From Dictator to Facilitator: The Key to Good Leadership

The goal of a leader is not to create more work but to get better results. Leaders need to understand these three important truths about their role on any team.

1. Focus on Teamwork: Leaders should make sure the team works well together. When everyone works as a team, they can achieve more than when they work alone. Group effort is always more effective than individual effort.
2. Help Team Members Grow: Leaders should help each person on the team get better at their job and reach their career goals. This means giving support and guidance so everyone can improve and succeed.
3. Improve Efficiency: Leaders should develop ways to make the team work more efficiently. This means finding better processes and methods to save time and effort.

As a leader, your main job is to help your team achieve great results consistently over time. One way to fail at this is by being a dictator instead of a facilitator.

When you are a leader who facilitates instead of dictates around, you create a place where team members feel responsible and come up with new ideas. It's the leader's job to get as many team members working together as a group rather than trying to control everything themselves. Why? Because group effort is always more effective than individual effort.

Let's explore the difference between a leader who helps (facilitates) and one who bosses (dictates).

Dictators:

• Keep decisions to themselves.
• Make decisions alone or don't let others help decide.
• Think their own ideas and knowledge are the only right ones.
• Keep making rules and policies that slow down progress.
• Focus on their own interests and promote themselves over the team.
• Take all the credit for themselves.

Facilitators:

• Share decision-making with others.
• Involve others in important decisions and allow them to make their own choices.
• Believe that everyone can have good ideas and knowledge in business.
• Let those in charge decide how to do their jobs.
• Serve everyone's interests by helping people grow and develop.
• Contribute to the organization and give credit to others.

Lets continue to dive in further to understand why you should desire to facilitate instead of dictate.

One Truth Every Leader Must Know

"The greatest leader is not the one who does the greatest things. It’s the one who helps others do the greatest things." – Ronald Reagan

When you lead by helping and involving others, you create an environment where people feel empowered and confident to take charge, make decisions, and work together. This makes things easier for your team. The worst thing you can do is create a "red tape" environment.

What is a "Red Tape" Environment?

A "red tape" environment is where your team spends most of their time dealing with procedures, rules, and forms instead of getting things done.

Why Red Tape is Bad

Nothing stops progress more than red tape. In this environment, ownership, innovation, and teamwork suffer. People shouldn’t be managed like machines; they need to be led. If you lead with too many rules and obstacles, be ready to deal with frustration. People will start giving you reasons why something can’t work instead of finding ways to make it work. Instead of creating a red tape environment create an environment where you look for the wins.

Everyone Wants to Be Part of a Winning Team

When you stop dictating and start helping, you need to focus on creating a winning environment, or what I like to call a championship atmosphere. You need to build a positive vibe and set the stage for success.

Why Create a Winning Environment?

When you do this, people will look up to you and want to contribute to your business. Why? Because everyone wants to be part of something successful. People want to be empowered to innovate and grow without being stopped by too many rules.

If you are still not convinced of why facilitating is better than dictating, here are the reasons why:

Reasons Why a Leader Wants to Move from Dictating to Facilitating

1. Better Team Engagement: When leaders involve team members, everyone feels important and heard.
2. Improved Decision-Making: Getting ideas from others leads to better and more creative solutions.
3. Higher Morale: Team members are happier and work harder when they have a say in decisions.
4. Increased Trust: Including everyone builds trust and shows respect for their ideas and skills.
5. Greater Ownership: When team members help make decisions, they feel more responsible for their work.
6. Enhanced Collaboration: A leader who encourages teamwork creates a more cooperative and supportive environment.
7. Personal and Professional Growth: Helping team members develop their skills and talents promotes their growth and career advancement.
8. Adaptability and Innovation: A team that feels empowered to contribute is more likely to embrace change and come up with new ideas.
9. Reduced Burnout: Sharing decision-making can reduce stress for leaders, allowing them to focus on important tasks.
10. Sustainable Success: Facilitating creates a strong, resilient team that can achieve long-term success and overcome challenges together.

Conclusion

Being a good leader means helping your team work together, grow, and find better ways to do things. It's important to avoid creating a "red tape" environment, where too many rules and procedures slow down progress. Instead, create a positive, winning atmosphere where everyone feels empowered to innovate and succeed. This approach will not only make your team happier and more productive but will also lead to long-term success for your organization.

Join me as I am on a mission to help aspiring leaders and current leader grow their leadership potential without feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and without sacrificing who they are in the process of advancing their career.

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