The blog category, Leadership, is the place I’ll go deeper sharing my thoughts on intentional leadership, sharing first my core beliefs and the two leadership models I’ve developed – one for leading a high-performing team and one for getting your leadership voice heard. With this foundation established, I’ll use this section to provide applied practices and tools that might be helpful to you in your own career and/or leading your own teams.
Core beliefs? Why are these important as a leader?
This foundational reflection work was one of the first steps in peeling back the onion in understanding who you are as a leader, what you value, and what makes you tick. Not only is this important for your own self-knowledge, but is equally important in demystifying you to your team.
Now without further ado, I’d like to share my top ten core beliefs with you.
IF GOOD PEOPLE DON’T STEP UP, OTHERS WILL.
As a young child, I distinctly remember my grandfather, Harley Kingsbury, instilling the importance of leadership and public service. “If good people don’t step up, others will”, he said with a hand on my shoulder and piercing eye contact. This core belief has never been more relevant in our modern world. True leadership is hard and often thankless. Still the threat of staying on the sidelines and not entering the fight when you know you can make a contribution is harder and is not something I can feel good about, knowing I could have helped others. This core belief is foundational to my call to service as a leader.
BE GRATEFUL. NEVER LET PEOPLE QUESTION IF YOU APPRECIATE THEM OR IF THEIR EFFORTS MATTER.
Gratitude is one of my most deeply ingrained core values. There is a lot of literature on the importance of gratitude and the ability to literally rewire your brain by embracing the age-old practice of “counting your blessings.” Once I’ve identified my blessings, I try to take it one step further from reflection to expressing my gratitude outwardly to others. It’s not uncommon for each of us to “feel grateful”, but often out of lack of vulnerability – we suppress it or the moment passes us by. Appreciation and recognition that their efforts matter is central to driving engagement and the least expensive tool we have to motivate others.
YOU CAN GET AN AWFUL LOT DONE IF YOU DON’T CARE WHO GETS THE CREDIT.
Anne Enquist, my “mother-in-love” and mentor, passed on to me very early in my career these words of her father, Arthur Meiering quoting Harry Truman – “You can get an awful lot done if you don’t care who gets the credit.” I’ve repeated this phrase countless times to myself and to my team. This core belief embraces the humble, behind-the-scenes impact of leading from the back. Leadership in its purest form is not about recognition – it’s about influence. I have found that when you sincerely put the work first and recognize the efforts of others, others tend to shine a light on you and your efforts.
DO SMALL THINGS WITH GREAT LOVE.
This famous quote of Mother Teresa’s is a credo I find as applicable to my family life, as it is to my professional life in leading my team. Whether it’s the love you infuse into bedtime routine, the patience of holding a screaming child through a necessary medical procedure, or the empathy and investment you show a direct report in coaching them through a crucible lesson in their career – I believe that these little moments amount to something much bigger and are core to a foundation of trust on which everything else is built.
WHAT MATTERS MOST SHOULD NEVER BE AT THE MERCY OF WHAT MATTERS LEAST.
A profound and intuitive insight by Doug Conant, “What matters most should never be at the mercy of what matters least” is easier said than done. The promises we first break are those we make to ourselves, to our families, to our loved ones (in that order). We consistently uphold deadlines and commitments at work, believing we have no other choice. I’m not advocating for lowering our level of commitment at work. What this core belief means to me is the practice of intentionally discerning in each moment what matters most and acting accordingly. A mental image Doug taught me was to “place the rocks” and then “let the sand fill in around them.” What are those “rocks” for you?
FAMILY COMES FIRST. CAREER ENABLES FAMILY.
When I first became responsible for Strategy, I was the only working mom with a young family. Today, 40% of my team are working mothers. Empathy, lack of guilt, mentorship and encouragement go a long way. Having the courage to be vulnerable and unashamed in letting the mix of boss and mom show up in a real and authentic way, I give my team a line of sight into the full person and the “plates I’m spinning”. It gives others permission to do the same. In a high-trust relationship, you set and uphold the standard for excellence and let people rise, with the flexibility they need to achieve it.
TOUGH ON THE WORK, EASY ON THE PEOPLE.
At the start of my career, I hid the fact I was classically trained in vocal performance – fearing it would discredit my competency in the healthcare space. A decade and a half later of reflection, nothing prepared me better to be an executive than the rigorous training I received as a musician. With your body as the instrument and your voice as “the work”, to survive music school I had to learn to be able to effectively hear critiques and incorporate the feedback. When you decide to approach feedback with curiosity you can more objectively discern what has validity and see that people giving you feedback have your best interest in mind. I teach this mental model to my team, pushing the boundaries of excellence while caring deeply about the people producing the work.
DON’T QUIT! RESILIENCE & FIERCE RESOLVE
The first and most impactful leadership book I read in graduate school was “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. His articulation of “Level 5 Leadership”, the powerful mixture of personal humility and indomitable will, inspired me to want to be like that. It also made leadership feel accessible. I will never be a larger-than-life, authoritative, extroverted male – representative of the stereotypical “leader”. I can show up as authentically me, full of grit, resilience and fierce resolve. Couple that with a complete refusal to quit, a touch of grace, and a bit of gratitude – it’s a winning combination.
DO THE RIGHT THING; ENDURE THE CONSEQUENCES.
Too often leaders find themselves second guessing their instincts, painfully aware of the politics of a situation and inherent consequences of their decisions. Navigating murky waters is par for the course as a leader. I’ve found in the toughest of situations my moral code is to simply “do the right thing” and be fully prepared to “endure the consequences.” That might be taking an unpopular, but important stance or putting what’s best for an employee above what (in the short run) might be best to minimize disruption to the work. In the end, all you can control is your own behavior – be sure it is in line with your values.
IT’S BETTER TO ASK FOR FORGIVENESS THAN PERMISSION.
Imagine an understated, warm, yet feisty nun and that’s a pretty accurate depiction of Sister Mary Lynch, my dorm rectress at Notre Dame. To borrow a concept from my Jewish friends, she was truly a “mensch” as I served as a Resident Assistant (RA) in McGlinn Hall. I grew up a lot that year, and still look back on the experience as one of the best training grounds for being a manager of people (and handling the deeply personal situations inherent therein) I’ve had. Growing up with wide-open spaces and a lot of freedom, I’ve always been more of a “spirit of the law” than the “letter of the law” girl and Sister Mary Lynch was a kindred spirit.
Has reading any of my core beliefs caused you to reflect on your own? If so, care to share one that you turn to as a leader?
