Square One Leadership

Do you divide, add, or multiply as a leader?

“And what I’m interested in is investing in people.” – Arthur Rock

When my wife and I were getting married we met with some counselors to do pre-marital counseling for roughly six months before we wed. One of the most impacting admonishments I received was that “a husband should divide his wife’s sorrows and multiply her joys.” Ever since then I’ve kept this motto in the back of my mind, striving to divide sorrows and multiply joys as I lead my family.

Leadership outside of the home isn’t much different. This is not to say that our team’s happiness is our job, rather we should  help them find joy in their accomplishments and growth, and to learn from their failure.

When it comes to this concept there are three types of Leaders:

• The Dividing Leader: This type of leader believes that a paycheck or “thank you” is enough thanks. The problem with this perspective is that there is no personal investment in the members themselves. The leader will continue to ask and the team members will continue to give, until another leader will ask less from them or give more to them.

With out any real investment, a leader’s mistakes or misgivings will multiply against them, in essence, they will divide the team.

• The Adding Leader: This type of leader believes that a paycheck is not enough! In fact they believe if a team member adds value to the organization, they will add value to the team member by giving them public praise or rewards. This shows team members they are valued by the team and organization.

It is important to recognize that extrinsic motivators and thank-yous will add value to your team members, but they will not be enough to over come consistent dividing from the leader. 

• The Multiplying Leader: This type of leader knows that a paycheck is equal compensation for the team member’s time and effort, and if they’d like more out of their team they must invest in its members beyond extrinsic motivators. These leaders create intrinsic value by investing in member’s abilities and strengths, helping them multiply their successes and learn from their failures.

Leaders, who invest in their members, will multiply their value and will have invested enough to survive a dividing moment.

Investing is work, here is a SHORT blog post by Scott Hodge on how to prioritize investment.