Ways to develop the courage to lead from the middle
Today’s Business owners are looking for ways to
inspire their managers to seize the moment to ensure that customers are well served.
With this in mind, I recommend the book of my late friend Jill Morgenthaler: The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer, McGraw-Hill, 2015. Jill shares gutsy stories of where she, as a leader in the ranks, took the lead in a situation to ensure that core objectives were achieve in a way that honored all of her stakeholders.
Jill’s stories are most appropriate for civilian middle managers. They involve what are currently called VUCA challenges, or situations that are Volatile, Uncertain, Complex or Ambiguous, and sometimes all four at once. Her stories show how managers can take charge and make tough, and sometimes unpopular, decisions that get results… often without the designated authority.
Among Jill’s many tips for middle managers, she shares 4 S questions managers can ask themselves for proclaiming their success, and sharing their story:
Self: What did you do?
Situation: What was the problem or obstacle?
Solution: What did you do to solve the problem?
Success: What were the results? *
QUESTIONS
- What are your courageous Middle-Managers’ stories?
- How might you encourage Middle Manager to be courageous and share their stories in a way that will help you grow more leaders for your business?
*Colonel Jill Morgenthaler, The Courage to Take Command: Leadership Lessons from a Military Trailblazer, New York, McGraw-Hill education, 2015, P. 130
Chuck Scharenberg is the Founder of More Profit More Freedom, a consultancy that supports the execution of large-scale growth for small businesses. His practice has successfully grown businesses with processes that identify potential roadblocks and mitigation schemes to accelerate realistic execution.
Challenging Leaders to solve the Right problems by asking the Right questions!