Bring the best out of your people

“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.” – John Buchan, 1875-1940

If a leader thinks he can change people, he is largely mistaken. The good news is we don’t have to. What we must do is be the kind of leader that identifies the skills and talents people have and draw out the best within them.

This means it includes being thorough and patient in hiring so that we understand who that person really is and if they match the talents of the position we are looking to fill before we bring them on, and putting people in positions where their strength is valued and their weaknesses don’t matter much.

It also means celebrating the talents you see emerging and doubling down on them. And it means observing the talents and skills in your people as they emerge and making adjustments to how the team operates (re-assigning people to jobs suited for their strength) so each team member is in their sweet spot, and collectively the department or organization works with the diversity of genius available.

Yes, training makes people better – but training in the area of their inherent strengths will be far more effective.