Principles 360 Leaders Practice to Lead Across

You don’t have to the the main leader to make a significant impact in an organization, whether it’s at your job, in your family or here at church.

What distinguishes a merely competent leader from one who goes to the next level? Competent leaders can lead followers… they find, gather, recruit and enlist them. To go to the next level of leadership, a leader must learn to lead other leaders.

To make it to the next level, you not only have to lead followers, you have to lead leaders who are equal to you… your co-workers.

Leading your peers brings a different set of challenges from leading upward towards your boss. When you are leading you, you may be seen with jealousy and resentment because of the relationship with your boss. political…

To succeed as a 360 Degree who leads peer to peer, you have to work at giving your colleagues reasons to respect and follow you.

You do that by helping your peers win which helps them, the organization and you.

The people who find it difficult to lead across are people who find it difficult to build relationships or friendships. In the 5 Levels of leadership, the first is position leader. After that, it’s a permission and production. If you only excel in production but neglect permission, you will influence your boss but not your peers.

If you want to lead across, you need to work for and win your peers permission.

Principles Leaders Practice to Lead Across

1. UNDERSTAND, PRACTICE, AND COMPLETE THE LEADERSHIP LOOP

Many people have difficulty leading across because their approach is short sighted. They try to gain influence too quickly or all at once. Leading is not a one time event. You can’t take short cuts and try to cheat the process.

Place a pic of the loop here in word

1. CARING - Take an Interest in People

Sounds simple, but it really does start here.

Paul -

Philippians 2:4 NLT

4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

You have to show people you care about them by taking an interest in them. too often leaders are action oriented or agenda driven, that they don’t make people a high enough priority. If that’s kind of you - you need to turn it around.

If you are not a people person, ask God to help you. Then look for value in everyone… put yourself in their shoes. Find reasons to like them. Pray for them.

Books to help - How to Win Friends and Influence people, 25 Ways to win with people

Remember,

“People move toward someone who increases them and away from anyone who decreases them.”

2. LEARNING - Get to Know People

Showing people you care is good, but you also have to get to know them. Talk to your peers. Ask to hear their stories. Try to discover their skills. Learn to appreciate their differences. Ask for their opinions on work related issues. As much as you can, put yourself in their shoes.

3. APPRECIATING - Respect People

Don’t get caught in the trap of respecting people who are just like you. Learn to admire and respect other’s unique experiences and skills and try to learn from them.

Dennis Bakke makes positive assumptions about people he encounters. He says they are

are creative, thoughtful, trustworthy adults, capable of making important decisions;

are accountable and responsible for their decisions and actions;

are fallible (make mistakes, sometimes on purpose);

are unique; and

want to use our talents and skills to make a positive contribution to the organization and the world.

If you treat your peers with this kind of respect, they will more than likely respect you and listen to you in return.

4. CONTRIBUTING - Add Value to People.

Few things increase your credibility as a leader than adding value to the people around you. Here are some ways to do that.

Don’t keep your best stuff to yourself

When you share, it helps everyone.

Fill in their gaps.

Rocky - I got gaps, she’s got gaps… together we don’t got gaps.

Instead of exploiting other’s gaps, try to fill them and both get ahead.

Invest in their growth

You learned to share resources with your leader, do the same with your peers. When you light someone else’s candle, you lose nothing of your own, you just produce more light.

Take them Along

If you have an opportunity to do something exciting or special, take someone with you

5. VERBALIZING - Affirm people

Think about teachers you had in your life. Who were your favorites? Most likely you liked them because they affirmed you. When you affirm people, you make firm within them the things you see in them.

If you want to influence your peers, become their best cheerleader.

6. LEADING - Influence people

After taking the previous steps, caring, learning, appreciating, contributing and verbalizing, you will have earned the right to influence your peers.

7. SUCCEEDING - Win with People

Good Leaders balance two important motivations.

They want to fulfill their vision.

They want to see others succeed

“Great leaders don’t use people so that they can win. They lead people so that they all can win together.”

Principle #2 - PUT COMPLETING FELLOW LEADERS AHEAD OF COMPETING WITH THEM.

A group of Cajuns was sitting around bragging about how successful they were. Thibideaux says, “I just bought me another shrimp boat, yeah, and I got me a crew of ten people workin’ for me.” “Dat ain’t nottin’,” says Landry, “I been promoted at the refinery, and now I got fifty men workin’ for me.”

Boudreaux hears this, and he doesn’t want to look bad in front of his friends, so he says, “Oh yeah, well I got three hundred people under me.” Thibideaux says, “What you talkin’ ’bout, Boudreaux? You mow lawns all day.” “Dat’s true,” says Boudreaux, “but now I’m cuttin’ da grass at the cemetery, and I got three hundred people under me.”

There is nothing wrong with competition but the problem is that too often we get competitive against those in the same company and it hurts the team.

Instead of competing with the team, complete the them.

Completing Versus Competing

Competing Completing

Scarcity Mindset Abundance Mindset

Me First Organization First

Destroys Trust Develops Trust

Thinks win-lose Thinks win-win

Single thinking Shared Thinking

My good ideas Our great ideas

Excluding Others Including Others

Winning at all cost when it comes to your peers with prevent you from ever leading across.

How can you Balance Competition & Completion?

Acknowledge your natural desire to compete.

Embrace healthy competition

Brings out your best

Promotes honest assessment

creates competition and camaraderie

Doesn’t become personal

Put competition in it’s proper place

The whole goal if healthy competition is to leverage it for the win for the organization.

Know where to draw the line. Always do what’s right for the organization and do it with civility.

3. BE A FRIEND

Everyone enjoys having a friend on the job

Friendship is the Foundation of Influence

Abe Lincoln - “If you would win a man to your cause, first convince him that you are his sincere friend.”

Friendship is the Framework for Success -

Teddy Roosevelt - The most important single ingredient in the formula for success is knowing how to get along with people.

Friendship is the Shelter Against Sudden Storms

Building Friendships

Listen

Find Common Ground not related to work

Be Available Beyond Business Hours

Have a Sense of Humor

Tell the Truth when Others don’t.

4. AVOID OFFICE POLITICS

Playing Politics at work is a sure fire way to alienate your co-workers.

“playing politics” as changing who you appear to be or what you normally do to gain an advantage with whoever currently has power.

Avoid Gossip

Stay Away from Petty Arguments

Stand for What’s Right, not just for what’s popular

Look at All Sides of the Issue

Don’t Protect Your Turf

Say what you mean and Mean What You Say

5. EXPAND YOUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

It Helps you to improve

Exposes you to new ideas

It prompts you to see things from a different point of view

Help you generate new ideas

Help you learn new methods of doing something.

It also puts you in contact with the networks of others who are your persons network

How do you expand your Circle of Friends?

Expand your inner circle

Expand beyond your expertise

Expand beyond your Strengths

Expand beyond your personal prejudices

Expand Beyond Your Routine

6. LET THE BEST IDEA WIN

Room full of ideas that are not the one you wanted… don’t defend your idea.

Ideas are the Life Blood of an Organization

Finding Great Ideas

Listen to All Ideas

Never Settle for just One idea

Look in unusual places for ideas

Don’t let Personality overshadow Purpose

Protect Creative People and their Ideas

Don’t Take Rejection Personally

7. DON’T PRETEND YOU ARE PERFECT

None of us are perfect. Those who work with you and live with you already know this.

Being Real in a Competitive Environment

Admit Your Faults

Ask for Advice

Worry less About What Others Think

Be Open to Learn from Others

Put away Pride & Pretense