On The Top Of The Hill

I enjoy running out on the mountain trails on the weekends. During the drive to the trails, I see several people biking on the roads. There are a lot of long hills that wind up and down the mountains which make for a tough ride I assume. There is an area where you travel for about a mile in a very steep incline, and at the top of that hill, most riders will stop on one of the side roads and rest. But some of the very competitive riders continue on, and you see them going down the other side of the mountain at very high speeds. I think that's one way to identify the serious riders from the recreational riders, by how the either continue on and even push themselves during the downhill part of the ride.

In your role as a leader, you will get your team to the point where they are self-directed, and you are not really needed for many of the day to day activities. You have accomplished this by using delegation to develop your team members as we talk about in so many sessions. Your team has settled in and each person understands and accepts his or her role in the overall team picture. So now the question is, will you stop and rest now that you have reached the top of the hill? It's been a tough climb, working long hours and dealing with fire after fire. You deserve to kick back and enjoy the rewards of your hard work. Right?

I think this is where most of us stop. We realize that we can accomplish what is expected of us with very little effort. But you now have to decide if you want to be at the same level long term, or if you want to expand your leadership out to impact those outside of your team. This does a few things. One, it helps prepare you for the next level by changing your thinking as to how you can impact the company rather than just your team. Two, people in the organization will begin to actually see you in the capacity of a leader with more scope of authority.

Let me give you an example. I was hired by a company to manage a small group of supervisors in a customer service organization. My team was one of 4 total teams, each team consisting of 3-5 supervisors with team members under each. Since my team was small, it did not take long for me to get everyone operating where they needed to be, and things got a little slow for me. So I began to organize activities for the entire site. Ways to develop the supervisors, fun events for the teams, etc. After just 3 shorts months the site leader left the organization, and I was asked to fill in during the search for a replacement. A few months after that I was offered the position full-time. I don't think I would have been offered that position had I sat back and just did what I needed to for my team only. I demonstrated that I could fill that role, and I did it without being asked to.

One word of caution. It is very common for leaders to attempt this too soon. Make sure your team is functionally able to do much of the day to day things on their own. And you also need to effectively monitor your team while they expand your ambitions. And make sure you communicate with your manager what you are doing to ensure he or she is on board with it.

So the next time you find yourself sitting at the top of the hill, make sure you continue on and expand your leadership scope to prepare for the next level of responsibility