YOU have the capacity to change someone else’s reality about themselves, their work and their environment every day.
Every day leadership is an action every single one of us has the option to choose.
Michelle Gregory is the co-founder and director of the online business Promotion Products, based in Brisbane, Australia. Over the past couple of decades, Michelle and her husband, and co-director Douglas, have built the business from their humble kitchen table into a multimillion-dollar turnover operation with a team servicing businesses across Australia.
Fourteen years into running the business, Michelle and her husband decided to take a year off with their four children, to live in Spain. They would leave their business in the hands of their employees (yikes!).
At first, Michelle thought there would be no way this could happen—seriously, as a business owner, as much as this was a dream, surely it was not a viable option (I can hear your heart pumping now!).
Michelle remembers calling a team meeting one day and saying, ‘Right, we’re going to live in Spain for a year. We believe in all of you. You know what your job is and you’re good at your job. The way our business is set up there is nothing you can do to destroy it that we won’t be able to pick up on early. Make the best decisions you know how to make. And if, in looking back, we say maybe we could do that differently in the future, well we’ll have that discussion and we’ll do things differently in the future. But in the meantime, we believe in you. You got this’.
Michelle and Douglas left for Spain and let the team get on with the work. And the business grew!
On reflection, Michelle shares that the biggest challenge was the belief and trust in her team, believing that they had the ability to achieve something and to do their best work. Michelle says, ‘I truly learned what empowering people is all about. It’s about saying “I believe you can do this; I believe in your ability. Go do your best and we will evaluate afterwards”. I strongly believe that in general people don’t get out of bed in the morning and think “Gee how can I stuff up today?” That just doesn’t happen’.
Michelle and Douglas’s team chose to follow them—they kept the business going, they made decisions that were aligned with the business vision, they felt supported and empowered, they felt trusted and respected and the results speak for themselves.
Whether you’re a one-person practice, a small business owner leading a team, or driving the performance of a larger organisation, it’s up to you to make people feel amazing, to bring out the best in them.
YOU have the capacity to change someone else’s reality about themselves, their work and their environment every day. YOU have the ability to inspire those around you to perform at their best and to achieve the results they want to achieve.
Leadership is connecting, influencing, empowering and equipping others.
Leadership is coming from a place of attention out, versus attention in, magnifying the brilliance in others, choosing to listen to understand.
Leadership is about creating a safe space that you agitate just enough to unlock ideas and thinking.
Leadership is about bringing ideas to life, creating possibility and potential, building security and driving growth.
Leadership provides the motivation that drives momentum and change.
As Jim Carrey said:
“The effect you have on others is the most valuable currency there is”.
Think about every action and interaction you make today – is it one of inspirational leadership?
Here’s Some Other Articles You Might Be Interested in:
- Podcast: I met Ray Pittman when he was President and CEO of CBRE, Pacific. He is now President & Chief Operating Officer at McWHINNEY, based in the United States. During this podcast interview we explore what leadership means to Ray and uncover the changes he has made in his approach to leadership during his career. Listen in here.
- Read: In this article I write about the importance of chasing progress over perfection.
- Favourite quote: “One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes… and the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt