lead

The 3 Things You Need to Get Ahead, Influence Others, and Drive Results

Once upon a time, there was a talented executive who was on her way to the top. She excelled at everything that was thrown her way, and remained hungry for more.

The great boss at the top turned to the leadership team and said, “Let’s bring her into the circle. Let’s promote her. For she has done well, and she will therefore do well, here, with greater responsibility.”

And so they did. And everyone applauded. And the talented executive beamed. She knew she had this one.

She knew she could achieve the impossible at this new level, because she created a large trail of success, wherever she went.

But instead of succeeding, she fell flat on her face.

And the leadership team began to doubt its decision.

“What do I do?” she cried out one evening at her desk. “I know I am talented. And I have always achieved at whatever has been placed before me. Am I not leadership material, as I previously thought I was?”

Right then, there was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“Burt,” the voice responded. “It’s Burt, the leadership genie. I heard your cry. And I have a package here for you – it’s the missing ingredient to your success…”

Okay, dear Reader, now you know why I’m not a well-known author of fairy tales. But let me pick up here to make the point:  There are just 3 ingredients to success. Really – just 3 ingredients. And we are often missing just one when we find ourselves on the other side of the window looking in at the inner leadership circle.

Here are the 3 ingredients:

 

You must have all 3 of these supporting each other in order to get ahead. If one of them is out of sync, you cannot lead effectively.

Here is a brief explanation of each, and how they need to play together to support you:

• Mindset: How you lead yourself. Mindset is the way you perceive yourself; your beliefs in your ability to lead and succeed. And it’s what you do with these – how you manage yourself – your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors – in an aligned way that reflects integrity, strength, and authenticity.
• Engagement: How you lead others. Engagement is how you show up and connect with others. It’s how you communicate to build trust and influence. It’s your ability to exude a powerful and respected presence, which causes others to stop and listen when you speak, and to regard your opinions with respect.
• Energy: How you lead the enterprise. Energy is how you support the larger vision while masterfully aligning and managing the moving parts. It is systems thinking in your goal-setting, decision-making, and your action-taking to keep the enterprise relevant and vibrant.

So what does this have to do with our talented executive in the fairy tale?

Let’s listen in to the scene where she is carrying on about her frustration…

(knock on the door)

“Who is it?” she called out.

“Burt,” the voice responded. “It’s Burt, the leadership genie. I heard your cry. And I have a package here for you – it’s the missing ingredient to your success…”

She opened the door to find – her boss.

He smiled, came in, and sat down.

“Okay, true confessions, as you know, my first name is Burt, but surprise, surprise, I’m not a genie. However, I think I have the answer to what you were carrying on about in here a minute ago.”

“Oops,” she said sheepishly.

“Talented Executive, you’ve been a success up to this point in whatever you’ve undertaken. And I believe you can be a success in this new appointment as well. But you are going to have to change something fundamental about the way you operate.”

“The way I operate?” she said. “It’s always gotten me where I need to go – what do I need to change?”

“Talented Executive, you have a healthy Mindset. You believe in your ability to succeed, and you are eager to take charge and achieve your goals through successful implementation.

What’s more, you are able to look at the larger picture strategically, so that your goal-setting and work supports the larger vision of the company. So your use of Energy is great.”

“So what gives?” she answered. “What’s not to love?”

“What got you here won’t get you where you want to go. Just because you’ve succeeded with a certain approach in the past doesn’t mean it will work in this new position. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’ve been getting sideways glances from some of your new leadership team. And a bit of rumbling. I saw you bristle the other day when you heard someone question whether you could make your initiative work. What you may not know is that some are questioning your motives.”

“I don’t understand,” she protested. “It’s a great plan, and they should see that!”

“Talented Executive, when you joined this team, you forgot one thing. Everything you do affects the entire system, now. Your new responsibilities cover many areas, so what you do affects your entire leadership team and their areas, as well. And they don’t know you.  Why should they support your ideas? The one ingredient you are missing is strong Engagement, and your leadership future depends on this. Building trust, being able to exercise your influence effectively…  Heck, even getting others to listen to you when you speak up in meetings – think about it.”

Talented Executive was silent.

Burt Boss continued. “So although I think you can pull this initiative off, I’m going to ask you to put it on the shelf, for now. For this year, I want you to build relationships with your peers and key stakeholders. Because without establishing yourself as part of the team, strengthening your influence factor with them, getting them to listen to you and enlisting their buy-in, well, you just won’t get far in this position if you don’t have that rapport first.”

Talented Executive was floored. “You’re kidding,” she said. “You are going to kiss the potential of more than $3 Mil in the next 18 months goodbye?”

“You bet,” said Boss. “Because if you do what I am recommending, I believe we will see an even greater ROI.”

And they actually did. Talented Executive worked on her Engagement – and by the end of that first year, had actually worked with a couple of the other members of the leadership team to come up with something that generated far more revenue.

I love a happy ending – don’t you?

When you think about Mindset, Engagement, and Energy – which one is holding you back? Join us for our LinkedIn discussion and share!

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Patti Cotton helps women executives optimize their effectiveness in leading self, others, and enterprises. Her areas of focus include confidence, leadership style, executive presence, effective communication, and masterful execution. With over 25 years of leadership experience, both stateside and abroad, Patti works with individuals, teams, and organizations across industries, providing executive coaching, women’s leadership development, change, and conflict management. She is also a Fortune 500 speaker. For more information on how Patti Cotton can help you and your organization, click here.