And this is not easy.

And I want to promise you, years ago, my past used to say, crag, you'll never well, he said, cregger heping cregger. You'll never understand the way i'm under until you're under yourself dragger. You're never going to understand the burden in this job until you have a your self.

I hate you when he said that, and he he was so true, I had no idea all of the pressure that he felt until I was in a summer role. So you want to learn to empathy, what what they feel. And this is going to be a little bit tRicky.

And I want to say this way, you want to try to understand, don't ever assume you do, because the moment you assume you do, you don't, I promise you, you want to try, you want to work hard, you want to get closest, you can to understand you, but never assume you're completely there because you don't fully understand. So what are you going to do again? You're going to going to watch and you're going to listen.

And this is really important. Like don't judge, like sometimes your boss is you can be overreacting or something that's not that big of a deal. You he's just overreacting.

Listen, one day when you're in the shoes, you're going to the same thing over something else, so you're not going to judge. Your boss is human, just like you. Your goal is not to judge, not to condemn, not to criticize. Your goal is to encourage, to support and to assist you.

You ask yourself, OK, what's keep? What's kept him up at night? What pressure does he feel? And when you do, when you start to empathy, what he does is you will change your approach so important will change how you approach your supervisor when you start to truly feel some of what they feel you'll serve with the heart of compassion rather than an attitude of arrogance is a game changer.

Um the reality is for all of us, when I was under somebody, I always think, well, I could probably do that thing a little Better than them if I were in their roles. I do this a little different this nature. But instead, if we come in and say there's also probably pretty hard, there's some details about IT that I don't know there, there's some weight they're caring that I wouldn't fully understand.

So all I want to do is add value, take something off, serve them, help our organza get Better to become in with that attitude, you start to feel what they're going through. They're actually going to know you genuinely care. And then you can really, really make a difference at number four, important, don't just point out problems, offer solutions, don't just point out problems.

Again, this sounds obvious, but we want to lead up. And so what do we think? Well, i'm going to lead up because my dum boss doesn't see what they, what I see.

That's a bad attitude. okay? I am going to tell I was wrong with our organza. This is a problem. Okay, true. But so much of what many people think is leading up is really just complaining up. That's all this is not really leading up is like just dripping and complaining up.

And so whenever you see something that you know, hey, this isn't great and this needs to change or we could really get Better here. We could be different here. Try not to just point out the problem without having a potential solution.

Before you say this is wrong as often as possible, say, I wonder what we could do to make this right. Why is this so important? Any leader can point out a problem, but a great leader brings a solution and honestly, is frustrated.

A name when some team ever comes in and says, this is wrong, this is wrong, this is wrong. I always feel like saying, well, I knew that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I knew that.

And here's fifteen more problems i'm trying to solve and all you didn't point out problems IT is exhilarating to me and thrilled and thankful beyond measure when someone takes initiative and says, hey, I saw this thing not working well, but I think here's how we can fix was broken or they say, hey, I saw something that's pretty good. Let's take something good to make a great it's a totally different posture when you're not complaining up, but you're leading up, you're coming in not just saying this is wrong, this is a problem. But i've been thinking about IT been working on IT for a while, and here's how I think we can make IT Better.

Number five, communicate clearly, concisely and strategically. Okay, you work for somebody there, your supervisor. They are your boss.

You know, they're busy times important to them. I cannot overstate how important this is. You got an audience with them communicate clearly.

Clarity is kindness. And timing is everything. To remember you going to approach your boss.

Clarity is kindness, and timing is everything. One more time. Clarity is kindness. And timing is everything. You want to be really, really clear. You want to have fought through what you're going to say, and you want to be really respectful as to when you approach what you can know.

If your observers is your leader has rhymes and sometimes are Better to approach them some days or Better than other days in my world mondays, i'm kind of recovering from the weekend i'm planning out the week i'm starting on the message to say the study day. If someone comes and brings me a suggestion on a tuesday, it's not that I don't want to hear. It's like I can't hear that my mind is locked.

I'm not ready to hear IT wednesday by noon. The message is done. I kind of come out of hybernation and and in lockdown study.

I can hear on a wednesday and thursday. I'm in creative mode. I'm doing meetings. I'm planning on the future.

Thursday is a great day and so you kind of want to know the rythm I gone us to goodness, one time I was going in the mindful and a guy came in a good idea for a petite ate. That's not the best time. okay? Clarity is kind of timing is everything.

Learn their rythm, communicate clearly, concisely, strategically, be kind, be trustworthy, are about your leader, and guess what? Guess what? You can help your leader get Better. There is, there is indescribable.

What a gift IT is to have a leader with people that work for the leaders, serve with the leaders, are by the leaders that will tell the leader the truth, makes suggestions, will help make things Better. If you start to do that, you do well together. You can do something really, really special.

If you want more insight on this subject, I have a whole episode devoted leading up. Episode eighty one on the podcast is called leading up when you're not in charge. There's also the book that clay wrote as well.

And I would just tell you this for me, speak to you from my heart. I want you remember that you can lead from where you are. You don't have to be the boss.

You have have a title. You don't only have the officer or whatever the degree you can lead from where you are. why? Because what is leadership? Leadership is influence, and you have influence. You don't need a title lead, you just need to care.

And when you really care about your boss, your supervise, your peers, those people to report you, when you really care about them and you show me that you love your team, that you believe in them, IT builds a trust and a chemistry that is is really hard to describe. Um i've often instead this way people rather follow with a leader with the heart than a leader with the title. People ratify the leaders always real that when he's always right.

So believe in what you have in you, especial you're where you are for a purpose. You're not thereby accident. And you do have more to offer.

If you take a slow, take your time, leave with integrity, have a real sincere heart, and serve, serve people. When you, the boss of everybody serve people is the greatest are those who serve. And when you serve others and they serve you, and you serve people together, you all get Better.

And what happens when you get Better? Well, everyone wins. When the leader gets Better, I will see you next thirty day.

Same time, for more questions, get the leader guide share on social media, please. And if you'd like a chance to in the book type in there, I want to lead up. And in the meantime, believe that when you here, there is more in you, you are getting Better.