About Leadership

Lately I read a leadership book talking about two radically different types of managers. The first type drains intelligence, energy and capabilities from the people around them. These managers always want to be the smartest people in the room. They are idea killers, energy thieves and talent assassins. They are trapped in their own intelligence, overpower others and deplete the organization’s capabilities. The second type of managers uses their intelligence to amplify the intelligence and capability of their people. When these managers walk into a room you can almost see light bulbs over people’s heads. Ideas flow and problems get solved. These are the leaders who inspire employees to stretch themselves to deliver results that surpass expectations. I guess we’ve all experienced these two types of managers. What type of manager are you, or do you want to be?

Great leaders are genius makers. Everyone around them gets smarter and skilled. Employees may not all become geniuses in the traditional sense, but these leaders awaken each person’s unique talents and create an atmosphere of innovation, productivity and collective intelligence. These genius makers know that the best utilization of resources at the organizational level requires adopting a new corporate logic: instead of achieving linear growth by adding new resources, they efficiently awaken the capabilities from within each employee and watch personal and organizational growth rise steeply.

The second type of leaders believe that:

• Most people in organizations are underutilized.
• All capabilities can be leveraged with the right kind of leadership.
• Intelligence and capability can be multiplied without requiring a big investment

As companies are under continuous pressure to manage their costs, leaders who can stimulate the intelligence and capabilities of those around them is more needed than ever. Organizations need leaders who are talent magnets and know how to get the best out of talented people. Interestingly, talented people will love working for a leader who appreciates their true talent, and who will help them nurture and grow their potential and their value in the marketplace.

To be a leader that attracts talents, there are four active practices that together catalyze and sustain this cycle of attraction:

1. Look for talent everywhere.
2. Recruit the right fit.
3. Utilize people at their fullest.
4. Remove all the obstacles that may hinder talents progress.

Which will you be: A genius? Or a genius maker? The choice matters.

Written by: Charles J. Tawk, Senior Consultant with Meirc